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Murder Story of Zdolbunow Jews at the Quarry of the Zdolbunow Cement Factory
Murder Site
Zdolbunow
Poland
On August 7, 1941, based on lists drawn up by Zatvorskiy, the mayor of Zdołbunów, and Evgeniy Radziwill, chief of the Ukrainian Auxiliary Police, several hundred Jewish men (including most members of the Judenrat) – along with some Russians, Ukrainians, and Poles – were arrested and taken to a cellar in the town. After being held there for a brief while, the arrestees were transported in trucks to the quarry of the cement factory. According to one testimony, drunk Gestapo men beat the arrestees before the shooting; their valuables were confiscated. The shooting began at 4 PM. The people were ordered to strip naked, and then, with their hands tied to their backs with wire, they were forced to descend into the pit via stairs that had been carved inside it, and shot dead in the back of the head. The shooting was carried out by a detachment of the Security Police and SD unit (from Einsatzgruppe C) that was based in Równe. Ukrainian auxiliary policemen also took part in the shooting. After the victims had been shot, their clothes were taken away by Germans and Ukrainian policemen.
In August 1942, two Ukrainian policemen brutally killed an 18-year-old girl, Hanka Prussak, who had been caught sitting on the bench in front of her house in the ghetto after the curfew. Subsequently, in an attempt to improve the reputation of the local Ukrainian police, the Gebietskommissar claimed that the girl had been killed by a Jew, and demanded that the Judenrat either hand over the "killer" or surrender ten hostages. Attempts by the Judenrat to bargain their way out of this demand were unsuccessful. Since it was impossible to find the "Jewish murderer", the Judenrat had no choice but to select ten elderly male and female Jews as hostages. Eventually, seven of them were placed under arrest and held at the Gendarmerie building in Zdołbunów. Following an order given by the Gebietskommissar, Georg Marschall, to Joseph Paur, district Gendarmerie chief of Zdołbunów, the arrestees were taken to the quarries of the cement factory. At this time, one Jew managed to escape. Upon reaching the murder site, the remaining six Jewish hostages were forced into the pit and ordered to lie face down inside it, whereupon they were shot in the back of the head by members of Zdołbunów's Gendarmerie post (headed by Wilhelm Wacker).
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From the testimony of Hermann Friedrich Graebe, chief engineer of the German construction firm Josef Jung from Solingen and a future Righteous among the Nations, given on October 3, 1965, at Yad Vashem
…Georg Marschall was the Gebietskommissar [regional commissar] of the [Zdołbunów] area. I thought I ought to introduce myself to him, because I needed assistance, such as food, for my local workers. I visited him in his official residence, and he was surprised to see that I was not in uniform. I explained that I worked for the railways and had urgent orders to fill and was employing thousands of workers. I asked that supplementary food rations be allocated for them, because I had discovered that the Jews received about 50% of the food rations, and about 80% of the pay, of the other workers…. The Gebietskommissar seemed (at least for appearance’s sake) to agree to my suggestions, and promised to discuss the issue with his officers. However, only after a few minutes I understood what kind of person he was….
Then, Marschall asked me how I liked Zdołbunów, and remarked that I had probably realized that the Jewish population lived in constant fear, and justifiably so. 'Are you aware that, in early August, 200-300 Jewish men (I don’t remember the exact number he used) were shot right here, in the cement factory?’ I responded that I had no knowledge of it. He explained that a SS Kommando had carried out the shootings. It was a systematic operation to shoot a certain percentage of the Jewish population – men only. He added: 'this operation had not been fully thought through, and was brutal and inhuman. It should never be repeated.' Hearing this, I deduced that I was dealing with an honest, responsible man, and was about to respond in the same vein, when he went on: 'In the future, we will act differently, in a more humane way: we will not shoot only the men, but the women and children, as well. This is the only proper way to do it. We cannot leave behind women, children, and elderly people in hospitals. This is the best solution to the Jewish question. We have to totally eliminate them'. Seeing my shocked reaction, he said: 'Yes, Mr. Graebe, life is tough. We have to do what the Party leadership and Hitler wish."…
YVA O.3 / 2875
Zdolbunow
cement plant
Murder Site
Poland
50.521;26.250