Murder story of Radziechów Jews in the Trench in the Kamionka Strumiłowa Area

…On the day of Yom Kippur, the Germans once again ordered everyone to assemble in the square, [promising] that the murder operation was over, that the Jewish population would not be displaced anymore, and that they would only stamp our [work] permits. I, too, came to the square with the others. Some 400 people were gathered there. Suddenly, we were surrounded by Gestapo men and Ukrainian policemen, and herded toward Kamionka Strumiłowa – to the Zaburzany suburb, thirty kilometers from Radziechów. We were driven there like cattle, without rest. People had to take care of their biological needs on the run. In Zaburzany, we ran into Jews who were being herded from Busk, Brody, and Sokal. Some 2,000 Jews were driven together in this way. We, both men and women, were ordered to strip naked. Those with gold teeth had them knocked out with rifle butts. The grave ditches had already been dug, and planks were placed over them. The people had to step onto these planks in groups of five, whereupon they would be killed with single shots. The people, whether dead or alive, would automatically drop into the ditch. Out of this transport of 2,000 people, there were only five survivors, and I was among them. I was shot in the leg, and fell into the ditch. We were buried in the evening. However, after the Gestapo men had left and it became dark, I crawled out of the ditch. It turned out that there were five of us. During the night, we dragged ourselves back to Radziechów….

On Saturday before Yom Kippur, (in September) 1942, the Judenrat put up posters instructing all the Jews to report in the market square at 7 AM on Monday (Yom Kippur) with their work cards, since the chief of the Labor Office was expected to arrive, and he would give the people new work assignments; anyone who failed to show up would be fined 1,000 złotys. As a result, 550 able-bodied adults – both men and women, including the rabbis of Radziechów and Hołojow – assembled at the market at the appointed time. At 9 AM, the head of the Kamionka Strumiłowa County and the Labor Office chief showed up. They asked Kranz, the head of the Judenrat, whether all the Jews were present, and he answered in the affirmative. Suddenly, the Jews realized that they were being encircled by local rural policemen and Ukrainian auxiliary policemen. The chief of the Labor Office ordered the Jews to line up according to their workplaces (the brickyard, the sawmill, etc.), took away their work cards, and instructed them to line up four abreast for the march. Panic broke out among the people, and the head [of the Judenrat] asked him where they were going, since this was supposed to be a mere check of work cards. The Labor Office chief replied that they were going to work at a state farm (Liegenschaft) in Kamionka Strumiłowa. The marching column lined up, with four Jews in each row, and was surrounded by the policemen. The county chief announced that he would shoot anyone trying to escape. Indeed, a young lady named Rojza Kratz and two boys (Abraham Distenfeld and [unknown]) did try to escape, and were shot dead on the spot. The column was driven toward Kamionka Strumiłowa, a distance of thirty-two kilometers. A couple of persons were shot on the way there. [The Jews] were beaten throughout the journey. During the march, they encountered two SS vehicles [loaded with people], who were likewise being transported to Kamionka under guard, and were [similarly] beaten. Additional groups of Jews from the countryside – men, women, and children – joined [their] column in the course of the march, and they were all herded together. In the market square in Kamionka, they were surrounded by 200 new SS men. Kamionka was already empty. The march from Radziechów to Kamionka had lasted from 10:30 AM until 5 PM. From the market square in Kamionka, they were herded toward the bridge over the Bug River, behind which there were two remaining bunkers from the Soviet period. In reality, these were dugouts surrounded with earth, with a single entrance. Shots and cries of “Shema Israel!” [“Hear, o Israel!”, a prayer traditionally recited by Jews who are about to die] could be heard from there. The people began to say “widdny” [apparently, viddui, the confession prayer read on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement]. They were herded into the square near the bunkers. They were ordered to kneel in rows, with hands folded in the manner of schoolchildren. They found few Jews from Kamionka Strumiłowa and Busk there. They were informed that 1,400 Jews from Busk and 1,100 Jews from Kamionka had already perished in those bunkers on that day. [The Jews of] Radziechów were the last to die. They were ordered to hand over their gold and money ([the Germans] filled an entire bag with it) and to strip naked. He [the testifier, Leib Gold] forgot to take off his glasses, and was beaten with a rifle butt for this transgression. The testifier handed over 300 dollars, a watch, and a pair of earrings. The men and the women were there together. The field was strewn with clothes. Local peasants stood on a rise, watching the proceedings from a distance. The naked people began to be herded into the bunkers in groups of six. All the Jews had their mouths examined, and their gold teeth were pulled out. The testifier had his lower front teeth knocked out with a pistol. He entered the bunker along with five other victims, including two girls. SS men stood to the right and left of the entrance (the opening in the earth embankment surrounding the pit). At the entrance itself, there was a pile of dead bodies. The testifier stumbled and fell down. The body of Usher Rubin, the Rabbi of Radziechów, lay in front of him. He heard shots and cries. The bodies were falling on top of him; there now were three bodies on top of him. He did not budge. The Germans were shouting: "Es lebe die deutsche Revolution! Es lebe die deutsche Technik! Nieder mit den Juden!" [Long live the German revolution! Long live the German technique! Down with the Jews!]. The victims, for their part, were begging: "Noch eine Kugel!" (One more bullet!) and shouting: "Shema Israel!" The body of the young Weisman (his father lives somewhere in Krakow) lay near the testifier, and next to it lay the bodies of Menashe Gold, the testifier's brother; Yoine Banner; two girls, the Herman sisters from Radziechów, and Gitel Szargel, who was still alive and begging: “noch eine Kugel!” (yet there were no merciful bullets for her). Further on, [he saw] Margula Raubvogel, aged about twenty-two, with her child shot dead in her arms. He heard someone in the courtyard give an order to bring twelve carts to transport the victims’ possessions, and he later heard the actual arrival of these carts, followed by an order to bring thirty peasants to bury the pits of the “bunkers”. The SS [men] left the pit, [and] the peasants came and began to bury [the pits] with shovels. It was already evening; the moon was shining. He began to raise his upper body, leaning onto his arm to have some air to breathe. His lower body was buried, with two [dead] bodies lying on top of it. He heard a rustle in front of him. It was Mendel Bedner. They decided to wait a little longer. They figured out that the time was 11 PM. They gradually helped each other climb out of the pile, and then crawled out of the pit at about midnight. They crawled for about two km in the grass, and then they got to their feet and reached the Jarsen [?] Forest….

…About eight days later [after the first murder operation in Radziechów], a second murder operation took place. It had been preceded by a roll call. Most of those victims were able-bodied young people, who had been ordered to report for an alleged inspection of workers. Those who had assembled in the market square were surrounded by Ukrainian auxiliary policemen and a handful of [German] rural policemen, and marched under guard to Kamionka Strumiłowa, where all of them, some 1,500 people in total, were shot dead in a square outside of town. Pits had been dug there, and the people, stripped naked, were thrown alive into them and shot. I know about all this from the stories of the peasants, and from a Jew (I do not know his name) who had escaped naked from the murder site, and returned to Radziechów….