Murder story of Shostka Jews at the Shostka Camp

Q.: What was her name? A.: Tanya. Q: Go on. A.: And I went with my mother to the Shostka camp. Q.: What kind of camp was it? A.: It was a labor camp, and we built a road there. Q.: Were there men and women there? A.: Yes, men, too. Q.: At what time did this happen, and who guarded the camp? A.: It was in the winter, and there was a building there. We slept there on the floor, on the straw. But we also received food. Bread and porridge. Q.: Who guarded you? A.: We were guarded by guards, by the police. The Germans came, ordered us around, and escorted us to and from work. That was road construction. Q.: Approximately how many people were there in the camp? A.: About a hundred. Q.: And were the conditions such that you could endure them? A.: Yes, it was tolerable, because there was no barbed wire. We could move around freely. Of course, we had to be present for the roll calls, but there was the possibility of going to the village, to barter and beg. There was no danger of starvation. But then the typhus began. And the doctor came, ventilating, disinfecting, and killing the sick. Q.: Were there killings in the camp? A.: Yes, yes. They were pulled aside, taken to a pit, and killed immediately. Q.: Were many people killed? A.: Yes, several dozen. I used to go with my mother. I used to lean on her arm when she went to work. Afterward, she would take me to the cornfield, where the stalks grew as tall as a forest. I would stay there in the cornfield for almost the entire working time. And so it went on every day. Q.: Were they guarded while they worked? A: Not very closely. We were hounded and beaten. Sometimes, a German came to us. His name was Alois Zimmermann.... But he came under the name Monschar. He may have been a Gestapo officer. He came only rarely, but he was a terrible bandit. The working hours were very long, but people worked. The inmates were killed periodically, and some of them left the camp. Some people went away, or ran away. Q.: Was the camp far from Kiev? A: About 200 kilometers. The Shostka camp, in the Zvenigorodka County – yes, that was about 200 kilometers from Kiev. That's how it was until December 1942, when the winter was severe. In wintertime, it was much more difficult. The days were cold. It was more difficult in winter, much colder. We lacked adequate clothing. The earth was terrible; it was hard to work. We had to get up early, when it was still very dark. It was particularly hard for the older inmates. But there was a work quota that everyone had to fulfill. And well, I was young and healthy, and I tried hard to fulfill both my own quota and that of my mother. She could barely move. This went on until the beginning, and then the end, of December. One week before the New Year, all the camp inmates were rounded up. First, all the men were taken somewhere with shovels. Then, the camp was surrounded by German policemen, so that there was no possibility of escape. The men were forced to go into the forest, where they had to dig with their shovels. They were murdered there. And so, they were taken there in groups and killed, after digging the pits [where they would be buried]. I and some other inmates hid in a building, where we found a hideout under the floor, a dark place. So, we stayed there until nightfall. I remember that the German Alois came in at the end and said: "Nix Jews, all Jews kaput." But the policemen were not convinced, and they began to search. A girl who was hiding somewhere nearby was found, taken out, and killed immediately. Q.: They were hiding, and so was their mother? A: No, my mother was killed, too. She and my friend, a young woman, and some other women. There was also a man there. We managed to escape.