had already seized 11,000 Jews, herded them out of town and surrounded them by heavily armed gangs, they began to throw them into special trucks. Even then the unfortunates still hoped they had been taken only for resettlement. They hadn’t yet understood that graves were already dug for them. The Jews were packed into the trucks full of Jews and driven 7 kilometres out of town. In one of the trucks a Jew, realising with 100 per cent certainty that they were being taken to be shot, cried out: “Jews, we are being led to the slaughter!” A gendarme shot him on the spot. On the other hand, there was a case in which other German drivers deliberately stopped their trucks on the way and told the unfortunate Jews to run off into the woods. Of course, those were only exceptions. A case is also known of an army officer who refused to take part [27] in the pogrom against the Jews. He was, however, punished for that. Many Germans also warned the Jews what was awaiting them.
As the trucks were crossing the river, the criminals took many little children and threw them in the water. It was only when the unfortunate Jewswere brought to the place and saw the large graves prepared for them, that they understood that these were the last minutes of their lives. The graves had been dug long before. In fact, 60 Jews had been seized and ordered to dig the graves. Those 60 young Jews never saw the light of day again. They hadall been shot at that time. When the first groups of Jews were brought to the graves, a bloody fight broke out between the criminals – Lithuanians, Poles, and Belorussians, as well as German gendarmes – and all the unfortunate Jews, who were being forced to [28] [strip] naked. The criminals hit women, men, and children on the heads with rifle butts to make them strip naked. The Jews fought back bloodily, for they already knew clearly that these were their last minutes. The women fought particularly hard while they were screamed at and violently stripped of their clothing. First, any money they had on them was seized, then the Germans took the better clothing and burnt the rest. Then they forced the unfortunates into the graves with machine guns, pistols, and rifles, threw hand grenades at them and shot them with machine guns. Many were shot on the edge of the graves. Amid the terrible screaming, Shema Yisrael could be heard from the graves. The criminals shot the Jews and threw hand grenades at them, shouting: “Let England and America come and save you!” After they had killed the first groups, new victims werebrought and the bloody scenes continued.
BIA ŁY STO K AN D THE WESTERN BE L ARUS [ 16] 159
