of 2 June, the murderers allowed Jews in hiding to go from the first to the second ghetto. Although the Jews did not believe them and put no great trust in the Germans’ assurances, nevertheless a certain number stole across to the second ghetto. Some Jews also escaped by [4] attaching themselves to Jewish labour squads which were passing through Brzeski Square on their way back from work. By that means between 500 and 600 Jews got into the [second] ghetto. But the last group – some 200 people – who tried to get into the ghetto in that way were arrested, and what happened to them is not known.
As for the Jewish youth, many are said to have fled to the partisan bands operating in the area around Ratne.832 It is reported that in Ratne two SD men were recently killed by the partisans. Vergeltung:833 113 Ratne Jews and several Ukrainians killed! The Germans’ fear of the partisans is quite considerable. For example, the German authorities have strictly forbidden single vehicles to travel on the roads.
On the part of the Jewish population which was slaughtered, there were no attempts at all to resist the murderers. There is only a reported case of a young Jewish man who resisted a German murderer in the cemetery, and he was immediately liquidated. It is also reported that during the massacre in Brzeski Square a teacher (H. Avroikh?) addressed the crowd, saying that their blood would not be shed in vain: a day of vengeance would come.
Among the murdered: Lejer, a teacher from the Tarbut school; Frankfurt, director of the high school.
Near Kovel there is a prisoner-of-war camp for Soviet soldiers. The Jewish prisoners were shot straight away (61 Jews). There are Jews from Kovel working in the camp. Thanks to them it was possible to rescue many Soviet Jews, who joined the ranks of the Jewish labourers returning from work and were thus saved from death. [There are also girls from HeHalutz working there].
ARG I 809 (Ring. I/997)
Description: duplicate, handwritten, pencil, Yiddish, 205x293 mm, 4 sheets, 4 pages.
Attached is a note in Yiddish: “Ghetto – Warsaw 16 VII 1942. Recorded probably by Gutkowski. 4 pages, 1 copy legible, archival”.
