because he had to look after his wife and two little children, the younger of
whom was 7 months. He was sitting on a bundle now, holding his baby in his
arms. His wife was standing next to him with their elder son. I saw in his face
that he could likely have saved himself, but his sense of duty was driving him
into a total unknown. All escape attempts ended in death. The pyziaks were
shooting dumdum bullets.³⁰⁵ There were also Polish policemen on the square.
The Germans counted everybody present, threatening that 20 would be killed
for each one missing.
I managed to avoid death with my baby and husband at the last moment
by pretending to fainted. I learned that the Landrat³⁰⁶ demanded a quota of
2,500 people and approximately 3,000 came. That fact enabled members of the
Judenrat to extract holders of patents (certificates) from the rows. We, that is,
the sick, were taken to a hospital, where they admitted only a woman who
was 9 months pregnant. We were turned down (aside from the pregnant lady,
the passengers of the droshky were I and another “fainting” woman with
four children) and told that the Aktion was already over. We went to my husband’s
brother, Berysz Dychterman (my other brother-in-law, Josel Feld, was
severely beaten up during his escape attempt). Berysz D. was in a state of
nervous shock. He had been on the square too, even though he had a craftsman’s
ID. Mr Joel Rabinowicz had rescued him, which was what caused that
shock. He kept crying:
“y– They’re shooting!
– I’ve found my brother and sister.
– It’s not your child.y”
He was in shock for several hours. The first Aktion took a toll of 2,500 victims.
On Monday, 1 June, a transport from Dubienka arrived in Hrubieszów,
3,000 “resettled”, victims. (As I was told, holders of craftsmen’s IDs were the
only ones that remained in Dubienka without families, a total of 100 Jews.)
The destination of the transport was unknown. 15 Jews from Dubienka were
executed at the train station in Hrubieszów. On Tuesday, 2 June, a “transport”
of victims from Bełz arrived, a total of 3,500 people. 500 of those people from
Bełz were released in Hrubieszów and issued red residence cards.
305 Bullets without casing which cause extensive injury after penetrating the flesh. Their use during warfare was banned pursuant to the 1899 Hague Convention.
306 County governor Otto Busse. See Doc. 34.
