[Columns 431-432]

September 1, 1939

The Ludmir residents became very unsettled on Friday morning when they heard the news that Germany had declared war on Poland, and on Friday, had bombed Polish cities.

That Sunday, September 3, our city received the first refugees from Poland, as they fled in terror, leaving behind all their goods and possessions. They said that German planes were bombing the cities mercilessly, houses were flying in midair, and dead people were lying in the streets. They said that Poland was a complete destruction and the entire population was fleeing. But no one actually knew where to run, so one person followed the other. The highway from the Ustyluh road to the Lutzk road, did not rest by day or night. High-up officials, officers, consuls, bankers, and ordinary people, all were running in the direction of Vilna through Ludmir.

Soon, an aid committee was created with the senior official [community elder] at the head, in order to help those who were running through the city, with food and boarding overnight. The roads were filled with those who were fleeing on wagons and bicycles; the women were running and pushing infant carriages. The airplanes did not spare them, and many dead bodies lay in the streets.

The possessions that were left behind lay along the complete length of the streets of Warsaw.

The city changed its face from day to day. The shops closed. In almost every house, every courtyard, there were refugees with cars. Many cars had no gasoline, so they were left behind, and people went on foot. Where to? No one knew. They ran, fleeing from the fire.

The first victim of the war was the woman Teme Birman, may she rest in peace, the wife of the dentist Rafael (a Ludimer Zionist), as she was digging near the theater trenches, opposite the air defense area. She had a heart attack and died.

On the very second Sunday of the war, at 4 in the morning, Ludmir was bombed, on Lutzk Street. The bombing caused many deaths, among them Ben Levinson, family Zilber, the two Vevrik brothers, and more. From that day on, many fled into the nearby forests. The city looked dead. In the center and in all corners, they dug ditches. Many Polish military were stationed in every corner of the city.

The German military was already behind the city, but returned according to the agreement that was made then between Russia and Germany.

For two days, the city was without any governance. The Poles wanted to set up a Polish government in Ludmir, and wanted to get even with the “Jewish communists.” Two victims were then killed on Lutzk Street, near Kominski's pharmacy.

A delegation fled to Lutzk, where the Russians already were, and then a Russian official came at night and put things into order. The next day, September 28, lots of military arrived, that extended further and further, actually until Lublin. But according to an order, the military withdrew to Ustyluh, where the German-Russian border was established.

The Russians, as they withdrew from Poland, took with them many, many Jews who did not want to remain with the Germans. There were just a few who remained in Russia. They sent these refugees to Siberia, and because of that, they remained alive. These Jews returned from Russia to Poland, where they were all trying to get to Israel, because in Poland all they found were their former homes, totally destroyed. The families were murdered, all their possessions were stolen, so their only hope now was to get to the Land of Israel.

It was very difficult to acclimate to the Russian way of life. For example, the transition from capitalism to socialism was very difficult for many people. They confiscated everything: all the mills (there were 8 mills in Ludmir) were taken by the government; all the large stores, the large houses, all were taken. All the landowners and settlers were sent to Siberia, and their land was divided up among the poor farmers. Camps, camps of Polish officers, high up officials and police, were all sent to Siberia. A few important people from the city fled to Lemberg being afraid of Siberia, and among them were Nosson Goldstein (owner of a large house and wealthy business of field machinery), Yekel Koltin (a wealthy owner of a large haberdashery store), and others who later were murdered by the Germans in Lemberg.

Gradually, the residents of Ludmir became accustomed to life, as they worked and assumed that this was now the way of life to be. From the other side of Poland,

[Columns 433-434]

we heard a lot of terrible things that the Germans were doing to the Jews. We received information about horrifying nightmares in Chelm, where they herded many Jews to the Bug River, lined them up there, and then shot them. But we did not hear about any pogroms.

All the Ludmir residents received five-year passes as citizens of Russia. The refugees did not want to take on any Russian citizenship. They argued that they were Polish citizens. Then, one fine morning, they were all sent to Siberia. A small percentage of those people went into hiding, but later, they were killed by the Nazis.

The well-known businessman and Zionist, Lev, was sent to Siberia, along with his wife and with Zukerman. Until this very day, there is no news about Lev. Regarding his wife, Lev's brother-in-law Yellin, in Tel Aviv, received a letter from her, in which she asked about her husband because they were not together. She was in deep Russia. Later, her letters stopped coming.

On June 22, 1941, Sunday late morning, we heard shooting from the Ustyluh side. They said that this was coming from maneuvers of the Russian army, and so they calmed down. But as time went on, the shots became more intense. There was also a Jewish dead body on Ustyluh road: a bullet had gone through someone's foot. Rumors spread: Germany unexpectedly attacked Russia. In town, people were mingling and simmering. Many Russian officers, who had brought their families from Russia, were running around and didn't know what to do. They left and never came back, leaving behind their families to fend for themselves. Many of these families stayed and lived in deprivation under the Nazis.

The first refugees came from Ustyluh (13 kilometers from Ludmir, on the border between Germany and Russia), those who saved themselves from the terrible chaos that was there, and from them we learned how the Germans arranged a great evening on Shabbath night, and invited the important Russian border guards, with whom they lived in peace. They got them nicely drunk, and then at 4 in the morning, the artillery, which was behind Rubashov [a high-raking communist official], fired into town and burned it down completely. This army fled in their underwear. Many dead bodies lay in the streets, as destruction reigned in the town. Of the small number of Jews who lived there with a special card (because this was the border card), many of them were killed, and those who remained, barely escaped death, naked and barefoot. We soon gave them their first aid and set up a place for them to live.

We soon saw the terrible destruction that overtook our small town, but there was no time to run. The Ludmir-Kovel train line was completely torn apart, there were no cars for the military, and there was absolutely no possibility for the civilian population to get anywhere.

Soon on Sunday, many Ludmir residents received notice to register in the army. But when they came to the designated place of the military commission, there was already no one there. Everyone had fled. There was no time now to position themselves against the enemy, who at that very same time had bombed Kovel, Rowno, Kiev, and our town. This soon created chaos among the people, and the military tore apart the train lines.

On Monday morning, our town was severely bombed, and there were many victims. The entire street near the large prison, was burned down, and Parne Street, on both sides, was also burned down. A bomb fell near Powiatowski, and the entire Kalb (the butcher) family was killed. A bomb also fell on the Ustyluh road, where the family Gutles died, and so on.

The greatest tragedy happened in the Bokser house (the wine making family), opposite the Haliyes, where many Jews were hiding in their cellar[a], among whom was also the Ustyler Rav Sheintop Yehoshua, of blessed memory, who had come to his father in Ludmir for Shabbath, and did not try to get back. A bomb exploded the wall and destroyed the cellar with the people. Heart wrenching cries and screams were heard from that cellar. They started to try and save some people, but with ongoing bullet shots, there was no success. Everyone choked to death. The Rav shouted: “Save me!” Part of his head was visible, but by the time he was saved from the cement and bricks of the wall that was completely crushing him, his soul left him. We left them all in that place, and only in a few days' time, when the Germans were already there, the bodies were able to be buried in the cemetery.

At 12 o'clock midnight, the Germans invaded the town. They ignited many houses with hand grenades, on Kovel and Ustyluh streets, and shot many Jews. Among them were Shmulik Rotenstein, Shmukler, the bookkeeper of the cigarettes, Hershel Zuker, Frint, Yenti Liben's husband, and more. Very soon, they snatched up Jews from their homes for work to cover the ditches which had bombs.

[Columns 435-436]

In a few days' time, with a specific order, we had to hand in our radios at a designated gathering place. The place was in the city's theater, in a wooden building that was still from the days of the Austrians in 1916. We were also ordered to bring all our books to the theater, and then they were all burned there.

About two weeks later, military policemen were disarmed and positions for a city police troupe and regional commissioner were developed, and they began to create some sort of order in the town. The commissioner summoned the important people of the town and ordered them to create a Judenrat so that he could always be in contact with them. He said that they would no longer capture Jews in the streets ever day, and the Judenrat would assign workers according to their demands.

The Judenrat, with Rav Morgenstern, of blessed memory, at the head, began their work, to satisfy them and so that they would not have to snatch up Jews in the streets. The meeting place from which Jews were sent to work, was in the big shul. Every day, people's voices were heard from there, expressing how they did not want to go to work, but only wanted easier work. And the Germans from various places just stood there and waited to assign workers, each to his place. The Jewish officers from the Judenrat, who summoned the people each day for work, did not behave properly. They often beat the ones who were late, and searched the houses for Jews who were hiding and not coming forward.

The Jews worked hard in all kinds of work settings, primarily at the train station, where the trouble-making “Hitler youth” were in charge. As they led the Jews to the train, they forced them to sing “Bei mir bistu shein, far mir hostu chein…” [to me you are beautiful, for me you are charming; old Yiddish folk/love song], and then at the train station, they were beaten murderously. And every single night a wife or mother would beat her head thinking: her child, her husband was murdered today and could not even have a Jewish burial.

Every day, there were heartbreaking scenes at the shul, I lived nearby and often heard from mothers: “Oy God! Dear Father in heaven! Is Jewish blood really ownerless? Have we really sinned so much that we require such punishment?”

In about two months, Rav Morgenstern became very sick from suffering terrible anguish: horrors, pain, that he had to tolerate on account of the officials. After Rav Morgenstern's death, the advocate Weiler was selected as a representative of the Judenrat. Simcha'le Brigman worked with the Judenrat, and he did much for the Ludmir Jews. He had a great influence on the regional commissioner, and he freed many Jews from prison and death.

On a Friday, in the eighth month, they snatched up Jews in the streets for work, and then they were taken to the prison. As we later found out, this was an order from the Gestapo, who had been in our city. In the prison, about 800 men were shot at night. The officials made sure that these 800 would be sent to work, but we found out the bitter truth when the first pogrom happened on September 1, 1942. Among the martyrs were advocate Weiler of the Judenrat, Mr. Naftali Grosman, Yisroel son of Katz, a young man who had studied in Vilna to become an advocate; Naftali Gurevitz, and Hormacher son of Yosel, who worked as cashier in the People's Bank.

A few days passed, and the Jews continued to go to work. Dr. Bardach, a dentist, was selected as chairman of the Judenrat. We waited every day for news of those who were captured. About six weeks later, the Gestapo came again, and once again captured about 400 Jews, and as it appeared later, they were shot in the prison at night. Among those who were murdered, was the famous businessman from Beis Lechem, Dude Runtenshen and his son Moshe Brinker from the city council, and others. There was always talk that these people were sent to work. We only found out all the details on the eve of Yom Kippur.

This was on a Monday. Tuesday was the eve of Yom Kippur. Once again, they captured Jews in the streets and from all the places where the Jews were working, they were captured as well. They were not left aside nor taken into the prison, but at the iron gate, they were asked: “Your skill?” The workers were set to one side, and the non-workers on another side.

I, who worked in a bakery at that time, replied: “Baker.” So they placed me on the side of the workers.

What happened in the prison's yard is hard to describe. They buried one group of living souls after another, and the cries reached the heart of the heavens. The beatings of the Ukrainian policemen, with the assistance of the Germans, who, with sticks that had iron pieces tied to the ends, beat the Jews to death. Blood ran everywhere. As they passed out, each one fell onto the other. They were thrown alive into the ditches, and then ordered the next group of Jews, a group of non-workers, to destroy them as well. They beat these “new” Jews to death. We were locked in a room, and we heard wild screams from those tragic ones who were buried alive. Then they forced one group to beat the other on their heads with iron bars. And if they

[Columns 437-438]

refused to do this, they were murderously beaten, kicked hard with their feet, thrown into a ditch, then shot.

Then they went to the workers in the room, and immediately began to beat them. “You are too fat! You are a communist! You were a leader with the communists!” And they beat the Jews wherever they could. Who knows how long they would have continued the beating but a gendarme came in and shouted one word: “Enough!”

The Judenrat ran to the regional commissioner, bringing him a large sum of money, and mercifully begged the commissioner to stop the beatings of innocent people. By the time the commissioner arrived, 180 people had already been buried alive, and he ordered the rest to be freed. We spent the night in the prison, and in the morning, we were taken to work, and in the evening, the eve of Yom Kippur, we were released.

On Yom Kippur day, we did not daven – [pray] as a group, but neighbors got together as a minyan – [prayer group], pouring out bitter hearts to the Creator, reciting the El Moleh Rachamim – [prayer for the dead] for the recent martyrs who died so bitterly.

And again, after a few days, Jews were sent to the hardest labor, and again, at the large shul, there were heartbreaking scenes of mothers' cries as they knew that they had lost their sons at their workplaces.

That bloody Monday in the prison was not forgotten, that which the regional commissioner himself had enacted. The Jews were trying to figure out a way to avenge him. That day finally came. When he went on a visit to the town Haike, a village not far from Ludmir, he was shot by Jewish hands. Because of that event, the city lived through terrible times, fearing a pogrom. The entire village was burned down, and many Ukrainians were shot, because the guilt of the actions fell onto them. And with great celebration, the commissioner was buried in the place of the Panstvo gymnasia (high school), where there were many German graves of those who died in war.

The Judenrat became familiar with the new regional commissioner that was sent over. They determined that he was much better than the one before. He promised to maintain order in the city. He also promised security for the unprotected Jews! People brought him many gifts, jewelry for his wife who was in Krakow, furniture, furs, all kinds of material for clothing, and other desirables.

That winter was a hard one. The Judenrat got many things for the Jewish people, and made many deals with the regional commissioner who wanted to set up a ghetto, but this was delayed from month to month.

That winter, we lost the well-known Zionist Dovid Bokser, who was captured by the stormtroopers for work at the Kovel railroad stations, and they put him to heavy work. He was a frail person, and when he did not entirely finish his work, they beat him murderously and then ordered him to sing “Bei mir bistu shein.”. He did not want to obey their orders, so they kicked him with their feet and beat him with the butt of their guns. They dug out a ditch and then threw him in alive. With the words: 147;Shema Yisrael! Kechu nekama be'ad hadam shelanu, be'ad hakorbanos shelanu! Am Yisrael chai!” [“Hear O Israel! Take revenge for our blood, for our victims! May the nation of Israel live!”] they tortured him. The rest of the Jews who worked there watched all this. They worked and they cried.

Soon after the new year 1942, the regional commissioner, by the order of higher powers, wanted to establish a ghetto for the Ludmir Jews. He discussed this with the Judenrat, figuring out how to set this up, and which streets to use. With great efforts, the Judenrat was able to delay this. Using generous amounts of money and gold, the delay was done more and more. The German “worker officials” began to give out to the Jewish workers, to the craftsmen, “worker's identification cards,” which was enacted with the help of the workers' unit of the Judenrat, the head of which at that time were advocates Grinberg and Kudish.

Soon there was a chase after the “skill identification cards,” using all kinds of preferential treatments and combinations. As was everywhere else, it was the same here, that the real craftsmen did not receive their “cards”, but the wealthy ones, the known ones, and the close ones did, and those who would have these papers would remain alive during the next pogroms. Everybody figured that pogroms would happen by us as well, because we heard that pogroms happened in other cities such as Kovel, Dubno, and other towns in Volhyn. (We heard that in Rowno, after November 1941, about 10,000 people were summoned to come to a designated place, rumored that they would be sent to work. Everyone was permitted to take along 16 kilograms of items from their home. When all the people were gathered together, they were all machine gunned to death.)

Many people stormed together daily at the Jewish workman's office, where they shouted and demanded “worker's identification card.” They ran to the German workman's office and paid a lot of money just to get this card for life.

They followed the steps of Grinberg and Kudish, some people calm and others enraged, threatened with knives, because the one who paid good money was the one to receive the card, even if those people were not skilled workers.

[Columns 439-440]

Grinberg's mother was a very religious and honest woman, so acquaintances and close ones ran to her with cries and pleas that she convince her son to provide the life-giving card. She reassured everyone, and nodded her head with commitment: “My dear children, I wish that all Jews could have these cards, and that everyone live, and live to see Moshiach [Messiah], so I will speak to my son, and I will plead with him. Go in good health!”

Also, many people ran to Kudish's wife with all kinds of gifts, and then came with tears in their eyes so that she would have pity on them so that they would receive the ID card.

Her chin shook as she became angry: “What should I do! My husband wants to make it good for everyone, but what can he do! He has to deal with the Germans, and it's difficult to get the cards from them. But I'll tell him, maybe…”

Things were rumbling and raging in our town, and people allowed their entire savings to be used for these life-saving cards, which, as everyone thought, would save their lives. But as was evident later, it was all a bluff, a trick of the German worker's office and the regional commissioner, to fool the people who might otherwise have tried to find a hiding place for the terrifying tomorrow.

The many pleas from the Judenrat made no difference with regards to setting up the ghetto. Already right after Purim, Jewish workers set up boards and dragged wires according to the instructions of a German engineer – that's how they built a ghetto for us.

The ghetto stretched from Starr's Jewish high school through Parne, from the buildings of Tuchshneider-Perlmutter-Vaks-Limunik-Teper-Wiener, until the train road down until Smocza, then opposite Grof's mill until Levin's tree, Loitzker Street up to the city until the large prison. And from Safir, up to the People's Bank.

Two large gates were set up, one at the People's Bank, and the other on Lutzke Street, near Levin's house.

The regional commissioner gave two weeks' time to move into the ghetto, in the various places that the Judenrat instructed for the move.

This is how we received two gifts for Pesach [Passover]: the ghetto, and the order that every Jew, without exception, must wear two yellow badges, round, one in the front, and the other high up on the chest. For those who did not follow these rules, there was the death sentence.

He only made an exception for those who had an obvious work skill, so for now, they were permitted to remain in their place.

For two whole weeks, wagons filled with Jewish possessions and goods went to their Christian neighbors where they hid their beddings and all in the attics and the stalls. The number of people in each house grew to 12 or 20, according to the specific instructions of the Judenrat who measured each room and divided each into two meters, which each person received.

And exactly at the time of Pesach, the ghetto became closed, surrounded by Ukrainian police, who switched every two hours. The only ones who were allowed to leave the ghetto were those who worked outside of the ghetto with the special permission of the German labor office.

The needs of the poor population who worked and starved began to fill the ghetto. They still received everything for money, but for those whose money began to run out they rarely were able to exchange things with the Christian or townspeople, for flour, potatoes, or other products – they suffered severely.

After locking up the ghetto, only workers who would leave the ghetto were able to exchange their possessions, but bringing food into the ghetto was very difficult. The Ukrainian police searched almost everyone who entered the ghetto, and those who were caught, and were unable to save themselves, were given over to the police. Those who were caught were sent to the prison, and only after lengthy interventions of the Judenrat would that person be freed. In many cases, the Judenrat would receive an answer saying that the person they were looking to set free was no longer there, he had been shot.

This is how the Ludmir population struggled in daily life. The Jewish people became more depressed every day, broken physically and morally from daily work and not knowing about tomorrow.

The Jews worked hard by dragging cables, for the full length of the front line. The older ones worked by the ditches, the younger ones dragged the heavy cables on their backs, along the length of the ditches, under the layers of cement that was being put down, and then the older workers blocked off the light of the ditches.

The special German engineers and the Ukrainian special guards took murderous revenge on the Jewish workers and forced them to work without stopping until total darkness.

After Shavuos [holiday] of 5702 [May 1942], the regional commissioner ordered that all workers with the labor identification had to present themselves in the ghetto on Zarice and Wodovonye Streets, that was especially prepared for them. The Judenrat had a very difficult task to take care of…. After, as the regional commissioner had designated these two large streets for the craftsmen, some non-craftsmen managed to get in there as well,

[Columns 441-442]

and those who formerly lived there or had their own houses there did not want to leave their places. For the working residents outside the ghetto, there was no place for them to go. With fights with their own Jewish police, and also with help of the gendarmes, the unskilled workers were thrown out of their homes, and with great force, they were taken into the “death ghetto,” as it was later called. It was thought that the lucky person who was able to get a worker's identification card would, along with his family, remain alive. Because otherwise, why would the regional commissioner create a special ghetto for those with the worker's card?

The representatives of the Judenrat and the doctors were privileged to be able to live outside the ghetto wherever they wanted.

In the so-called “living ghetto,” there was very little space because almost all the wealthy men, the prominent men, and the ordinarily privileged people (and the real craftsmen) received the life ticket and lived on one of the two streets.

In order for them to be able to see one another, the regional commissioner permitted two doors to be open, one near Pinchas'el Roth, who lived on the side, and the second door was near Chaim Kopp, who lived on the other side. The doors were open for designated hours, and you could see one another by going from one door to the next through the street. After the designated hours, the doors were locked for visiting.

We lived through difficult days and sleepless nights in the ghetto.

Because of the crowdedness of the houses, sicknesses began to occur. Many cases of typhus were recorded. No one could go to the regional commissioner because typhus was raging in the ghetto. He would have completely shut down the ghetto, which would have been a death sentence to us all. When the workers would go to work outside of the ghetto, they used to bring in food without which there would have been a terrible hunger and need. The Hebrew gymnasia [school], which was in the center of the ghetto, was turned into a hospital, where we helped with the sick, using our own funds. A second place was created for those who were very sick in the Tarbut school. Officially, it was called a birthing institute. In truth, it was a hospital for the very sick. The Judenrat bought medicines at great expense, and often for actual gold received from the Polish profiteers who came from Warsaw and other cities.

The funerals of the dead were dealt with discreetly. The body was carried to the cemetery without noise and without commotion, and after the tahara [pre-burial cleansing and washing ritual], the body was buried quietly. We would return to the ghetto quickly and silently. We envied the dead person. He already lived through his fate, died in his bed, and was in a Jewish burial place. What would happen to us? Who knew?

After a person's death, you had to sit shiva [seven-day mourning period], then you silently recited the kaddish [prayer for the dead], behind closed shutters, but who would recite the kaddish after us? We felt that this would not evade us. The sky, that was so bright for the world, was so dark for us. The air was sharp, wet, everyone went around with all kinds of thoughts. The political leaders sat in the houses, figuring out the few pieces of news that would come into the ghetto from the front, the victories of our enemy, the slaughters of the Nazis in Russia, their deep invasion of Russia, and there, the German will finally meet his ending. He would not take over Russia – was what our political leaders said, but it was still too early to discuss that. We were still in Nazi hands, and they could do whatever they wanted with us. Who knew if we would survive.

This is how our elders sat and discussed politics, and did not envision our actual disaster, how a plan was being prepared for our destruction.

Every day, in front of the big shul, there were heartbreaking scenes, mothers' and fathers' rending cries, as they saw their children being sent to the hardest labor. They would come home destroyed, with ripped lungs from terrible beatings, and oftentimes they did not even come home. They would be shot for not obeying the orders of the stormtroopers.

The stormtroopers would beat mercilessly.

The best was to work for the Viennese Germans, for older Germans who were not raised in the spirit of Hitler but argued that it was wartime and everyone had to cooperate. They were afraid to say the wrong things, because they would have to pay with their heads. But quietly, sometimes they would whisper into the other person's ear: “Hitler is kaput, we lost the war because we started up with Russia.” The person would nod his head and put out rings of smoke from his pipe.

Every day, every week and month, the situation in the ghetto became more difficult and more tense. The difficult workdays, the daily orders for death, the news from all around, about the pogroms on the Jews, all of this pressed the air tightly around us. As the days went on, each day saw the Jews becoming weaker and weaker. People would sell the items from their homes for a little flour, groats, and so on.

It became more and more difficult to bring food into the ghetto. The Judenrat could not come up with any solution, because every time they had to give over gold and other beautiful gifts to the regional commissioner's lover Anna, who was a sadist, and always screamed: “When they drain the blood of Jews, then I sing my heart out.” Every time, she

[Columns 443-444]

demanded more and more things, and where the other regional workers were, the deputy of the regional commissioner's area, and the gendarmerie – everyone took something. With all their power, the Judenrat tried to please everyone, and avoided that which they were afraid to confront.

But apparently, nothing helped. One fine morning, the regional commissioner ordered all the workers to be removed from their workplaces in order that they go and dig many ditches behind the city, in Piatidyne, for air defense. He convinced the Judenrat that these ditches were being prepared for air defense. They were digging a base behind the checkpoint of the German government.

Old and young were mobilized for work, until the age of 55, without any reasons or answers. In a specific row, there were doctors and other privileged ones who went to work, where they worked in all kinds of positions. And every morning, along the length of the road by the shul, every worker had to be there by 6 am. And the regional commissioner, may his name be blotted out, with his stick in hand, would be there every morning, walk along the entire lineup, examine each person, count if there was the right number of workers, with the shovels on their backs. Every day, the workers went seven miles, there and back, coming home in the dark, ate a few bites, then dropped heavily on the bed into a sleep, not having even a thought about looking around and seeing what was going on, because the following day, they had to get up before dawn once again, and go to work. Twice a week, the regional commissioner sent some meat for the workers. This, however, evoked a suspicion, because why was he being such a “good provider”? People in the ghetto began to mumble this suspiciously.

He literally drove us crazy, the regional commissioner, but we had no other choice. Our permanent neighbors, the Ukrainians, now became our greatest enemy. When a Jew just put his foot outside of the ghetto, the Poles did not allow him back, and the Ukrainians killed him or gave him over to the police.

For us, everything was as one. The world is big, but for us it was narrow. There was no place for us. Every day, fear for the next day was felt in the ghetto more and more. People were afraid to sleep, and people rushed to sleep in the “living ghetto,” which became extremely crowded. People built temporary rooms for living, so long as they would be able to remain overnight in this ghetto. People felt that the death sentence hung over our heads, as that Judgment Day, the dark day, was coming. The Judenrat met daily with the regional commissioner. Bargman Simcha'le looked for the best jewels and he carried them with him, and wanted to end the long, bad fate that was hanging on our heads, but nothing helped.

On Monday evening, when the Jews came back from work, as they were tossing the shovels at the ghetto gates' entry, they mumbled among themselves that the “day” had arrived. They were preparing themselves for something. What was coming, from which direction, no one knew, but people were talking. And once the gates from one ghetto to the next were shut, hundreds of Jews stormed into the “living ghetto” as if there would be the place for them to be saved.

The regional commissioner was passing through our ghetto with his beloved Anna on two beautiful horses, and then at the gate, they smiled to the Jewish policeman, and asked him, “What's new?” “Don't worry, everything is in order,” he replied, and they continued on.

That night, no one in the ghetto could sleep. Everyone was anticipating the terrible oncoming day.

At exactly 2 am, the ghetto was forcibly awakened and surrounded with Ukrainian police. A quiet filled the ghetto.

Already from yesterday morning, they had brought all the Jews from the surrounding towns into the city to the large shul, with all their things that they had brought with them. From all sides, farmers' wagons came bearing Jewish families under Ukrainian watch, as they rode to the shul and then left the families there. This created a panic in the ghetto, as they prepared themselves for something.

From time to time, shooting was heard as someone was trying to tear through the wires. The police shot and did not allow anyone to approach the wires. From time to time, you could see someone running in the ghetto as someone ran to his neighbor where a small bit of food was hidden.

And then early in the morning, at 6 am, the massacre began. With a yell of “Hurrah!” the Ukrainian police tore into the ghetto with the gendarmerie of Ludmir and from Lutzk, which was specially brought over. They started to drag out the people from their houses. Then the people were crowded together under strict watch near the ghetto gate, which was near the People's Bank, and with special trucks, they took the Jewish daughters, sons, and children, to Pietidyn to be slaughtered. They did not collect too many people in one place, but took them to the trucks immediately so as to prevent any resistance. Everyone was hidden, so that no one knew where the other person was,

[Columns 445-446]

and each hoped that they would not find their close ones. Everyone hoped that this day would pass, and maybe this was the reason that there was no resistance.

This aktzia started in the “death ghetto,” as we called it, and it was calm in the “living ghetto,” surrounded by police, no one from there was permitted to leave, nor was anyone allowed to enter, and no one from there went to work that day.

I was high up in an attic in the “living ghetto” and I watched as the trucks raced out of the ghetto onto the highway, filled with people who were being led to their death.

I could not believe my own eyes, and could not believe that this was actually true, that this horrific day, this actual day, had begun, that which we feared daily, but did not believe would actually happen, and it did come!

And now, what will be? Would they actually leave behind the “living ghetto”? Would nothing bad happen here? Why did the Judenrat not reassure that no more people would be allowed in here? All kinds of thoughts went around in our heads, and we could in no way understand what this meant: They took innocent people and shot them all!

Later, I saw that a truck raced into our ghetto filled with clothes, and drove in the direction of the red shul, not far from us. What was going on? I heard screams: “Faster! Faster!” As I later realized, the trucks had come to this big building with the clothing of the martyrs who had to strip naked before their death. Jews now had to take the clothing out of the trucks and bring them into the building. The trucks left again to the other ghetto, to get more innocents and take them to their death.

I was shivering. It was already 12 noon. It was quiet where I was. Would this ghetto actually survive this mass murder?

It was exactly 1:30, and at a distance I saw a group of Ukrainian police, with the Gestapo at the head, coming in the direction of our ghetto. The gates opened, and with a cry of “Hurrah!” they fled in all directions for a mass thievery. Soon, I saw how they were taking people in groups outside of the ghetto.

As I later found out, the regional commissioner argued with the Gestapo. He wanted to leave behind the “living ghetto” from which he received much gold and jewels, but the Gestapo did not permit this, because there were too many Jews in this ghetto. And after discussions, at around 1 o'clock, the horrific slaughtering began in our ghetto as well.

There was no time to think. I ran down the stairs and hid in the prepared hideout, where my family was hiding out from earlier that day.

Soon the door was ripped open and gendarmes and wild Ukrainian bandits tore their way in. Terrible screams, cries, wails were heard, and heavy steps over our heads. Soon, once again, it was quiet. It seemed: The people from the other side were taken out. We were lying on the floor, not breathing. We needed air. Once again, we heard steps and voices from the gendarmerie: “Search everywhere!” We held our breath and heard the threats to us from the Ukrainians. They moved the furniture, banged and – left with curses on their lips.

At nighttime, I sneaked out to get a bucket of water for our ditch, and slowly, I closed myself back in. I heard sounds of shooting, women's cries that ripped the heart.

That is how we stayed until Wednesday evening, but soon we smelled strong smoke in our ditch. I opened the small door, and flames and smoke came rushing forward. “It's burning!” I screamed. “We have to run!” I grabbed a child's hand and ran out of the house. It is bright all around. I did not think for long, and ran in the direction of the red shul. From there – to the wires. I jumped to the other side near Dr. Piatetska's house, and lay down in the garden.

Ukrainians were running around, shooting in the air, and screaming. The flames grew bigger and bigger. Some houses were burning. It did not matter. Better that everything in the entire ghetto got burned than possessions ending up in the hands of the enemy.

I kept running. My thoughts were to be able to get out of the city, but there were many policemen patrolling around the city, and there, people were also snatched up and sent to prison. The child that I was holding did not allow me the chance to flee, and on Wednesday, at about 1 am, I was taken to prison.

The prison was lit up all around. This was the first time in my life that I was here, even though all my life I had lived near the prison. They took us through the People's Bank, where you heard resonances of music. I took a quick look: Many German officers were dancing. Many were sitting around small tables with empty bottles of wine and beer around them. Oh, how unlucky we were. Why did we deserve all this? Could we not live like others?

“Davai, Davai, zhidovskaya morda!” [“Let's go, let's go, kill the Jews!” (Russian)]. I heard the shouts. And with the butt of a gun pounding my back, I was forced to go faster.

At the gate of the prison, we were searched. They took everything away from us, and they led us even further.

There was noise in the prison. The police were running round as if they were the main families at a wedding. Soon I saw two familiar Christians, now policemen.

1. In Bokser's cellar, among others, were Bokser's family, the Bierman family, the Tuchshneider family, the Troper family, and more.

« Previous Page Table of Contents Next Page »

  Volodymyr Volynskyy, Ukraine     Yizkor Book Project     JewishGen Home Page

Copyright © 1999-2025 by JewishGen, Inc.
Updated 19 Nov 2025 by OR