[Page 408]

On July 1, 1941, “The New City” was filled with a huge number of Hitler's troops. I was afraid to stay alone at home and I went to my father-in-law, Leizer Joresh. In the evening, I returned home to sleep. At midnight, I heard a strong knock on the door and, before I could figure this knocking out, the door was violently breached and the infamous Ukrainian murderer, Petro Bicz,^[1] burst in with five of the Gestapo. One of the murderers aimed a pistol at my heart and demanded gold. My mother and my wife, who was holding a baby in her arms, begged them to leave us alone because of the baby. After they did not find the sought-after gold - the murderers left and did not harm us.

I understood that it was not good to remain in the New City, where there were not many Jews, and I decided to stay with one of my acquaintances in the Old City. When I got to the city, I saw that the large synagogue was entirely engulfed in flames and the “Yeshiva” building and the Beit Ha-Midrash [=house of learning] building were burning, too.

The caretaker of the Beit Ha-Midrash, Shmuel, had a son-in-law named Shmuel Pritzker. That one fled with his family, six people, in the direction of the New City. The Germans caught him and brought him to the mills near the “grobovzina” [=gravestones]. They killed him and his family there and threw their bodies into the swamp. When I learned of this, it was very painful. I gave two villagers a decent “fee” and they dragged the bodies out of the mud and I buried them.

In those same days, they murdered the dentist, Dr. Shlugleit, with his wife and mother-in-law. They were killed where they lived, in the Gurewitz house. After a few days, the Germans, along with two Ukrainians and one Pole, brought Holtzman and Shoshana Bernbaum out and took them to the Christian cemetery and killed them.

The Germans created a list of the important people of the city. I, my brother-in-law, Leibl Glis, and my two nephews, Pini and Moshe Milrod, were on this list. I expected that they would come to take me any minute. A Jewish policeman from the “Judenrat” came. His name was Yisrael Poner, the brother-in-law of Yankel Katzman, and told my wife that the commander of the district police demanded that I come before him immediately. And if not - I bear the responsibility.

At this time of distress, the head of the city police, Petro Garbovsky, stood to my right.

[Page 409]

I went to him and, with tears, I asked him to save me. He advised me to go home and to not present myself. I did as he said. I lay in the attic all night and cold sweat covered my body from the fear of what would come. At six in the morning, my sister's daughter came to me and, with bitter crying, told me that her father was no longer among the living and her brothers had been killed, too.

Petro Garbovsky sent his two brothers to me to warn me not to be found at home. They kidnapped about 500 Jews that day. They took these 500 holy souls outside the city and killed them. Eventually a Polish man, my friend from work, showed me a depression in the ground and said: 500 of your brothers who were killed on the Pritshista holiday are buried here. When they were buried, there was a mound of dirt. Now the corpses have dried out, the mound has disappeared, and the earth has sunk.

After this mass murder, kidnappings for work continued and of course - no one returned home. Only Wolf Finkelstein (he is in Russia) and Motl Shimshones survived, miraculously. Things continued like this until the mass annihilation on the eve of the Shavuot holiday. Two thousand policemen were brought then from Zhytomyr, whom the local Ukrainian police joined. They surrounded the city on all sides and no one managed to escape.

In the early hours of the morning, the slaughterer came upon “The New City.” The Germans, with their Ukrainian helpers, went systematically from house to house and brought the Jews out. When they surrounded my house, my wife, Bunya Joresh, said to me that I should jump out of the window, perhaps I would be able to escape and remain alive. I had only tried to get up on the windowsill and behold - a bullet from the murderers split the air and there was no escape.

Their entry into the house was strikingly ruthless. This is how wild animals look when they go out at dawn to hunt. They didn't even let us take bread and water with us. They took me, my mother, Dvora, my wife, Bunya, and my three sons, Akiva, Avraham, and Emanuel. From my house, they went to my mother-in-law's, Aidel Joresh, and took her and her daughter-in-law, Rivka, and her two daughters, Etel and Mire'leh. Then they went to the home of Yaakov Joresh. He was lying sick in bed and was not able to get up. The murderers shot at him, but he was only wounded. His daughter-in-law took the one little girl with her because the second little boy was sleeping restfully and it would have been a shame to wake him. She was certain that the Ukrainians would be humane and would let her little boy sleep. When the Ukrainians entered and saw that Yaakov Joresh was still showing signs of life and not only that, but his grandson was sleeping the sleep of the righteous - their anger burned and they rained down upon them a shower of bullets. They took the grandfather and his grandson out and buried them in a pit that they dug in the courtyard. This murder and the burial of these holy ones was carried out with the help of several Ukrainians.

[Page 410]

From there, they went to Zalta Orecha.^[2] They took her, her daughter, Malka, her daughter-in-law, Genia, and their children. They brought us all to the city, to the killing valley. On the way, we saw many dead lying in the streets. We came to the assembly point next to Dudya Feldman's house. There they separated the men from the women. I can't forget the crying of the children. It seemed that the adults had made peace with the terrible and horrible necessity and they cried secretly. The children did not understand what was happening and thought that their tears would soften the hearts of the murderers.

We were expecting a murderous death, some Germans approached and separated about 200 young men and women from the mass that was taken for death. I was among them. Later it became clear to me that we were needed by the murderers as a labor force. I cannot forget the shocking picture that emerged around Chana Milrod. She was a lovely young girl. At that moment, she sat next to her mother, her aunt, and her brothers. They had taken her father out to be killed long before. The mother worried that perhaps the Germans wanted to keep the daughter alive and said to her: what good is it for you to remain alone, bow your head, the Germans won't notice you, and we will go together to Kozak. However, a Gestapo man came to her and said: you are still young and beautiful and strong. No matter, when your strength fails and you can no longer move - there will be a place waiting for you in one of the pits in the Kozak forest.^[3]

I was one of the “happy ones” who remained alive and I worked in a quarry near the city. The general manager of the enterprise was a decent man and he did everything for me so that I would live.

The manager revealed to me that complete annihilation threatened the remainder of the Jews of Korets and that, therefore, I should flee for my life. I went back to the ghetto, packed a small bag, and prepared to flee to the forest with the goal of joining the partisans who already operated in those days at a distance of hundreds of kilometers from Korets.

On the way, I was caught by the Ukrainian police who suspected me of being a partisan. They brought me to the house of Zalman Witman, where the Gestapo were. They beat me severely and threw me in the basement. At six in the morning, the manager of the quarry came to the Gestapo and petitioned for my release. He told them that an expert worker named Zaika had gone missing and, if they didn't free me, the entire factory would be shut down. The head of the Gestapo considered the matter and decided to free me temporarily because I'm in his hands in any event and what difference would it make if I moved around for another few weeks, and in particular that the new project needed me.

I returned to work and continued to work for another three months. I worked together with captive

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Soviets. I learned from them that they had dug pits in Kozak. I understood what that meant and prepared to flee. A group of 12 organized itself, Misha and Leona Gildenman, Lazar Gershfeld, Wolf Milrod, Herschel Katzav, and two of the daughters of “Berke, the porter,” among them.

We escaped to the village of Mys Chekhova. Our goal was to get in contact with the partisans. In Mys Chekhova, I was together with Shmaryahu Katzman; Riva Horenstein and her son; Rachel Weinstein and her son; Shaike, the wagon driver; Michael (his father was the owner of a windmill near the village of Golovanitsya [=Holovanivsk?]); and Nechem'ke Markus. One day, Rachel Weinstein went to find bread. The Ukrainians caught her, wrapped a rope around her neck, and strangled her. A young man from Mezhyrichi walked with her. The Ukrainians did the same thing to him, but he pretended to be dead and the Ukrainians thought that he had been strangled. This young man returned to us with the rope still wrapped around his neck and told us about the bitter end of Rachel Weinstein.

From other forests, Berel Basyuk and his son, and also the son of Yoska Kaminstein, joined us. Once, during a chase that the Germans and Ukrainians carried out in the forest, they were caught and the murderers killed them very slowly in order to drag out their dying twitches. Aryeh Katzman and Mordechai Berman were murdered on the same day.

When I was in Mys Chekhova, Poles came to me and told me the terrible story of the bitter end of Yoelik Molier. Who didn't know Molier? The Christian residents, too, respected him. They took Rav Yoelik from his house, tortured him, and threw his body next to the village of Ritschke [=Richka]. The Poles said they had seen with their own eyes hungry dogs eating the bones of Rav Yoelik and ravens pecking out his eyes.

After we were unable to find the partisans, we returned to the city, Lazar Gershfeld and I. In Korets, there was a known criminal, a famous criminal, by the name of Pavlo Kowalec.^[4] Before we left, we gave him a proper “gift” and stipulated the condition that, if we were forced to return to him, he would give us shelter in his house. Pavlo kept his promise.

After the destruction of Korets, only isolated Jews remained, who by hiding in bunkers and attics had managed to escape the bitter fate visited upon the Jews of the city. In the discovery of hidden Jews, the children played a very tragic part. When a Jewish child was caught wandering in the street, he was severely tortured by the police so that he would reveal where Jews were hiding. The child couldn't withstand the torture and was forced to reveal everything. We cannot, God forbid, judge these children harshly. They went up in flames and died as holy and pure martyrs along with all the Jews of the city.

[Page 412]

Once Pavlo Kowalec came to me and told me that Velvel, the son-in-law of Wolf Firkes, his daughters, Matal and Pesia, Velvel's wife, and the young daughter, Chava, were hiding with a Polish family. The matter became known to the Gestapo and they slaughtered the Polish family first and then all the Jews who had been hiding there.

We stayed hidden with Pavlo for the entire winter and, when the snow melted, we returned to the forests. We felt somewhat secure because partisans were active in the area. We wandered from forest to forest. Once, when Poles attacked us, Lazar Gershfeld was murdered. I was able to escape.

In February 1944, I returned to the city. It had already been conquered by the Soviets. I thought about one thing and one thing only: revenge! I contacted the NKVD [=a precursor of the KGB] and I gave them the names of the murderers who were well-known to me.

I spilled out all my hatred on the head executioner of Korets, Mitka Zawierucha^[5], may his name and memory be blotted out. Two of the young people of Korets, who had seen the horrible deeds of Mitka with their own eyes, remained alive and came to the court to testify against him. One was the grandson of “Berel, the water carrier” and the other was the son of Leibl Komets.

These boys had only been wounded and the Ukrainians had covered them with a light layer of dirt. When the killers left, they shook off the dirt and escaped into the forest under cover of darkness.

I don't know what happened to Mitka in the end. The Soviets were apparently not interested in executing him.

When I left Korets and continued my wandering, before it was known what would be the fate of this cruel murderer, and the mystery of his end has not been solved to this day.

Translator's footnotes:

1. Petro Bicz Return
2. Orecha Return
3. Chana remained alive. She succeeded to escape to the forests, joined the partisans, and fell in one of the battles near the village of Klitsk [=Klyetsk]. Return
4. Kowalec Return
5. Zawierucha Return

[Page 413]

The Germans entered the city in Tammuz 1941. They came from the direction of Rovno [=Rivne]. On Friday night, a group of scouts appeared and the Russians began to retreat. On Shabbat morning, many squadrons of planes appeared, which darkened the skies and rained fire upon the city. The bombing was terrible and the Soviet army began to clear out of the city.

All the Jews of the city who lived in the center fled to Brezhdova Street and hid in cellars. When we came out of our hiding places, the city streets were bustling with Hitler's troops. Right when they had just entered, they set a house that stood in the center of the city on fire. The murderers held axes in their hands and they greeted us with wild shouts: your end has now come, cursed Jews! We fled each one to his own house. There was a dentist in our city by the name of Dr. Shlugleit. The Germans entered his house, murdered him, his wife, and his mother-n-law.

Two hours after their entry, the murderers burned the large and beautiful synagogue, which was the pride and glory of the city. The Ukrainians immediately began to plunder and loot the houses of the Jews. They presented the authorities with a list of the rich and important people of the city. They immediately took them out to the village of Poshtchov and murdered them there. Efraim Góralnik, Alter Góralnik and his son, Leibl Góralnik, Yossel Kleiner, Yaakov Chavulkis, Baruch Huberman, and David Raznoshik were among those killed.

After the murder of 350 Jews on the “Pritshista” holiday of 1941, next to the sugar factory - there was a break in murderous activity until the eve of Shavuot in 1942. The Germans chose the holiday of the giving of the Torah, whose highest command is “Thou shalt not murder,” as appropriate to carry out the mass murder of the Jews of the city. They had no mercy on the old or the sick. They killed the sick in their beds. The Ukrainians came in their carts and put the dead in them. The blood of the dead flowed from the carts and covered the streets. The Ukrainians enjoyed the sight of the blood. They shouted aloud and clapped their hands from joy.

After that, they broke into the hospital. There were birthing mothers there. The murderers kidnapped the babies, hacked them to pieces, and gave the wretched mothers two sections of the bodies of their babies and said to them: take this scum with you and bury it in the Kozak forest.

Also my son and I were brought to the death pit and there is something to tell about how we were saved from the annihilation and remained alive.

Korets was lucky to have some Germans who secretly were among those opposed to Hitler's blood regime and did everything in their power to save Jews from death. One of them was

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Robert, who was said to be a veteran Communist, who worked among the Nazis as an emissary of the Soviet intelligence service. A day before the slaughter, Robert brought me two wheelbarrows for repair and warned me that, if I had not fixed them by five o'clock - it was on my head. Exactly at that time, the German came, took the fixed wheelbarrows and, patting my shoulder, asked me to come the next day at nine to the German restaurant and he would give me a package of food. And again he warned me, if I did not appear - it was on my head.

In the early hours of the morning, they took all the Jews to Kozak and also me, my son, and my wife among them. We got undressed along with everyone and we waited to die. Suddenly my son said to me: Dad, Mr. Robert is running! He turned to him with tears: Robert, save us! Soon they will take us out to kill us! - That's why I've come - the German answered.

He went to the head of the Gestapo and said to him: I need this smith and his son. There is a lot of work for them and there is no one else to do it. Give them to me. No matter. They won't escape from your hand. When they finish the work, you can do with them what you wish. The soldier said: I won't give them! It is my responsibility to kill them immediately along with all the Jews. The commandant heard this arguing and asked, what's the matter. Robert told him: it's like this. The commandant ordered to leave us alive for a few days.

On the way, Robert spoke to me secretly and ordered me to flee to the forest immediately. He promised me that, to the best of his knowledge, the Germans would not come to the forests. He consoled me that the day was not far off when the Nazis would flee in panic from the lands they had conquered. I parted from him, fled to the forests, and joined the partisans there.

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