[Page 327]

[Page 328]

[Page 329]

Their last steps …

[Page 330]

[Page 331]

Let us all unite as one with the memory of our holy ones who were defiled and slaughtered; let us unite with the memory of our city that was plundered and burned.

All of us as one will arise and go, and with our eyes we will see, and with our hands we will feel, and we will be harnessed together with the gray-bearded elderly in the tyrant's cart, and the cart is filled with sacks of flour, on which are the blood of our children, our parents, and our grandparents, and the whipping of the savage that is in man will pass also on our shoulder.

And we will unite with the sadness of Mom, the head of her dark little one creeping on the house wall, and with our ears we will hear the last quivering of the exit of its soul.

Let us not separate ourselves from the community of Korets and let us not cover our faces with our hands, and the salvo of the rifles and the falling of their bodies on the ground will penetrate our ears.

Rider in the wilderness! We will avenge the blood of the old and the elderly, the blood of the mother and her daughter, who fell together, she hugging her little one.

We will demand their blood and we will give them what they deserve, Your wrath will reach them everywhere. May they be cursed in all their dwelling places and may their memory be blotted out forever and ever.

He who dwells on high!

Grant perfect rest in the exalted spheres of the holy and pure, may the souls of the slaughtered and stabbed hundreds and thousands shine like the light of the firmament - the beloved sons of Korets.

Receive them and sustain them with the cover of Your wings
Their souls are bound up in the bond of life
May they rest in peace on their resting-place

O God, full of mercy!

[Page 332]

One silver candelabrum And six white candles. Come, light them up And bless the flames That kissed intensely The soul of your mother With holy grace On the way to God. One silver candelabrum And six white candles Such a tragic day Across a bloodied pyre, At a ghetto wall In a distant side road Cemetery land. A silver candelabrum And six white candles Come, light them up On the day of world judgement.

On 1 September 1939, the signal for the destruction of the European Jewry was given. Poland was conquered in twelve days. On September 17 of the same year, a day after Rosh Hashanah, the sound of tanks and planes reached our ears. We were sure that our end has come with the arrival of the Germans, but to our great surprise the Red Army arrived to Korets' gates and freed us from this nightmare.

The joy was mixed with sadness because we didn't know what the day would bring. However, we were sure of one thing, the hand of the Nazis will not reach us and we wouldn't be led like sheep to the slaughter.

The acclimation to the new regime entailed many difficulties. The Hebrew school “Tarbut,” which had a reputation throughout the area, was closed by order of the authorities. A command was also given to liquidate the Zionist youth clubs. We burned the archive and hid the Hebrew books as a memento of the glorious past.

Much later, we still gathered in secret with the faint hope that one day we'll be able to meet in our club and conduct our activities openly. The Jewish youth didn't accept the new regime for ideological reasons, but began to integrate into the economic area and the circle of life by obtaining government jobs. The youth also continued with their studies, of course not in Hebrew but in Russian.

The Russian regime recruited all the young people who were of military age. They enlisted Shlomo Pirkes the son of Baruch Pirkes who lived next door to Neta Marcus; Aharon Resnick and Shmuel Gorenstein (who survived and now lives in Poland) – and they were never seen again.

The pioneer youth was organized in the Komsomol. At first, they invited the youth and offered them to accept the platform. I, for example, was invited three times, but I didn't show up. For the fourth time I received a notice that I must report to the office of the NKVD. They took my fingerprints and let me go after several threats. The ember of Hebrew and Zionist Korets slowly faded.

Then came the bitter and impetus day…on Sunday morning, 22 June 1941, Germans forces crossed the Russian borders without a declaration of war and burst like a mighty stream of water. This startling news spread throughout the city in a flash.

At that time there were no radios in Korets and we weren't able to get an authorized confirmation about this terrible event.

[Page 334]

The Jews and the Russians were very confused and didn't know what to do. Only the Ukrainians' faces expressed great joy.

The Soviets institutions were in constant touch with the high authorities in Kiev and received instructions. In the evening of the same day we saw that the Red Army is retreating and understood that it was a bad omen.

On the next day the authorities closed the main road for civilian traffic and spread a rumor that they have to transfer 5000 German prisoners. However, at the same time, the government institutions packed their belongings and archives and left for central Russia. It should be noted, that the authorities suggested, though not officially, to all the residents to leave Korets and follow them. The Jews, to our great sorrow, didn't listen to this offer. Only a few families left the city and survived.

The municipal government remained in the hands of the Wojenkomat (wartime recruiting board). Korets' Jews were in a very bad mood and didn't know what to do.

On Wednesday, 24 June 1941, at 2 in the afternoon, all the young people received a mobilization order. They had to report to the place where the Soviet Army was stationed. One or two were taken from each family. In an instant, our city turned into a huge funeral. The screams and cries rose to the midst of heaven. Mothers begged and cried bitterly to let them have their sons. I remember Berale' Schechter and Yitzchak Rosenblatt, whose parents “managed” to convinced the Russians to let them stay in Korets because of their work. However, if only the Soviets didn't listen to the “prayers” of these mothers, because a few days later, when the Germans entered Korets, the two young men were the first victims.

We parted from our beloved parents with the feeling that we would return home soon. It didn't cross our minds that this is the last farewell from our parents, brothers, relatives and good friends, and that we would never see Korets again. We didn't imagine that the Reaper will rise up on the Jews and that the city would turn into a pile of ruins.

Among the recruits to the Red Army were: Zev Litvak, Ljuba Vilner and Dudia Gechet. They were transferred to Ostrog and we never heard from them.

We walked all night under military command and arrived to Zvhil, a distance of 30 kilometers from Korets, the next morning. When we got there we were attacked by a German squadron. The Russian officers ordered us to dig in as far as possible, to chop a pit with our teeth and hide our head in it. We lay on the ground and shivered with fear.

[Page 335]

The German planes made kind of an acrobatic act in the air and were getting ready to bombard us. However, at the very moment, several Soviet planes appeared and chased the German planes away. In this way we were saved from certain death. We only received uniform because guns and ammunition were scarce at that time.

Since then began a chapter of wandering that is hard for me to tell in minute details. We walked day and night, without rest and without sleep. We walked more than 40 kilometers a day with short breaks of 10–15 minutes. The days were very hot, the days of the month of July, and the coarse uniform and heavy boots, that we weren't accustomed to, weighed down on us and caused us a lot of suffering. We were also tortured from the fact that we haven't received any news from home.

When the commander declared a rest, we lay down on the ground and immediately fell asleep. Many of us didn't wake when the signal to move was given. During the day we woke them from their sleep, but many of us disappeared and got lost in the darkness. Thus, for example, we lost Sara Averbuch's brother–in–law, Yitzchak Hanin, a person by the name of Chaim who lived on Brazodva Street, and many others.

[Page 336]

The Soviets entered Korets on one of the nights of 1939, and in the morning they controlled the city. The Poles believed that the Red Army came to save them from the Nazis' hands and started to shout – To our aid! To our aid! – but the Russians arrested the mayor, abolished the Polish rule and began to institute their own orders.

A “temporary regime” was created. It was composed from the following “Triumvirate”: the Jew Avratz, who was in charge of food distribution in the region; Zhuravlev, the representative for commercial affairs and Leyota in the role of a supervisor. They brought a secretary named Sabarinka with them from Russia. A group was also created from Jewish youth and its role was to help the authorities to organize and direct the new regime in the city. This group was made up of these young people: Leibel Zavodnik Hershil Viviat, Mitzik Zafran, Michael Litvak and Mordechai Surin.

The Russians used Jewish accountants in the cooperative organization. David Lidski was drafted as chief accountant and Dov Berenstein and Michelson worked with him.

A school superintendent, who started to organize the cultural life in the city, was added to this “trio.” He developed the “Pobschaniem” schools of 10 classes (instead of 7 classes). There was also a large choir under the direction of Mr. Rabinowitch. This choir was almost silenced during the period of anti–Semitic Poland. The authorities turned to Rabinowitch and offered him to establish an international choir of Ukrainian and Jewish children. The choir was established and sang Jewish and Ukrainian songs in its performances. The drama club also renewed its activities under the direction of Rabinowitch, Moshe Gildenman and Ayzik Schneider.

Six months into their rule, the Soviets carried out a large construction project which changed the face of the city. They started to build an asphalt road from Kiev to Lvov. Since it had to pass through Korets they decided to demolish the old bridge over the Korchyk River and build a modern cement bridge in its place. The new road passed through the yard of the Gorenstein house, crossed Yavka's water–mill, turned to the “Ksiadz” (priest) yard and to the road near Moshe Leyleches' house. Moshe Gildenman grabbed an important place in the technical execution of this great project.

One clear day we saw that a large army from central Russia is passing through our city. Also plenty of tanks and cannons appeared.

[Page 337]

The authorities sent to call me, as chairman of “Gurpo“ (“municipal cooperatives“), and other members of the administration. We were told that we should convene a mass meeting because the Germans attacked Soviet Russia. The meeting took place on the same day and all the military commanders participated in it. They promised all the frightened residents that Russia is a powerful nation and the Germans wouldn't be able to penetrate Korets.

A state of emergency was felt in the city. One evening about 25 German planes appeared. They flew over the sugar factory and left as they had come without hurting anyone. The Jews walked depressed. A state of war was declared. It was forbidden to leave the house at night. Only the managers enjoyed the freedom of movement. The authorities, despite their solemn promise, began to prepare their withdrawal from the city. It was determined that once the evacuation signal will be given – we need to escape in any way and by any means of transport available to us.

I began to make preparations for my escape. As I was packing my belongings a government representative came to me and shouted: why are you sitting? everyone has fled. In haste, I put two sacks of belongings, my wife and my children in the car, and we fled.

Two drivers worked for me in “Gurpo“ – Yehielik Goldberg and David Perlman. Goldberg was the son of a rich man. During the Soviets he worked as a driver. I told him: Yehiel, take the car and we will escape. He answered me (I'm very sorry to perpetuate these things) in this language: “I will not leave because my “God” has come to Korets.” Unfortunately, there were a number of rich men in Korets who believed, in good faith, that the German will give them back what the Soviets had seized and confiscated, the situation will return to normal and they will trade and manage their business as they pleased. Yehiel was the first victim. He was killed together with his father when the Germans bombed the city for the first time.

We fled and arrived to the village of Pishehiv a distance of 8 kilometers from Korets. The Soviets, who escaped from Korets, camped there. In the morning we received an order from the Soviets to return to Korets because they pushed the Germans out of Rovna. We left our families and returned to the city. We felt that this order was given to mislead the public. The opposite was true: the Germans didn't retreat but continued to advance in an alarming speed. Chaos prevailed in Korets. There was no rule and thousands of Jews were ready to flee from the city. Korets' youth were the first to leave the city. They walked in the direction of Zvhil but many of them were killed from the Germans' bombs. I was lucky and got to the depths of Russia. I lived in Stalingrad, later on in Kazakhstan, and in this way I survived.

On September 1, 1939, when Hitler's armies attacked Poland and began to bomb the cities and towns, a great terror took hold of the population and, in particular, the Jews. Many fled to Russia to save their lives. The city filled up with many Jews who came from elsewhere. The mood was downcast. We were sad and depressed.

In Rovno [=Rivne], 60 kilometers from Korets, German planes appeared and bombed the city. A great danger hovered over our city, too.

On “Shabbat Shuvah,” the authorities brought the Jews out of the Batei Midrash [=houses of learning] and forced them to dig trenches. In fact, on that same day, German planes appeared and caused terror and confusion.

However, in an unforeseen manner, the Jews of Korets woke up on the Saturday night of September 17, 1939 to the sound of the noise of Soviet planes and tanks. It is impossible to describe our joy when we learned that, indeed, the Russians had entered the city and saved us from complete destruction.

The Jewish population relaxed with the change of administration. The city was not damaged. Over two months, a new administration was established in the city, private enterprise was eliminated, and Soviet cooperatives were established. This was completely different from the economic structure of the lives of the Jews. Many took jobs in various government institutions. Life took on a normal shape. The Jews felt secure ground under their feet. And so it was until war broke out between the Germans and the Russians on June 22, 1941.

The German invaders advanced towards Russian territory very rapidly and wiped out towns and cities with their terrible and terrifying bombing. Korets was bombed on July 5, many houses were hit and destroyed, and many Jews were killed, among them Meir Michelson, Yehoshua Sandler, Moshe ben Nissel Lazabnik, and others. After a strong attack, the city was conquered by Hitler's forces.

With their entry, a bloody page of history opened for the Jewish population of the city. The Germans beat and murdered every Jew that happened to be in their way. Immediately with their entry, they set the great synagogue and the many Batei Midrash on fire. They brought out the Torah scrolls, doused them with kerosene, and burned them. The Ukrainian nationalists paid attention. The day they had hoped for had arrived and they attacked the houses of the Jews, plundered and robbed them without mercy.

[Page 339]

A Ukrainian police force was organized under the command of the Germans, which was given control over the affairs of the city. In partnership with the German authorities, it began to run the city in the spirit of the Nazi laws.

Following the order of the commander of the city, a “Judenrat,” made up of five people, was chosen. The Germans implemented their orders in relation to the Jews through this council. The council fulfilled the instructions and commands submissively and did not disobey the word of the commander.

A serious food shortage was felt in the city. Bread was given only to Ukrainians, not to Jews. The Jews suffered from hunger, cold, and fear. During the winter of 1941-42, they forced the Jewish population to do all manner of back-breaking work: building huts, digging tunnels for subterranean transportation, breaking up stones, and digging deep pits. Several hundred Jews were lost to the terrors of the frost and the snows. They stole our warm clothes from us. We worked hungry and trembling with cold. The hands and feet of many of us froze from the terrible cold. Life was unbearable. We were broken, body and soul, and despair attacked us all.

On August 5, 1941, with the “Haga”^[1] called “Pritshista,” the shadowy Ukrainian nationalists at the head of their administration, the bitter enemy, Mitka Zavirucha, began to go wild and to mock the Jews. Mitka declared with great enthusiasm that God had sent them to take revenge on the Jews and to annihilate them from the nation. On that same day, the SS men came to the city, attacked Jewish houses, forcibly removed all the men, and led them in some unknown direction. The cries of women and children split the heavens. The Germans quieted them by telling them that they had been sent to work and that they would soon return healthy and whole. The unfortunate women innocently believed these promises and, every day, hoped for their husbands' return. With this hope, these mothers and children were brought in 1942 to the pit of destruction, thinking that somewhere there their husbands and fathers were still alive. When we returned to the city in 1944, we found these Jews, 300 in number, buried in a huge mass grave that was about two kilometers from the city.

The winter of 1941-42 passed in a situation of abandoned hope. The Jews worked all manner of back-breaking jobs, suffered hunger and cold, and hoped for the coming of spring. Whoever had clothing received from the Ukrainians in exchange a little flour to bake matza for Passover. Every day the Jews went to their suffering and with a dim flicker of hope still in the heart that perhaps a miracle would come from the heavens, we would stay alive and return to freedom.

To our great misfortune, we suffered bitter disappointment. Spring 1942 came. The intoxicating smells of the wonderful month of May filled the air. Nature came alive. Every shoot, every tendril sang a song to the Creator of the World. The fields became green with a carpet of beautiful flowers, the river streamed with the power of youth,

[Page 340]

the birds sang pleasantly, and the entire universe rejoiced. In this period of radiance and light, the Nazi murderers and their Ukrainian helpers violated the rules of nature and ripped out from its root the ancient and magnificent tree of the Jewish community of Korets with their murderous hands.

On the night before Shavuot 1942, the German murderers and the Ukrainian police, their helpers, attacked the Jewish houses, got all members of the family out of bed, and brought them naked and barefoot to a particular place. A German officer, accompanied by a Ukrainian policeman, broke down the door to our house and brought me, my wife, and my son together with the Bernstein family who lived in the same house. In the other wing of the house lived a woman by the name of Malka, the wife of Aharon. The woman was ill and unable to stand up. The murderers shot her and killed her on the spot. They gathered us on the field on Munster Street by Dudya Feldman's house. I found there many women and men, young and old, naked and barefoot. They sat on the ground gripped by fear and one asked the other for a hint as to what was going to happen to them. Everyone felt that something terrible and frightening was about to happen. They separated the women from the men. The blood-thirsty Nazi beasts began to investigate the victims and demanded work papers. They took 200 young men and women out from the large camp of the lost and gathered them in a separate place. I was one of them. Miraculously, out of all the older people, they left me and Dr. Wallach. They put our wives, along with the rest of the men, women, and children on trucks and wagons and brought them to the forest, seven kilometers from the city, next to the village of Kozak. Pits had already been prepared there for the purpose of annihilating the tortured victims.

Ha-Rav Leizer'el Yeruzlimski and his family were among those brought out for slaughter. They took him out of his house on that evening before the holiday of Shavuot and brought him along with all the Jews to die. Similarly, they led Rav Leizer Zafran and his wife, Bluma, to slaughter. He was ill, paralyzed. There was a young married yeshiva student among us, Aharon, the son-in-law of Pesach Klezmer. He had broken his leg at work. The murderers made him walk to the pit on his painful and broken leg. That's how great their cruelty was.

As the sun rose in the sky and shined a bright light on the green “Kozak” forest and everything was awakened to life with the end of a May night, the German-Ukrainian beasts in human form attacked the pure and holy victims and slaughtered and massacred them without mercy. Toddlers and babies were ripped from their mothers' arms and thrown with great cruelty into the pits. The awful voices and cries did not help. The German-Ukrainian beasts slaked their thirst with the pure blood of the Jews until the grass in the forest was entirely colored by the warm stream of the blood of our dear ones. The flood of blood, which the Hitler murderers visited on our holy congregation, lasted the whole pure night before the holiday of Shavuot. Dr. Hirschenhorn and his wife were also among those taken to die. As a doctor, the Germans were prepared to let him live, but he asked that they leave

[Page 341]

his wife, too. When they didn't accede to his request, he walked with her to the death pit and fulfilled what is written, “the beloved and the pleasant in their lives, and in their deaths they are not parted.”

The slaughter was carried out by the command of the high German authorities who demanded that the Jewish population of Korets be annihilated during one 24-hour period. During the evening of that same day, with the conclusion of the “action,” two German officers came to the group of 200 and asked us what we wished. Did we want to be gathered together in one camp or should they make a ghetto for us in a particular street? They calmed us with their lies that we would live because the “action” was over.

The Nazis issued a command that all Jews in hiding come out from their hiding places and gather at Synagogue Street where the ghetto would be established. On the first day of Shavuot, we left our houses and moved to Synagogue Street. Together with the women and children from the close-by villages, we numbered about 1,500 people. No family emerged from the slaughter whole. “There is no house in which there are no dead.” Every family emerged shattered and broken. Everyone lost the most dear and beloved one in their lives forever. The houses were plundered and looted. We did not come to rest in the ghetto. The opposite. A period of suffering began for the sorry families that remained alive. Life was a burden for us. “In the morning, you will say, if only it were evening, and in the evening, you will say, if only it were morning.” We were forced to go daily to back-breaking work, breaking the body and the soul. When we left for work, we parted from the members of our household. We weren't sure that we would return home because they kidnapped Jews and took them out of the city. They delivered death blows in the streets. We walked in the streets sideways so as not to encounter a German guard or a Ukrainian policeman. It was forbidden for a Jew to leave the ghetto. There was a Jewish council of 6-7 people. Every day, the Germans came to it with new demands and decrees for the Jews. The Germans had a huge appetite and it was impossible to satisfy it. They satisfied one demand and immediately came with new ones. We were sick of life. We returned from work shattered, broken, and hungry, for there was nothing to eat. We sat in darkness, the cold penetrating our bodies, and certain that the night would bring the murderers to take our souls.

Tragic news came from the close-by cities and towns. New refugees would appear who thought to save their lives and perhaps for one hour only. This is how the long night of darkness of the Hitler exile dragged. We summoned all our strength so as not to collapse. We trained ourselves for the terrible living conditions and hoped that, through joint effort, perhaps, we would overcome it all and outlast our enemies. Jews gathered to pray morning and evening. One minyan [=prayer group] prayed in the house of the rabbi, Ha-Rav Yankele. He wasn't alive anymore. He was holy. Already in 1941 at the Pritshista slaughter, Mitka Zavirucha, along with the Germans, took him

[Page 342]

from his home and killed him together with many other Jews. Of all the rabbis, the only one remaining alive was the holy rabbi, Nissel Bashkin, may God avenge his blood, the son-in-law of Ha-Rav Ha-Tzaddik, R. Moshe-Mordechai Lidski. He sat and learned day and night.

Day by day, the situation got worse and life in the ghetto became unbearable. Everyone felt and saw clearly that the awful day was coming and it was not going to skip over us. We were jealous of the Jews who had already been martyred. We spoke about them always, remembered their names and, with a torn and angered heart, with an aching heart, we said “Kaddish” for their souls. More than once we pondered, would anyone remain alive who would remember us and say “Kaddish” for us? This was the mood and these were our thoughts. Nevertheless, there were among us some Jews who encouraged us so that our spirits would not fall and instead of thinking about death, we should try to find a way to escape and be saved. They called for coping with fate and not falling into the hands of the Nazi beasts.

Rumors reached us that Russian partisans had appeared in the forests. A secret decision was taken to choose two young men and give them the task of investigating the matter. One was a refugee from Poland named Rozenstein and the other, by the name of Vajnshelboim, was a 20-year-old from Zhvil [=Novohrad Volynskyy]. The frightening thing was that we had a traitor among us and, when our secret decision came to him, he turned these two Jewish boys over to the Ukrainian police. The two brave young men were imprisoned and taken to Rovno [=Rivne] for investigation. As they passed over the bridge, Vajnshelboim jumped into the river and drowned. Rozenstein didn't manage to jump and he was shot on the spot. This matter had a depressing effect on all the Jews of the ghetto because these emissaries were the victims of the public and they were killed because of a traitor and an informer within.

No day passed without troubles and attacks. Every day we went out to forced labor and did not have an opportunity to plan a rescue from this horrible hell. The “Days of Awe” came - Rosh ha-Shana and Yom Kippur. Jews gathered in two groups, begged and prayed that a miracle would occur and would save us from the evil regime of Hitler, Jew murderer.

The German and Ukrainian murderers were unconcerned and did not rest, for what should the Jews leave work on Yom Kippur and gather in their Batei Midrash [=houses of learning]? They appeared in the ghetto suddenly, went into houses, gathered the Jews, and took them to work. When we got there, they punished us - they made us strip and gave us murderous blows on our naked bodies. We bore our pain and shame with gritted teeth and we worked until evening.

The day after Yom Kippur we learned that the terrible day was coming to pass because they were digging pits outside the city for the eradication of the last remnant of the Jews of Korets. The Jews lost their minds. They didn't know what to do or how they could save their lives.

[Page 343]

A Jew Looks Out the Window in Fear and Anxiety For the Coming of the Nazis … The Artist: Chaim Bargel

[Page 344]

Many Jews worked at the old “monastir.”^[2] The women came running to their husbands and told them that the coming night was the final night of our lives. On this night, the final “action” of the annihilation of the Jews of Korets would be carried out. The Ukrainian police appeared in the ghetto. Some Jews tried to flee, but the policemen shot at them and wounded them. Faiga, the daughter of Yosef Kaminstein, the wife of Herschel Brodetskij, was among the wounded.

The ability to work was taken away from us. We turned to the Polish engineer, who had been brought from Warsaw. He was a liberal man and related well to the Jews. We told him what was about to happen. He empathized with us, released us from work, and advised us that each one should do what he could to save his life.

We returned to the ghetto. My friend, Herzl Yocht, and his wife, Malia Sliep, lived with me. He had escaped to Korets from the slaughter in Rovno [=Rivne]. Ha-Rav Nissel Bashkin and his wife, Yisrael Melamed and his family, the the granddaughters of the Rav, Sarah and Raya, the daughters of Leizer Shatz of Tutshin [=Tuchin], were also there.

I hurried to the “Judenrat” in order to find out if there was any hope that the evil decree would be lifted. I didn't find any of the members of the council. On my way back, I ran into Yokel Markos and Nachum Korostshevskiy. They had returned from the Ukrainian police. I asked them, what did they know? With eyes full of agony and pain, they replied that everything was lost. The slaughter would be carried out already tonight. We didn't add anything more because the police appeared and we split. I entered my house. Not more than 10 seconds passed when I heard a shout. What happened? Yokel Markos had hung himself along with his wife's sister, Rachel Skelpnik. I hurried to his house. I found him dead on the floor and his wife and children mourning for him and lamenting over him. Truth be told, many Jews envied him that he had been saved from the great terror that we were all expecting. We buried him. Depressed and hopeless, we returned to our home.

A night of darkness, a night of abomination spread its wings over the ghetto. No one was permitted to go outside. Terror grabbed us before the fateful night, the last of our lives. I am thinking, where can I hide from the murderers? Many Jews prepared hiding places, some in the basement and some in the attic. They thought that by this means they would stay alive, but it was, unfortunately, false hope. I went into my room along with my son. Great fear took hold of me. Together with my son and with Herzl Yucht and his wife, we spent a sleepless night at the house of Dina Shtamer. The Sliep family lived there. We sat all night, ears focused in order to take in what was happening in the street. The slightest sound cause the heart to tremble, the murderers are coming to take our souls!

The fearful night passed and dawn came. I returned to my house. Jews appeared in the street. One

[Page 345]

said to his friend, this night passed peacefully, but what will be going forward? Alik Linik said to me: at the moment, we are still meeting. However, who knows whether we will see each other tomorrow at this time. The street continued to fill up with Jews, everyone asking, what to do and where to flee. We agreed among us to flee in small groups. To flee from the ghetto, to save lives, come what may. The majority were confused and expected a miracle from heaven. I went to the house where Benzi Litvak lived. He was an intelligent Jew. I asked R. Benzi, what's your opinion about what to do? He replied: where will I flee to? He was full of despair: “If it is decreed from the heavens, saying, the community of Korets will be destroyed - I will go to the pit together with all the Jews.” I wandered around the ghetto, spoke with many Jews, and asked, “where do you think to escape to?” I went to David Gilman. His wife, Bracha, stood by the oven, lit it, and burned her clothes. It would be a pity if they fell into the hands of the murderers. It was Thursday, the night before Sukkot, the Ukrainian police appeared in the street, dispersed those who had gathered there, and began to observe what was happening in the ghetto. I felt that the moments of our lives were numbered.

I separated from them and left the house. I went to a bakery and saw that they were still baking bread and many Jews were standing in line. I bought a loaf of bread and hurried home. I saw that all hope was lost and soon they would annihilate the last remnant of the Jews of Korets. On the other side of the house lived Ha-Rav Nissel Bashkin and his wife, the daughter of Ha-Rav Moshe-Mordechai Lidski, and the second daughter with her husband, Yisrael Melamed, and two granddaughters of Ha-Rav Lidski of the Shatz family of Tutshin [=Tuchin]. It was 7 o'clock in the morning. Ha-Rav Bashkin was sitting with a volume of Gemara and studying. What do you think to do at this fateful hour? I asked the Rav. “What can we do? There is no counsel and no wisdom against a decree” - Ha-Rav answered. But we must not despair, but rather throw our hope to God. It is written: “Even a sharp sword laying against the throat of a person must not withhold mercy.” And I replied: Our holy rabbi, what miracles can we expect? The ghetto is already surrounded on all sides and whoever tries to leave - they shoot him. I didn't argue much since the hour was urgent, our lives were hanging by a thread, and soon would come to their end. I left the Rav and his family in deep sorrow, wished them well, and came into my house. I said to my son, Chaim, we can't lose a moment, but must immediately flee from the ghetto. We took two shovels and two empty sacks so that, if they caught us, we could say that we were going out to work. I locked the house door and gave the key to Herzl Yucht. He declined to accompany me because he felt that he was not strong enough to overcome the expected difficulties on this road full of hardship.

We left the ghetto and by zigzagging, we came to the river. We saw many young Jews fleeing the city and the Ukrainians shooting at them. We went through gardens and trees, thinking

[Page 346]

to come to the village of Yuzfovka. At 5 in the afternoon, we arrived at the place and went to an acquaintance, a Ukrainian, by the name of Kostik. He had said to me once, if I expect to be in danger - I could find refuge at his house. He was very happy that we had come, received us politely, and offered us food and drink. He had not gotten any hint of what was happening in the city. He was afraid to have us stay in his house for fear that his sons would report him to the Ukrainian police so he advised us to hide in the grove near his house. It was fall and the ground was wet, but we lay down in the mud without moving a muscle because there was a passageway not too far from us. The Ukrainian sent his young son, the 9-year-old, to the forest every day to bring us food in secret, hidden from his older brothers. We saw in him a saving angel.

After two days, I asked him to go to the city to see whether there were Jews still surviving there. He went with his wife. When they got to the center of the city, they saw the terrible destruction. They were still catching women and children who had hidden in basements. The women tore their hair out from so much despair and their cries and those of the children reached the heart of the heavens. The Ukrainian's wife was a gentle soul and, from so much emotion seeing the horrors, suffered a heart attack.

After two weeks, I met with some Jews of the city who had managed to escape from the arms of the devil. They told me that all the Jews of the ghetto, some two thousand souls, were led to the forest of Kozak and there the terrible tragedy, impossible to describe in words, took place. There they put to death those who had survived the first annihilation. Many saved their lives and escaped from the ghetto, but the great majority fell into the hands of the unclean.

After many years of wandering in the forests, chased like wild animals, we returned to the city that had been liberated by the Red Army. As we approached it, our hearts were deeply moved at the sight of the great destruction. We did not recognize the place where we had walked. Everything was covered in collapse - an avalanche of burned bricks, ash, junk, and scorched earth. I searched for a living being, a living witness, from whom I could gather testimony about the final gasping moments of the community of Korets, but the silence of the cemetery dominated everything: speechlessness, bereavement, and devastation. The heart was crushed from pain and anger and there was no one to whom one could protest and complain about the abominable things that had been done.

All the synagogues and the Batei Midrash had been burned. Only the Beit Midrash of R. Asher stood in its destruction, without windows and without doors. I went inside. In one room, there was a pile of torn and burned books and the yellowed pages of Torah scrolls that were defiled and desecrated. I gathered up the sheets and brought them to the home of a Jew from Mezhyrichi who had come to the city after he came out of the pit in which he had hidden himself during the years of abomination and destruction. The second Jewish family that I found in the city was the family of Yokel from Danitshav who had hidden, together with his wife and children, with a Ukrainian.

[Page 347]

I also met a few other families who returned to the city at that time. There were, in total, 75 surviving men, women, and children. I went to the cemetery. It was plundered and destroyed. The gravestones had been torn out from their places and all the burial places of the tzaddiks had been turned into heaps of ruins. I walked among the ruins with Dr. Wallach and M. Gildenman and our gaze was fixed on sights of the great desolation. Blood flowed from our eyes at the sight of this desecration. With an aching heart and eyes full of tears, we left the cemetery. Thus was the community of Korets, which had numbered 6,000 Jews, destroyed. It was all covered in dark evil.

Translator's footnotes:

1. “Haga” - something that arouses trembling and aversion (a derogatory term for those who observe pagan holidays). Return
2. Monastir - monastery. Return

[Page 357]

The great massacre on the eve of the Shavuot holiday 1942 was, as a matter of fact, the eighth of its kind. Before that there were the “smaller” massacres.

At the beginning, the Germans demanded from our Judenrat one hundred Jews for work, asking specifically for intelligent people and promising that they will be sent to “better” work and they will all be fine.

What happened in reality was that they were taken some fifteen kilometers from Korets, forced to dig their own graves and bestially shot.

Such horrible actions were repeated several times. Still there was no total annihilation. The great tragedy of our dear and beloved occurred on the eve of Shavuot 1942. One evening, several days earlier, a rumor spread that the Germans and the Ukraine police had brought some 100 peasants from the surrounding villages to dig graves for the Korets Jews. They were kept under heavy guard and none of them was allowed to go home, because the Germans were afraid that there might be one among them who would tell the Jews to what purpose they were digging the pits…

However, the terrible news did reach the Jewish population, but it was not believed, and everybody said that it was just panic. How could such a horrible thing be true?? Just take innocent living people and shoot them?? True – they argued – here and there some Jews were shot… but when through history Jews were not shot and killed? Here they are talking about deliberate, planned annihilation – such thing cannot be true, somebody just likes to spread fear and panic…

This is how our brothers reassured themselves – until the terrible

[Page 358]

Shavuot eve 1942 arrived. It was still before dawn, people were sleeping in their homes – and suddenly we thought that we heard shots. We woke up and realized that it was not a dream: they were really shooting. At first there were single shots now and then, but soon the shots became heavier and closer. We were very frightened. Several families lived in our apartment – all went to the windows and we saw a horrible sight: A large “transport” of Jews was driven through the street – men, women, children and babies held in their parents' hands.

All these Jews were surrounded by German and Ukrainian police. Several hundred policemen were especially brought from Zhitomir – murderers who excelled in their horrible attitude toward Jews. Anyone who fell into their hands had no hope of coming out alive.

The Ukrainian commandant – his name was Danilyuk – was riding in a car through town giving orders that specified what the murderers should do with the Jews. All the Jews were taken to the “head” named Krizhonovski, a cruel murderer. They were searched and all their belongings were taken from them.

After all the Jews passed the “control,” the Korets German governor arrived and with him several German officers and the order was given that the Jews organize themselves in lines. The German officer walked between the lines and observed every one. Some of them he asked about their age and profession. Some of the younger people were asked to step to the side and stand with their backs to the group. This way some 200 young and strong Jews were chosen and separated from the rest.

Soon many peasants arrived, with horses and empty wagons, also some trucks. The Germans and the Ukrainian police began arranging the Jews, men separately, women separately, children separately. The men and women were soon surrounded

[Page 359]

by guards and driven on foot to Kozak, to the open pits. The weaker men and women were loaded onto the trucks. The children were thrown into the horse-driven wagons just like one would throw stones. The murderer would seize the child – by the little hand, by the leg, by the head or by the shirt – and throw it into the wagon. The wagons were loaded full with the children, one on top of the other, and driven to Kozak. If a child fell off the wagon, a policeman would seize it and throw it back.

Five deep pits were ready in Kozak – 8 to 10 meters wide and 4 to 5 meters deep. Steps were carved on the edge, so that the victims could step inside “comfortably.”

All were taken to a place about 250 meters from the graves and commanded to sit down on the earth, under heavy guard. A little later they began to take men and women, six at a time, and lead them to the pit, after each had to undress and remain naked. In the pit they were made to lie face down and on the edge of the pit six Germans, ready with their revolvers, shot the six victims in the head.

The children were treated quite differently. As the wagons with the children reached the pit, they were thrown, alive, straight from the wagon into the pit. After two wagons were unloaded this way, two grenades were thrown in, tearing the children apart.

Several occurrences at the graves are worth mentioning: In our town lived a very wealthy man, Hurwitz, with his wife Mrs. Hurwitz and their daughter Hessie. The girl was a rare beauty. Her beauty shone from the grave, and the murderers decided that it was a pity to cut off such a young and beautiful flower. The Germans asked Hessie to leave the pit, but she replied that she would not move without her mother. The murderers could not accept such impertinence, and shot her right away.

[Page 360]

Another short episode happened with our beloved doctor, Yakov (Yanie) Hirschenhorn. The Germans heard that he was a very good doctor, and they pulled him out of the pit and ordered him to go home. He begged to let his wife go with him, but the murderers did not agree. He went back into the pit and was shot with the others. There were some instances where children would not leave their parents or parents their children – and together they were sacrificed for Kidush Hashem – the sanctification of the Holy Name.

Our rabbi R'Leizerl, his family and his Hassidim have found a hiding place, in a ruined house near the river. At noon one of the peasants observed them and told the police. Soon the Germans and the Ukrainian police came and took them away.

Earlier the rabbi was told by the Germans that they knew that he had hidden a great deal of gold, silver and valuables. He was ordered to bring all this and he would be released. After all was delivered, the rabbi, his family and his Hassidim were chased to Kozak, to the graves…

Footnote

1. Testimony at the Munich Historical Committee in 1946. Obtained through Yad Vashem, Jerusalem. Return

  Korets, Ukraine     Yizkor Book Project     JewishGen Home Page

Copyright © 1999-2025 by JewishGen, Inc.
Updated 09 Jan 2025 by JH