KADDISHEL
A Life Reborn
way and were beaten with rifle butts; healthier people were ordered to carry those who had fallen. Ukrainian and Polish villagers stood along the way and watched, and at least one survivor recalled that some laughed and mocked them. “This thing depressed our souls to death,” Judah Raber wrote in the Yizkor book. “If anyone thought he could escape, he changed his mind in the face of his Christian friends’ and acquaintances’ behavior.” 2 Some recalled that several mass graves had already been dug in the woods near the kasharan; others recalled digging their own graves, with help from Poles and Ukrainians, some of whom had been forced into labor as punishment for helping Jews. Some survi- vors recalled standing next to the graves that day and sleeping there that night. Others said they spent the day and night at the kasharan, in a square surrounded by a tall wooden fence. They were given some food, to fool them into thinking they would be safe, until Norgall announced, “Tomorrow morning at five am you will all be killed.” He added that the children would be given a last piece of bread. Everyone was screaming and crying. 3 A daytime escape was planned by some of the young people at the kasharan, but others convinced them to wait at least until dark in order to prevent de- tection and retaliation. They are said to have abandoned the plan, but some managed to scramble over the fence that night, assisted by friends and neighbors who offered their backs to climb upon. The escapees ran into the forest. About sixty-five of the Jews held captive near the ditches also attempted an escape into the woods that night, and several survived the guards’ gunfire. 4 The mass murder began at seven in the morning and lasted all day. It was August 26, 1942 (Yud Gimmel Elul). “At the beginning of the executions, the commissar came to the site, stepped up to the members of the council of Jews, shook their hands, and said to them, ‘I have promised you that you would not be shot by me. I keep my word and put you into the hands of the Gestapo.’ This was a cynical leave-taking by the commissar from his collaborators in the council of Jews.” 5 At the site, Norgall shook hands and said goodbye to the naked
292
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online