Murder story of Ołyka Jews in the Radziwiłł Fortress

Apparently on the night of July 25, 1942 Ukrainian auxiliary policemen and members of the Gendarmerie (German rural order police) surrounded the ghetto. The next day, early in the morning, the inmates of the ghetto (mainly women, children, and the elderly, including some severely ill people) were driven onto the street and ordered to gather at the town's square (or, according to one testimony, a football field). Several of the sick, elderly, and disabled people were killed on the spot by Ukrainian policemen. At the collection point a selection was carried out after which several artisans, craftsmen, and doctors were allowed to remain in the ghetto. The rest of the Jews were lined up in rows and, under the pretext of being resettled, were taken on foot under the guard of members of the Gendarmerie and Ukrainian policemen to the Radziwiłł Fortress, several kilometers from the town. According to one testimony on their way to the fortress those Jews who were slow or unable to walk were shot to death by Ukrainian and German policemen. Upon their arrival at the fortress, the Jews (mainly women and children) were driven into a large hall and held there for a day with closed doors and windows. Due to the extreme crowding and lack of air and water several hundred people died there.