Murder Story of Bereza Kartuska Jews in the Area of the Bronna Gora Railway Station

In June 1942 five trains with Soviet civilians arrived. … The first train came from the Kartuz Bereza [sic] station. It consisted of sixteen main cars and several cars with guards and ammunition. The Bereza Kartuska Ghetto B inmates were there. They were Jewish civilians. Each of the overcrowded cars held more than 200 people. Upon the arrival of these people at the Bronna Góra station we learned that all these civilians had been taken from Ghetto B of Kartuz Bereza village. The cars of the trains that arrived at Bronna Góra station were closed tightly. All five trains were driven to the branch line that led from the central railway station of Bronna Góra to a former military warehouse. About 250-300 meters from the central railway (next to the branch line) six large pits had been prepared, each one about 25-30 meters long, 10-12 meters wide, and 4 meters deep. While the civilians were unloaded from the cars, the bodies of some other civilians were thrown from the cars. I assume those people had died in the cars only due to their exhaustion and the overcrowding in the cars. While the cars were being unloaded, all the civilians were forced to take off their outer clothing and underwear; in other words, they were naked - the men, the women, and the children. After that the fingers [of the victims] were examined and if any rings were found, they were taken away. After this thorough examination, the naked [victims], one after the other, were taken toward the pits and made to descend into the pits by ladder. In the pit they had to lie face down. When a row was full, shots were fired from sub-machineguns. A second, then a third row was forced on top of it, until the pit was full. I personally saw all the atrocities and personally heard the groaning and screaming of the children, the women, and the men. I was able to see all this because the switchmen's hut where I was staying and the railway junction were located no more than 250 meters from the pits where the shooting was carried out…. In September 1942 another train with Soviet civilians arrived. This train had twenty five cars and came from the Kartuz – Bereza station.