Murder Story of Minkovtsy Jews in Glubochek

"… [O]n the third day, it was a Sabbath, early in the morning, just at dawn, … while I was still sleeping, my mother… came to my room and said: Syoma, you know, I can see many Germans moving around.… Usually when the Jews were taken for forced labor, I jumped out of the window and hid in the bushes. My mother said to me: 'Look: the Germans are moving near the river.…' I said to her that they were probably going to take them [the Jews] for forced labor. After she had just closed the door behind her, I heard some people come in speaking Russian: [They said]:'Take your things and get out.' I just sat there without saying anything. Then, I heard them,– at that time we had renters who were living in one room and the entrance to [their room] was from the corridor. Question: "Where were the renters from?" Answer: "They were from Zhvanchik. They worked in Minkovtsy since it was the county center. They lived in one room of our house. Question: "Were they Jews?" Answer: "Jews? Yes. … They [the Germans] took them away – and my parents closed the outer door, I remained in the house. The windows of the room faced the backyard. I could only see the river, the front windows were in the room where the renters lived. When some time had passed, I thought to myself I have to see what is going on… I could hear only shots, shots - nothing more. From this window I saw a peasant come in – we had a cow - and he took it away. Then, I thought of entering the room [of the renters] and looking out at the street to see what was going on there. I looked and I saw a group of Jews, probably those who had remained - since there were a few people left - being taken away on foot. The rest had been taken earlier. I saw how this group was taken on foot along the road. I knew where this road led, but I didn't know where they were taken to. I spent the night in our house in the following way: I saw how the peasants were looting the houses [of the Jews]. The door of our neighbor's house was broken down and people entered and looted it. However, as to my house it was if a guard had been stationed at the door. No one approached the house or touched the lock. I saw how the [Ukrainian] neighbors were looting, carrying away things from other houses. All night long I was moving from one window to the other and watching. I was thinking to myself 'What is happening? Where are they [the Jews]?'… Early in the morning I climbed out the window and followed the road along which the Jews had been taken [the day before]. Where you had to cross the river there was a bridge and near the bridge was a house. Some Russian people lived there …. When they let me in, I immediately asked what had happened, where were they all. They told me…." Question: "What did they tell you? Answer: "They told me that all of them had been taken to the hill. Pits had been dug at the site and all of them [the Jews] were shot to death there.…" Question: "All the Jews from Minkovtsy?" Answer: "All the Jews from Minkovtsy, without exception, all those who had been collected. Those who hid were murdered later, but the Russians told me that all the Jews were taken to the hill. Three pits had been dug and all of them were shot to death there." Question: "Who from your family was there?" Answer: "From my family there were my father, my mother, my older brother, my sisters-in-law, whose husbands, my two other brothers, were at the front. These relatives, all these dear ones, my whole family, were there and not one survived." Question: "Approximately how many members of your family were [murdered] there?" Answer: "From my entire family about 20 persons…."

… My cousin Shmuel Adesman, who was also living in this town with his family and his mother, on the outskirts of town, near the homes of the Ukrainians of the next village. August 30, 1941 was the anniversary of his father's death and he, therefore, called together 10 Jews for a minyan [quorum]. During the prayer that was recited behind closed doors and shutters one of the people present heard a noise. He opened the shutter slightly and saw the whole Jewish population of the town walking in a column, guarded by armed German soldiers and Ukrainian policemen. The men shouted: "Germans! Save yourselves" and all those present scattered and hid among the corn stalks in the nearby kitchen-gardens. My aunt was also among those who hid and she began to watch what was happening to the column. When she saw the Germans adding her daughter-in-law with her two daughters to the column, she left her hiding place, joined the column, and stood among the rest. When a guard shouted "Where are going, grandma?' she replied: "I am Ukrainian, my children are here, I want to be with them." The whole column was driven to the foot of a steep hill about 3 kilometers east of the town. Two large pits had been dug on the hill. The guards forced the people in groups of 100 up the hill, placed them at the edge of the pit, and shot them to death. The people fell into the pit: some of them had been killed, while others were only wounded. After the two pits were quite full but there were still some people [Jews] waiting near the hill, the guards choose the youngest of those who remained and forced them to dig another pit. Then they shot to death those who were left. During this time terrible scenes occurred. Many people lost their minds; they were simply finished off with rifle butts on the spot….