Murder Story of Solobkovtsy Jews in the Solobkovtsy Pits

On August 4, 1942 about 1,500 Jews were taken from the ghetto by Ukrainian policemen to the town square and, then, nder guard to the outskirts of the town, where three pits had been prepared. According to one testimony, the victims were made to take off their clothes, lined up, and in groups of 5 forced into a pit and shot in the head with explosive bullets from submachine-guns by a German murder squad. According to a survivor, about 200 of those who had hidden during the murder operation were found shortly after the murder operation. They were held in the town prison for nine days. On August 13 they were put for one day into the coal warehouse, where some of them, including little children, elderly people, and young women, suffocated due to the lack of air or [died from the lack of] water. On August 14 the remaining Jews were taken by the Germans to be shot, apparently at the same location.