Trip Report for Belarus 8

Dates : November 27, 2010 – December 9, 2010

Regions: Administrative region of Grodno

Participants : Geoffroy Lauby (Team leader), Lillia Votler (interpreter), Svetlana Biryulova (interpreter), Denis Mouravitski (interviewer), Anna Szymerowska (trip report), Thierry Soval (cameraman), David Merlin-Dufey (photographer), Andrei Khutsko (driver), Ruslan Iourine (driver) Cities and villages visited : Naoumovitchi, Oziory, Poretchié, Sopotskine, Odelsk, Indoura, Loustkovlany, Indoura, Bolschaia Berestovitsa, Svislotch, Mstibovo, Volkovysk, Zelva, Grodno Yahad – In Unum returned for an 8^th research trip to Belarus. This 15-day trip occurred in the region of Grodno, which is located at the border of Lithuania and Poland. It completed the work of the previous trip in the same region. This investigation confirmed the major findings of the previous trip: there were few mass-shootings, Jews were held in ghettos then deported to the concentration camps in Poland, some via the camp of Kolbassino, to the south of Grodno, or the ghetto of Volkovysk. Below are some additional findings. The Ghetto of Grodno Before the war, about half of the population of the city was Jewish. Established by the Germans in November 1941, the ghetto of Grodno was comprised of two territories two kilometers from each other. The first was called Ghetto 1 and located in the old city around the large synagogue. It was highly concentrated with a population of approximately 15,000 Jews residing in 500m2. The second was called Ghetto 2 and located in the outlying quarter of Slobodka. The Germans held around 10,000 Jews there. The liquidation of the ghettos began at the end of 1942 and was done in steps. In the beginning of 1943, the last Jews in the ghetto of the old city were deported. Most of the Jews were sent to the extermination camps of Poland: Auschwitz and Treblinka. There were few mass shootings in Grodno or even in the surrounding areas. “In a former fort located near the village of Naoumovitcho, the local intelligentsia was executed in mass along with numerous Jews,” according to the Soviet Extraordinary State Commission. Today, the houses and the synagogue of the first ghetto are still partly standing, whereas nothing remains of the second. During its research, Yahad found an exceptional witness, whose story was so rich and moving, two days of interviewing ensued.  His name is Gregori (b. 1924) and is a Jewish survivor. Living with his family, he was alternately held with his parents and his sister in Ghetto 1, then in Ghetto 2, and returned to Ghetto 1 before the Jews of the former were killed. “My father was a carpenter. He continued his work inside the ghetto. During my time in the ghetto, I worked quite regularly in a meat factory. Wrongly accused of stealing, I was tortured by the SS officers of the two ghettos, and hung from a butcher’s hook before being saved at the last minute following the denunciation of the real thief. For a time, I was in a secret organization that was planning an armed struggle but it was quickly dismantled.” On April 14, 1943, he was placed on a train destined for Treblinka with his father, but Gregori escaped. “They told us that the train was taking us to Treblinka,” he said. “I told my father beforehand that I was going to try to jump off the train. I was waiting my turn to jump because many people were trying to do the same. My father wished me good luck and said he was too old to jump off the train with me. It all happened very quickly, and suddenly I found myself in the snow, which cushioned my fall. I never saw my father again.” After weeks of wandering and survival, Gregori secretly entered the ghetto of Lida in order to make contacts to join the partisans. Finally, he joined the famous partisans led by the Bielski brothers. The Ghetto of Volkovysk Before the war, just under half of the population of this medium-sized city was Jewish, the rest was generally Polish. When the Germans attacked the USSR in June 1941, the city center was completely destroyed by aerial bombing. Many Jews, who mainly lived in the center, were killed at that time. During our investigation, we found several other Jewish city centers, in often small cities, ravaged by the bombs at the beginning of the war. Therefore, it’s not impossible that the intention of the Germans was to deliberately kill the Jewish inhabitants with these bombings. Ivan (b. 1932) remembered “the car that drove through the city in 1942 to command the Jews to gather in a ghetto.” This ghetto was built in a former military camp and received approximately 10,000 Jews from the city. As time went by, it also received many Jews from the villages and ghettos in the surrounding region, like Mstibovo or Pesky. We also found Edmund (b. 1929) who related an episode where he “saw a Jewish column outside the city headed for the ghetto. They had their heads down and carried bundles.” The ghetto of Volkovysk was liquidated at the beginning of 1943 and all the Jews were sent by train to the gas chambers in Poland. Ivan (b. 1927) was “requisitioned with his cart to go search for Jews in the ghetto and bring them to the station.” The witness told us that many were drinking rum “to give themselves courage.” Some notable testimonies In the village of Oziory, the Germans established a local gendarmerie. There was a terrible officer named Schultz, who had several dogs. Vladimir (b. 1930) regularly saw Jews passing in front of his house. They were generally in pairs, taken from the ghetto to the police courtyard. He said, “These Jews were wrapped up in very thick clothes. I heard the dogs who were unleashed and the screams of the Jews upon whom they had released the hounds.”. Schultz was creating some kind of game to make the dogs more ferocious. Immediately after, I saw the Jews pass by again all bloody. They were taken back to the ghetto.” In Indura, Stanislav (b. 1933) was smuggled into the ghetto a dozen times. “I secretly went under the fence because there was a place where we could easily remove the nails of a board. I always went to the same house, the home of my parents’ friends. I gave them a little food in exchange for clothes or shoes. Each time the exchange was brief and we spoke very little.” In Zelva, at the time of the clearing of the ghetto, the elderly were taken on carts to be killed in the houses. Vladimir (b. 1925) saw everything: “a cart was approaching the house. Around five German soldiers were waiting in front of the house.  The Jews got down from the cart and were taken into the house on the ground floor. At this moment, one of the Germans entered the house and closed the door. We could hear the gunshots. Then, the officer came back out with his revolver in hand. He took a handkerchief and wiped the sweat off his forehead. When the house was full, the executioners went to the next house. Like this, the elderly were shot in three houses.” Upon completion of the trip, Yahad –In Unum visited 13 sites, interviewed 42 witnesses and located 6 graves or execution sites.