The History of the Minsk Ghetto

On June 28,1941,German tanks rumbled down the streets of Minsk.Approximmately 75,000 Jews (together with their children) had not managed to leave the city.

  The first order required all men from 15 to 45 years of age to appear at the registration point.Failure to do so was punishable by death.Only July 7,1941,Germans burst into apartments,seized the first Jewish men that they came upon,loaded them onto trucks and took them away.The next day an announcement was posted of the execution by shooting of 100 Jewish communists for Bolshevik connections.

  When the Germans appeared in town,people were robbed,raped,and shot for no reason.Jews were subjected to particular harassment.

  No.21 Mayasnikov Street was heavily occupied;more than 300 people resided there.On Junly 2,1941,the building was surrounded.The residents(the adults,the elderly,and even the children)were taken out into the yard and ordered to stand with their faces to the wall.No explanation was given.Forty guards held the people at rifle point for six hours.Meanwhoile clothing,linen,blankets,footwear,dishes,and all footstuffs were confiscated.(The pretext given was the confiscation of weapons.)The stolen goods were loaded onto two large trucks and hauled away.Only whey were totally dumbfounded at the sight of their ransacked apartments.

  That night groups of from four to five men returned to the apartment of the Graivers,the Rapoports,the Keonskys and ordered them to hand over their remaining belongs.“There were silver spoons here…Where is the suit?what happened to the silk?”the bandits shouted.

  The stalin School was a large building also locked on Myasnikov Street;its windows looked out on the courtyard of an apartment house,and through them the interiors of the apartments could be seen.The Germans settled in the school and selected the residents of the building as the objects of their amusement.For an entire day they shot from the windows,aiming at mirrors,furniture,and people.

  Hundreds and thousands of men obeyed the order to go the registration point.All were sent to the Drozdy camp.There Russians, Byelorussians,and Jews were all subjected to the same harassment and violence.

  After a time,the Russian men were released,but the Jews were kept in the camp.Those who remained were divided into two groups;white-collar workers and blue-collar workers.The former were loaded onto trucks,taken outside the city limits,and shot with submachine guns.Altogether,3,000 people were murdered.Outstanding people perished:engineers,professiors of the Polytechnical Institute,Mr.Eisenberg and Mr.Pritykin,who held Candidate’s degrees in the technical sciences,Dr.Priklad,who was a Doctor of Mathematics,and others.

  The second group,which consisted mainly of skilled laborers,was taken from the camp under heavy guard and imprisoned in the city.As they were being led along the streets,women and children ran out of the houses,attempting to pick out the face of friends and relatives.The convey met them with bullets.The columns of people were led along Communal Street.Mr.Zyskin’s fourteen-year-old daughter ran out of the house to the gates in the hope of seeing her father.A shot rang out,and the girle fell dead.

  The following is Comrade Partisan Grechanik’s testimony about the days spent by the male population of Minsk in the Drozdy camp:

  “When our column was about a liometer from town,they stopped us and said:|‘knives,watches,and razors are to be put in a hat and handed in.’The people obeyed.Of course,those who had their wits about them hid their watches and razors.Very many people buried their things in the ground rather than give them to the Germans.The Germans turned everyone’s pocket inside out,took the belongings from the hats,and checked wallets.We were standing in a field and were surrounded by guards.People kept arriving at the filed—group after group.That night it grew cold in the bare field,and people lay next to each other to keep warm.We spent the entire night in the field.There were very many people,but they would not give us anything to eat.People asked for water,but they would not give even that.Whenever anyone asked for anything,the Germans would shoot straight into the crower.Thus,the second day passed.The people lay on the ground,cold and hungry.some were dressed warmly,but others wore only summer shirts.Day broke,and people kept arriving.A Greman appeared with a bucket and began to distribute water.Thr people surrounded him and almost knocked him off his feet.Again those animals shot at the people.

  “It was 12:00 on the third day,and the people were hungry.The weather was warm and pleasant.Suddently an officer appeared with an interpreter and announced that from 10:00 to4:00 relatives would be admitted to the camp with food packages.In the distance we could see women with baskets and children carring bottles of water,but they not permitted to approach immediately.They were all detained,and the contents of the packages were checked.It got noise.Everyone tried to reach the women and children.The generalmood improved;those who received food ate with gusto and shared with those who did not.It become even noisier in the filed,and the children were asked to bring more water.They dia so,and the men drank with pleasure.But then some twenty of the women began to cry.When asked why they were crying,they answered that their husbands and children had been killed.

  “The day cameto an end,and the women and children were forced to leave.The men lay in the filed.Suddenly we heard steps,some shouts in German,and rifle shouts;Red-Army soldiers were led up,but they were not permitted to mix with the civilian population.The morning of the fourth day came.The solidiers attempted to approach the civilians,but they were immediately fired on.That day more than ten people were killed.Again the women came and brought food and drink.On the fifth night the solidiers began one by one to run over to the civilians.

  “The Germans fired at them,but the Red-Army soldiers paid no attention to the danger.They would run over and immediately lie down.The civilians gave them bread,water,and salt.Thus the civilians and the solidiers spent the entire night together—until just before morning.Then the soldiers ran back to their group and were again shou at.On the fifth day the weather was not particularly clear.More and more people were brought in—military and civilian.Suddenly a large column was led up;the people were dressed differently than we were and were carrying sacks and bags.They said that they had come from the west in an attempt to escape from the advancing Germans.They said that many had perished along the way.

  “Again the women came and broought food.Some brought raincoats.There was a sudden rain,and it become cold and damp.The people lay on the ground,and the day passed.The sixth night began.It was dark,and the solidiers ran over to the civilians.The Germans shot at the people.Again shouts were heard;it turn out that someone’s sack had been cut open.The sacks contained dried bread,and people surged toward the food.There were shots and a lot of noise,and about fifty people crawled away from the crowed.When they reached the German guards,the fugitives took off running.The Germans noticed them and began to shoot,but it was dark,and only there people were killed.The rest got away,and the sixth night passed.

  “On the morning of the seventh day it rained.We could see the women and children in the distance.They come closer,and the crowd began to wait impatiently.It was already 10:00,but no one was admitted to the camp.A column of people dressed in shabby civilian clothes was brought up.Some were barefoot.When they passed the women who had brought food to their relatives,shouts were heard.They new arrivals attacked the women and children and took their baskets from them.The Germans chased the women away,and the column of people was admitted to the civilian area of the camp.Only then did we realize that these were people whom the Soviet government had sent to forced labor camps.

  “hen in the distance could be seen aGestapo unit on motorcycles,on bicycles,in cars,and on foot.They approached the crowd,and shots could be heard:‘Line up four-deep!’Rubber truncheons were used to get the soliers in formation and then the others.The people were taken two kilometers away.Along the road lay soldiers with leg wounds.They shouted and groaned,but the Germans would not permit anyone to leave the column to help them. Inthis fashion everyone was bivouacked next to the Svisloch River.Military personnel were in one area,and civilians were in another.Thus the day passed.

  “The eighth day dawned.The people lay on the ground,since they had been warned that anyone who stood up would be shou.The machine guns were used frequently,and we heard people scream:‘They killed him!’Anyone who got up to discharge his bowels was shot.One man lay on the ground.A bullet had entered the small of his back and passed out through his stomach,ripping out the intestines.He was still alive and asked people to take down his address and write to his wife and children to tell them how he had died.A Germnan walked up and asked:‘Whose knife ripped open his stomach?’Thus the eighth day passed.

  “The ninth day arrived. The people did not ask for water,since there was enough in the stream.A German stood next to the strem and permitted people to get water one after the other.A truck drove up,and an interpreter shouted some names through a megaphone:doctors,cooks,bakers,electricians,and plumbers.They were told to go to the truck;they would be permitted to return home on condition that they appear for work.

  “Another truck appeared with Germans and a movie camera.They began to throw dried bread to the military prisoners,who scrambled for it frantically as they were filmed by the movie camera.An officer on the truck shot at the hands of the Red-Army solidiers who grabbed for the dried bread.He got down from the truck and examined the hands of those who had been shot.If the bullet had struck a bone,the man was put in one group.If it had penetrated only the flesh of the hand,the man went to a different group.The first group was shot in full view of everyone.The officer gave the Red-Amry solodiers shovels and ordered them to bury the dead.

  “The tenth day arrived.It was very dark,and the military prisoners again ran over to the civilians.Amid the noise and shooting many of the military prisoners—about three was a small forest.Suddenly a shot rang out from the woods.The people were lit up with headlights from three sides,and machine guns began to fire. Bullets flew overhead,and the people pressed their bodies to the ground.Those who were lying on higher ground crawled lower.By that time all the escapees had reached the woods.Only two were killed crossing the stream.The shooting stopped,the headlights went out,and the prisoners of war ran back to their places.The night came to an end.

  “The eleventh day began.The weather was bad.Some officers came to make a speech,and the sentries began to put things in order.On the other side of the stream a German sentry was washing his feet.Suddenly we heard the roar of planes and several explosions.The sentry grabbed his boots and run for the woods.The officers jumped into their car and left without saying anything.The people saw the sentry grab his boots and run,and they burst out laughiong.Then the women came again and brought food,underwear,and some warm clothing.The day ended.

  “On the twelfth night the prisoners of war ran over to the civilians,who gave them something to eat.Many of the solidiers changed into civilian clothing and remained with us.The night passed in this fashion.

  “It was already 10:00 on the thirteenth day,but the women were still not permitted to enter thecamp.Suddenly a car drove up,and it was announced that Poles were to gather on the left,Russians on the right,and the Jews next to the stream.The area was surrounded by wires,and the crowd began to split up.

  “Germans with rubber truncheons were everywhere.They beat the Jews and drove them toward the wire.Anyone who resisted was beaten to death or shot.Suddenly it was announced that they would let us go home.Poles and Russians were to be released first.No mention was made of the Jews.They began to release the Poles,and the day came to an end.

  “On the fourteenth night it was dark and cold.Again the prisoners of war ran over to the civilians,and the Germans shot at them.Suddenly an uninterrupted round of shooting began on the other side of the stream.We asked the prisoners of war what was going on,and they replied that the Germans were shooting the officers and political instructors.The shooting continued almost all night.

“It rained on the morning of the fifteenhth day.The women again gathered to have their packages checked.They had brought food,and part of it was confiscated before they were admitted to the camp and shown where to go.Some of the women who were looking for their men could not find them…They had been killed on the previous day. The women left sobbing.

“It grew warm,and a German was posted beside the stream,but he would not permit anyone to go for water.He pushed each man who approached into the river and told him to dive three times in his clothing before taking water.There were fewer and fewer Poles in camp.In this fashion the day came to an end.

“The sixteenth night was dark and rainy.The prisoners of war again ran over to the civilians,who fed them.Many changed into civilian clothing.It rained all night.

“At 10:00 on the seventeenth day a car arrived with an interpreter who explained that all Jewish engineers, doctors, technicians, bookkeepers, and educated persons must be registered.They would be released from camp and sent to work.Their were 3,000 such persons,and they bagan to register.Later the people learned that all these educated persons were shot.The women came and brought food.There was a heavy rain,and everyone was soaked;some of the men shaved.A group of women gathered around while three freshly shaven men put on women’s clothing and covered their heads with large kerchiefs.The old women took them by the hand,and they picked up baskets with pots and set off for the exit.The sentry paid them no heed,and the people watched intently.They got through,and everyone breathed freely.That day twenty men escaped from the camp.Almost all the educated people were registered and marched off—away from the workers.Then the workers were registered as well.When it became dark,there wsa no one left in the field exce4pt for Jews and prisoners of war.Suddenly a shot rang out.A sentry had recognized a man dressed as a woman and had shot him.Then it all began.Brandishing sticks,the Germans ran toward the Jews.They searched for razors,cups,raincoats,and good boots.The crowd pushed back and forth andin the confusion threw all razors and valuables into the stream.Thus the day ended.

“The eighteenth day was dark and rainly.The prisoners of war ran over to the civilians but no longer changed into their clothes,for only they and the Jews remained in the middle of the field to face their bitter fate.The Jews gave them something to eat,and they lay down and warmed themselves together with us. It was dark,but the roar of trucks could be heard.The prisoners of war ran back to their places.The trucks pulled up to the group of educated people and took them away—supposedly to work.We now know what sort of ‘work’was.

  “about twenty minutes after the trucks left we heard bursts of machine-gun fire,and in another fifteen minutes the same trucks returned for more people.In this fashion they took away all the educated people.At dawn an officer arrived and selected 200 workers.He sent them off on foot to ‘work’and announced:‘All Jews will be taken from here to a different place.It will be warm there,and there won’t be any rain.You will be taken through the town.Be sure to tell your wives,relatives,and friends that you will be taken through the town tomorrow.If even one of them approaches you,both you and they will be shot.’

  “They began to lead out the prisoners of war.The women came and brought food.Many wept,for their husbands,relatives,and children were no longer among the living.They were told that we would be taken through the town on the next day,but that no one should approach us or else they would be shot.They left crying.The last day in the Drozdy camp came to an end.

  “On the nineteenth night the prisoners of war were taken from camp.Red-Army solidiers were hauled away all night under the glare of headlights.There was no longer anyone left in the field except the Jews.In the morning a Gestapo unit arrived;they were all wearing red silk neckties.The simple Jewish people were assembled in formation and led away.Sentries stood all along the road leading to the prison.When the people approached the prison,the Gestapo men opened the gates and let them in.And the gates closed.”