candles for the last time.
For a day and a half the train went southward as they had expected but at about noon it pulled into a long siding next to a halfbuilt factory and some sheds. Everyone was ordered off. Near the building were three ditches, each about one hundred feet long and twelve feet deep. Under watch of the SS Teilkommando detachment, armed Ukrainian militiamen herded the Jews into groups. All in all, about 1,800 had been on the train. An SS soldier with a whip forced Katrina's group to undress, after which they were made to put their clothing in piles which had been started long before and which lay partly covered with canvas tarpaulins. The pile of shoes was like a little mountain and would have filled a railroad car. Without weeping or crying the Jews undressed and stood together in families embracing each other and saying goodbye while waiting for a sign from another SS soldier who stood at the edge of the ditch, like many of his fellows, with a whip. There was not a single complaint or plea for mercy. They had been removed into a dream and they were dazed. The unfamiliar, half-finished place was hardly real. Katrina watched a man and a woman of about fifty who were surrounded by their childrenâan infant, a boy and a girl of about ten, and two girls in their middle twenties. An old woman who was obviously the grandmother held the baby in her arms, rocking it, and singing it a song. The baby was crying aloud with delight. The father held the ten-year-old boy, stroking his head. The mother grasped the girl so tightly against her stomach that it must have caused the child pain. The father seemed to be explaining something to the boy when the SS man near the ditch signaled to his counterpart. He in turn apportioned out a number of people, including the family and Katrina, and made them move to another part of the field. Katrina kept saying her number, âThirty-three.â
They waited for several hours during which they numbly watched other groups being formed and then marched to the ditches. In these ditches tightly packed corpses were heaped so close together that only the heads showed. Most were wounded in the head and blood flowed over their shoulders. Some still moved, raising their eyes a little and turning their hands. The man who carried out the execution was seated, legs swinging, on an old weathered board which ran over the ditch. An automatic rifle rested on his knees and he was smoking a cigarette.
More people, completely naked, climbed down a few steps cut in the wall of the ditch, and stopped at the spot indicated by the SS men. Facing the dead and wounded, they spoke softly to them. Many said the
Shâma
âthen the monotonous rapid cracks of the automatic weapon. The bodies contorted. Their heads, already inert, sank onto the corpses beneath. Blood flowed from the napes of their necks. And this went on and on.
Finally the ditches were full, and Katrinaâs group was still alive. They stared with motionless eyes at the sky and the sun, which was going down behind smoke. It was getting cold, and they had no clothes. Then the SS man came around to them and half of the group was ordered to lie on the ground. This included the father, the mother, the boy, the girl, and others. Katrina watched with the two young girls, one of whom was holding the infant, as the rifle cracked and those on the ground convulsed. Then the girls and Katrina were made to lie on top of the corpses. By this time it was almost dark and the rifleman had begun to spray the bodies without really seeing them. He fired. Katrina was wounded in the leg, but nowhere else. When all became quiet there was a pile of bodies, like firewood, and just a few were still moaning. Katrina was trapped by the weight of those above her and could not move her arms. She blacked out.
In the morning she awoke to find herself in the same position, covered with blood. Those still alive stared into space with a set look, seeming not
For a day and a half the train went southward as they had expected but at about noon it pulled into a long siding next to a halfbuilt factory and some sheds. Everyone was ordered off. Near the building were three ditches, each about one hundred feet long and twelve feet deep. Under watch of the SS Teilkommando detachment, armed Ukrainian militiamen herded the Jews into groups. All in all, about 1,800 had been on the train. An SS soldier with a whip forced Katrina's group to undress, after which they were made to put their clothing in piles which had been started long before and which lay partly covered with canvas tarpaulins. The pile of shoes was like a little mountain and would have filled a railroad car. Without weeping or crying the Jews undressed and stood together in families embracing each other and saying goodbye while waiting for a sign from another SS soldier who stood at the edge of the ditch, like many of his fellows, with a whip. There was not a single complaint or plea for mercy. They had been removed into a dream and they were dazed. The unfamiliar, half-finished place was hardly real. Katrina watched a man and a woman of about fifty who were surrounded by their childrenâan infant, a boy and a girl of about ten, and two girls in their middle twenties. An old woman who was obviously the grandmother held the baby in her arms, rocking it, and singing it a song. The baby was crying aloud with delight. The father held the ten-year-old boy, stroking his head. The mother grasped the girl so tightly against her stomach that it must have caused the child pain. The father seemed to be explaining something to the boy when the SS man near the ditch signaled to his counterpart. He in turn apportioned out a number of people, including the family and Katrina, and made them move to another part of the field. Katrina kept saying her number, âThirty-three.â
They waited for several hours during which they numbly watched other groups being formed and then marched to the ditches. In these ditches tightly packed corpses were heaped so close together that only the heads showed. Most were wounded in the head and blood flowed over their shoulders. Some still moved, raising their eyes a little and turning their hands. The man who carried out the execution was seated, legs swinging, on an old weathered board which ran over the ditch. An automatic rifle rested on his knees and he was smoking a cigarette.
More people, completely naked, climbed down a few steps cut in the wall of the ditch, and stopped at the spot indicated by the SS men. Facing the dead and wounded, they spoke softly to them. Many said the
Shâma
âthen the monotonous rapid cracks of the automatic weapon. The bodies contorted. Their heads, already inert, sank onto the corpses beneath. Blood flowed from the napes of their necks. And this went on and on.
Finally the ditches were full, and Katrinaâs group was still alive. They stared with motionless eyes at the sky and the sun, which was going down behind smoke. It was getting cold, and they had no clothes. Then the SS man came around to them and half of the group was ordered to lie on the ground. This included the father, the mother, the boy, the girl, and others. Katrina watched with the two young girls, one of whom was holding the infant, as the rifle cracked and those on the ground convulsed. Then the girls and Katrina were made to lie on top of the corpses. By this time it was almost dark and the rifleman had begun to spray the bodies without really seeing them. He fired. Katrina was wounded in the leg, but nowhere else. When all became quiet there was a pile of bodies, like firewood, and just a few were still moaning. Katrina was trapped by the weight of those above her and could not move her arms. She blacked out.
In the morning she awoke to find herself in the same position, covered with blood. Those still alive stared into space with a set look, seeming not
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