2 Jan. 46
families or groups had barricaded
themselves in especially strong buildings and the doors could not be
forced with crowbars or beams, the doors were now blown open with hand
grenades. Since the ghetto was near the railroad tracks in Rovno, the
younger people tried to get across the tracks and over a small river
to get away from the ghetto area. As this stretch of country was
beyond the range of the electric lights, it was illuminated by small
rockets. All through the night these beaten, hounded, and wounded
people moved along the lighted streets. Women carried their dead
children in their arms, children pulled and dragged their dead parents
by their arms and legs down the road toward the train. Again and again
the cries, 'Open the door! Open the door!' echoed through the ghetto."
I will not read any more of this affidavit. It is a very long one. There
is also a second affidavit, but the part I wanted to emphasize is the
fact that the original exemption was signed by the area commissioner and
that the SD and the SS participated in this action.
THE PRESIDENT: Oughtn't you to read the rest of that page, Colonel
Storey?
COL. STOREY: All right, Sir. I really had eliminated that because I
thought there might be some repetition.
"About 6 o'clock in the morning I
went away for a moment, leaving behind Einsporn and several other
German workers who had returned in the meantime. I thought the
greatest danger was past and that I could risk it. Shortly after I
left, Ukrainian militia men forced their way into 5 Bahnhofstrasse and
brought seven Jews out and took them to a collecting point inside the
ghetto. On my return I was able to prevent further Jews from being
taken out. I went to the collecting point to save these seven men. I
saw dozens of corpses of all ages and both sexes in the streets I had
to walk along. The doors of the houses stood open, windows were
smashed. Pieces of clothing, shoes, stockings, jackets, caps, hats,
coats et cetera, were lying in the street. At the corner of a house
lay a baby, less than a year old with his skull crushed. Blood and
brains were spattered over the house wall and covered the area
immediately around the child. The child was dressed only in a little
shirt. The commander, SS Major Pütz was walking up and down a row
of about 80 to 100 male Jews who were crouching on the ground. He had
a heavy dog whip in his hand. I walked up to him, showed him the
written permit of Stabsleiter Beek and demanded the seven men whom I
recognized among those who were crouching