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Shamash and son forest fabric11/8/2023 ![]() And indeed, the night after Yom Kippur we saw how the last Germans disappeared and it became as quiet as after a wedding. It was hard for us to believe that such a thing would really happen. We were very amazed at hearing what they said. They added that the Germans would soon retreat from our area and that the Russians would come in their stead. One of them told us that he had participated in the Spanish Civil War. They showed us pictures of their families. We also met some good Germans, who claimed that they hated the War, and who related decently and generously to the Jews. There were Germans who requested from everyone they met to hand over everything they had in their pockets. When they saw that they were not able to do so, they destroyed it as much as they could and went down from the roof, cursing as they went. Two Germans went up on the roof of the synagogue and tried to take apart the magen David that was there. Many girls wore old, threadbare dresses belonging to their mothers, so as to appear old and ugly. In various places, the Germans grabbed young girls and raped them in broad daylight. The Germans loaded two full crates of leather and ready-made shoes. Trembling with fear, Itzele pointed out a dugout in his barn, which was covered with firewood. They didn't find any merchandise in the shoe store owned by Itzele, son of Yisrael Chaim, so they stood him next to his shop and threatened him with a pistol, so that he should reveal where he had hidden his merchandise. They broke into the shops and warehouses, and stole everything. In the old marketplace, the evicted ones were divided into groups and organized for jobs, such as: cleaning all of the roads of dirt and garbage unloading and loading of cargoes on military vehicles, oil drums, crops, and many other things, as well as the washing and rinsing of vehicles. Jews were driven out of their homes and the Germans ordered them to equip themselves with spades, hoes, and other tools. That Rosh Hashana, the Jews did not go to pray in the Beit Midrash, but they organized prayers in private homes, and whispered the prayers so that the Germans would not hear them. That night, I thought the end of the world had arrived. The shouts of the Germans mixed with the echoes of the hand grenades exploding within the burning houses and the flames were reaching toward the heavens. I lay in a field far from the town and looked at the flames and clouds of smoke above the town. Among these victims were: Alter Novak, Alter Slodky, Kalman Yankel, the two sons of Baruch the Shamash, 17-year-old Riva, and a 15-year-old youth. Those who tried to escape were shot while running away. ![]() There, the Jews mumbled the Vidui, thinking that the hour of their death had come. They brought a group of Jews to a suburb of the town, near the Bialystok road. That night, the Germans went from house to house, robbing as they went. The first evening after they came, they set fire to the houses on Tiktin and Lomza Streets, and all of them were burned down to the foundations. They were armed and armored from head to toe. On the third of September, the Germans invaded our town, Sokoly, and immediately threw their terror over the residents. The year 1939 will be forever engraved upon the history of the Jewish nation. ![]() ![]() Sokoly, Poland - Pages 158-187 « Previous Page ![]()
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