[Note: Husband was not Jewish]
Starokonstantinov, March 28, 1973
Chief investigator of the KGB administration in the
Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR in the district
of Khmelnitskiy and first lieutenant Tkachuk heard the
witness, Alexandra Nazartchuk [Nasartschuk], in the
administrative building of the KGB on behalf of the USSR’s
Department of Public Prosecution and in connection with
the request of the legal authorities of the Federal
Republic of Germany, abiding by the conditions of
Paragraphs no. 85, 167 and 170 of the Code of Criminal
Procedure.
Witness: Anna Nazartchuk [Nasartschuk], daughter
of Lazar, born 1915 in the village of Khizhniki, Raion of
Starokonstantinov, district [Oblast] of Khmelnitskiy. She
is Jewish and a citizen of the USSR. She completed 7 years
of grade school education and is now a housewife. She
lives in Starokonstantinov, district of Khmelnitskiy,
Saltykova-Shchedrina [Str.] 13
In accordance with section IV of Paragraph no. 167 of the
Code of Criminal Procedure of the Ukrainian SSR, the
witness’ obligations as outlined in Paragraph no. 70 of
the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Ukrainian SSR have
been explained to A. L. Nazartchuk. Furthermore, as
outlined in Paragraph no. 179 of the penal code of the
Ukrainian SSR, she was made aware of her liability in case
of a refusal to testify or avoidance of a statement. As
outlined in Paragraph no. 178, section 2 of the penal code
of the Ukrainian SSR, the consequences in case of making
intentionally untrue statements were brought to her
attention, as well.
Signature: Nazartchuk
The hearing started at 3pm and ended at 7:30pm.
Before the hearing, the witness explained that she would
like to make her statements in Russian because she speaks
Russian fluently.
Answering the posed questions, the witness A. L.
Nazartchuk made the following statements:
I was born and raised in the village of Khizhniki,
formerly known as the district of Ostropol. Now, this
district belongs to the district of Starokonstantinov. My
mother, who is also Jewish, lived with me in the village.
I do not know the nationality of my father. He already
died in 1914. Yet, I did not ask my mother such questions.
In 1938, I married Ignat Nazartchuk, a Ukrainian who lived
in the village. He was drafted at the beginning of the
war, and he did not return from the front. Before
the war, my husband and I worked in different positions at
the village’s kolkhoz. Our son Vladimir was born in June
of 1940.
In August 1941, two policemen – they were unknown to me –
from Ostropol came to our village and ordered all Jews to
move from Khizhniki to Ostropol. About 12 Jews lived in
our village. We arrived together with the policemen in
Ostropol. There, the members of the police suggested that
the Jewish townsmen should take us in.
The people took us in as far as they could manage it.
Ostropol was a town at that time. The Jews made up a
significant part of the town’s population. Like all the
others, we stayed in Ostropol until May 1942. It must be
noted that the situation of the Jewish population worsened
continually. The local authorities gave the order to
demolish a part of the Jewish houses. Their occupants were
herded together in the remaining buildings. Around spring
of 1942, I had to live in a house with 20 people crammed
into one room. It was not possible to lie down in this
building. One could only sit or stand.
The local authorities forced the Jewish population to do
various meaningless jobs: Filling up pits and repairing
streets among other things. In this regard, I was lucky:
the secretary of the local police station picked me to
scrub the floors. He was a good man and he gave me
groceries once in a while. The other people ate what they
could get their hands on. Even potato scraps were part of
their food.
At the end of May 1942, my mother died. She was weakened
by the hunger and the harsh living conditions. It must be
noted that even though all the Jews lived in one
neighborhood of Ostropol (this is how much the authorities
had herded them together), the Jewish quarter was neither
fenced nor guarded. All Jews in Ostropol were ordered to
wear a white armband with a yellow patch in the form of a
hexagonal star on it. I did not know who issued this order
and I also did not know where these directives came from
that were meant to punish the Jewish population.
The orders were relayed by the Ukrainian police. There
were about five to six Germans in the village at that
time. However, I do not know what functions they had and
what they did for work.
On May 19, 1942, members of the self-governed Jewish
community notified us that all Jews had to gather at the
school building at 6am on the following day. I came to the
school building at 6am and there was a German, giving a
speech. A stranger translated the speech for me. I cannot
remember anymore what the German talked about. It is still
stuck in my mind, though, how the German commanded his
shepherd dog to sic on the people standing in front of him
from time to time.
After that, they ordered us to form rows of four and to
walk to Starokonstantinov. The policemen announced that
the sick and old could stay and wait for carts. Yet, this
announcement was only made after the convoy had reached
the village of Ladygi. Around 40 people stayed back to
wait for a cart. I also wanted to stay and wait because it
became difficult to carry the child in my arms. One of the
policemen advised me against it and told me that many
people will be on the cart; the drive will be worse for me
than the walk. I learned a few days after our arrival in
Starokonstantinov that everyone who stayed back was shot.
I do not know whether the Germans or the policemen were
responsible for this.
We arrived in Starokonstantinov in the evening. We were
brought to the grounds of the ghetto, which is located at
the site of today’s market, namely at the fork of the
streets to Ostropol and to Shepetovka. It bordered on
Izyaslavskaya Street.
At the day of our arrival, it became clear to us that the
Germans had shot all people who had been living in the
ghetto before us. Immediately after we arrived in the
ghetto, a German spoke to us. I noted his name, he was
called Gedrich (the Russian language does not know an “H”,
i.e. the German could have also been called Hedrich – the
translator). He told us via an interpreter that an
execution of Jews had ended just now. He explained that
the Germans shot those who did not want to work and who
did not follow their orders. According to him, this was
not a threat for us as long as we would follow all the
orders of the occupants with absolute obedience. After the
speech, we went into the houses of the ghetto. All
the houses were empty. It must be noted that by my count
there were about 150 houses in the ghetto. The Jewish
craftsmen lived outside of the ghetto at that time.
I did not want to move into somebody’s house because I
expected that we will be shot anytime soon. However, two
children, the boy Lesik and the girl Alla, turned to me
for help. The boy was 16 years old and the girl was 9
years old. Their parents were shot during the execution on
May 20, while they had stayed back and hid in the ghetto.
I cannot remember the children’s last names. The asked me
to live with them. I agreed to that.
The living conditions in the ghetto were much worse than
the life in Ostropol.
All new arrivals were forced to wear circular
identification patches made of yellow fabric. The ghetto
was fenced with barbed wire and was guarded by policemen.
The authorities did not provide any food for the ghetto
inmates. Even worse, there was no water supply in the
ghetto. They only allowed us to get water from the river
Ikopot once a day at 2pm. The people lived on food they
got from barter deals with the town residents. These deals
had to happen behind the policemen’s backs.
I took advantage of the fact that I did not look like a
Jewish woman. Thus, systematically, I made my way out of
the ghetto and into town. There, I got food for the
children and me. Our food was often limited to some beets
or something similar that I found on the ground. Also the
children I lived with sometimes exchanged the leftover
belongings from their parents for food. At that time, the
women in the ghetto were made to work in the German
barracks. We scrubbed the floors and cleaned up the rooms.
I do not know where the men had to work. On May 20, 1942,
around 400 people from Ostropol and the surrounding area
arrived with me in the ghetto. In addition to us, people
from various other towns were brought into the ghetto:
from the district of Polonnoye, from Staraya Sinyava and
from other various villages. I cannot tell how many people
were in the ghetto during my time there. I think there
were a lot of people, but to express this in numbers, even
just approximately, is very hard for me.
The ghetto inmates were exposed in every conceivable way
to the malicious acts of the Germans and the policemen.
They beat people whether there was a cause or not. Two
German soldiers once raped two 15-year-old girls. I cannot
remember the date of the rape, but it happened during the
day.
In addition to those mentioned, there was also a special
form of malicious acts: Following an announcement of the
self-governed Jewish community, the Jewish ghetto
population had to leave the ghetto every Sunday in order
to gather in town for a so-called “assembly”. This
gathering took place close to the town’s exit towards
Shepetovka. Today, there is the administrative building of
the kolkhoz “Zhdanov”. At the time, there was the scaffold
of an unfinished granary or of a similar building. I
remember very well that the Germans shot 11 people there
during the first “assembly” in order to intimidate us.
These people were not Jewish. They were accused of
resistance against the occupying forces. Some were accused
of hiding members of the Soviet army. I remember clearly
that the local doctor Kozlov was shot there. He was
accused of harming the Germans by exploiting his status as
a doctor (I cannot remember what exactly he had done). The
doctor tried to shout something to the people before he
was executed, but he did not have a chance to finish what
he was saying.
On the 12th, they brought a Jew named Nus to the execution
site. He failed to show up for the “assembly” and had
hidden instead in the attic of a house. They abused him in
various ways and then shot him like the others. I want to
clarify this statement.
First, they hanged the people I mentioned on a beam of the
unfinished building. Then, they took them off again, laid
them on the floor and fired at them. There were three
Germans from the Security Service of the SS at execution
site (this is what I was told about them back then).
I did not know the names of these occupiers. The actual
enforcers of the execution were policemen, who followed
the fascists’ orders. I also did not know the policemen’s
names; I did not know these people. Everyone at the
“assembly” had to watch these executions; no one was
allowed to turn around.
After we had returned to town from the first “assembly”,
we saw them carry stretchers with two dead bodies: One was
the body of the janitor, Grigoriy, who lived near the
ghetto, and the other one was the body of a Jewish girl,
who had hidden in the attic of a house. I do not know how
many “assemblies” took place altogether. They took place
every Sunday. Every time, groups of three to seven people
were executed by hanging, while we had to watch. Members
of the Security Service of the SS were always present at
the place of execution, and every time the Jewish
population was warned that each and each of them could
expect the same treatment, if they were disobedient. The
last “assembly” was carried out when the Jewish population
was already on their way to the “Noviki” forest.
On a November day in 1942 (it was the end of the month),
the Jewish Council [ghetto government appointed by
Germans] notified the ghetto inmates that the Germans
demanded a tax of 4kg of gold. In return, they promised
they would not kill any Jews anymore.
In order to comply with this demand, the people handed
over all kinds of items made of gold (rings, earrings
etc.). Some even took out their gold crowns and handed
them over. In the evening, a spokesman of the Jewish
Council announced that the Germans’ demand has been
fulfilled. He also told us about the occupiers’ order that
we have to assemble in the main square at 6 am on the
following day. We were supposed to march to our last
“assembly” at the “Noviki” forest. The occupiers promised
that they will leave us alone then.
On the morning of the following day, I left the ghetto
together with the children – my own son and the boy and
girl – and we walked towards the woodland. I was very cold
and it snowed. Other people were walking with to us. Among
us were also the Jewish craftsmen, who did not live in the
ghetto. There were a lot of people, but I do not know the
exact number of people. I saw how a man used a bag to
carry his father on his back. It became clear to me that
everyone had left the ghetto. Policemen also walked next
to us, and I need to add here that many of them were not
locals. Apparently, they were from other districts. I knew
many of the local policemen, though.
Already when we entered the field in front of the “Noviki”
forest, the policemen had managed to form a circle around
us. I did not notice how this had happened. We were behind
three rows of policemen, who had pointed their guns at us.
In front of us, Dudya [David] Sandler, the former director
of the confection factory in Starokonstantinov, stepped to
the side in order to be seen by all of us.
He proceeded to announce to us that we were all about to
die. He asked everyone to face death with dignity. At this
point, everyone started to scream. People started to tear
off their clothes. We were ordered to sit down on the
ground. Then, the guards and the policemen of the
self-governed Jewish community began to sort people into
groups of ten. Then, they led them to the antitank ditch.
Today, one will find the memorial there. The ditch was
about 300 meters away from us.
One woman tried to flee. Her name was Falikman and she was
from my village. A policeman from the third row shot her.
We had to sit in the snow for about two hours. Then, they
allowed us to stand up. Standing there, we were waiting
for our own death. Later on, only the guards led the
people to the execution site, while the Jewish policemen
only sorted people into groups of ten.
The execution started at 10am and lasted until it got
dark. The entire execution site could not be overseen by
most of the people. It is possible that other people
blocked my sight. Perpetual screaming prevailed at the
ditch. Even the shots were not audible because of the
people’s screams.
My turn was only at the end of the execution. An
unfamiliar policeman led our group of ten to the ditch. On
our way there, we had to step over some corpses, including
the body of a child. Apparently these were people who were
not willing to walk to the execution site.
As I walked up to the ditch, I was horrified. Hence, I did
not pay a lot of attention to our surroundings. I only
noticed that a group of completely naked boys and girls
was standing in the snow not far from the execution site.
It was said that these were 70 Komsomol members. They were
also Jews. Because of the cold, the bodies of these people
had turned black. Evidently, they had been standing there
for a long time.
When our group arrived at the ditch, the group of ten in
front of us was already undressing. We also received the
order to undress. A guard told us to do so. While we were
doing so, they led the group of ten ahead of us to the
execution site. Because I was holding the child, it took
me a long time to undress. As a consequence, a policeman
hit me in the shoulder with his gun stock and I could not
hold the child anymore and it fell on the ground. I picked
it up, did not realize yet what was going, and walked over
to the edge of the ditch. I did not look down at the
ground of the ditch. When I turned around, I saw a group
of Germans and policemen. I cannot tell how many of them
were there. The policemen had guns. Then I heard gunfire
caused by automatic weapons (I do not know exactly what
weapons were used). Something hit me in my left shoulder,
and I lost consciousness. The shooters were about 30
meters away from us.
I regained consciousness, when it became quite dark.
Somebody shook me and asked for my last name, first name
and my place of residence. I answered twice, without
really comprehending where I was.
The person, who questioned me, obviously assumed that I
was Ukrainian, as most of my traits, including my
appearance, did not expose me as a Jew. The same person
asked me how I had gotten to the execution site. I replied
that I was on my way from the village to the hospital,
when policemen seized me.
The man pulled me out of the ditch and found some clothes
for me. I told him that the child must have been lying
underneath me. Indeed, he found my son. The child survived
unscathed and was sleeping. It turned out that the man who
had pulled me out was a policeman. He called another
policeman to come over and when this policeman pointed his
gun at me, he told him that I was one of “us”. He then
helped me to get to the nearest house and asked the
housewife to help me. This policeman gave me a piece of
paper that indicated that I was returning from the
hospital. Later on, I managed to get to the district of
Polonnoye where I lived until the Soviet army returned. My
son stayed alive. He lives now in the district of
Kemerovo.
I do not know who organized the execution, which I
survived by chance. During the execution, it was hard for
me to tell who was giving orders. I did not make a mental
note of the people who participated in the execution and I
cannot describe them.
Per my request, this protocol was read to me by the
investigator. It was written down true to my words.
Signature: Nazartchuk
The hearing was conducted by the chief investigator of the
KGB administration in the Council of Ministers of the
Ukrainian SSR in the district of Khmelnitskiy
First Lieutenant Tkachuk
The correctness of this copy of the protocol is confirmed
by:
The assistant of the public prosecutor for the district of
Khmelnitskiy
Supreme Judicial Council
Signature illegible (N. Zarubin)
30. 5. 1973
Official Seal: Public Prosecutor’s
Office of the USSR
Public Prosecutor of
the district of Khmelnitskiy
I ensure the correctness of this translation:
L.S. Waldemar Awakowicz
For the correctness of this certified copy:
Dortmund, October 2, 1973
(Gelschinski)
Judicial clerk
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Note: Translation from German to English by Verena Kick
with editorial changes by Barry Chernick
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