Daniel Abraham

Testimony of Moses Bruh – Sokal (English Translation)

Protocol Recorded in the Refugee House in Bucharest, Calea Moșilor 103


On April 28, 1945 
Appears before us Moses Bruh and tells the following:


Page 1
On June 22, 1941, the inhabitants of the small town of Sokal, located on the Soviet–German demarcation line, were awakened from sleep by strong detonations and saw German soldiers in the streets of the town, who tried to capture the town in a skirmish.

That same morning, 8 Jews were shot by the Germans, and the war wave rolled further eastward. 

For 3 days peace reigned in Sokal, and on the fourth day of war, that is Wednesday, June 25, 1941, the Ukrainian nationalists under the leadership of the director of the Ukrainian cooperative, Czarnecki, and with the participation of German SS men, visited Jewish houses in the town and violently drove 100 young Jewish intellectuals into a collection stable, which was located in the seminary of the town.

My house was also visited, and my brother-in-law as well as my neighbor Blau and his son were taken away.

In addition to the 100, another 500 Jews were herded together in the street, all stripped naked, divided into separate groups, and beaten by Ukrainians and Germans, so that at the spot several victims had already fallen. 

This "game" lasted until noon, and in the afternoon of the same day the SS men and Ukrainian nationalists staged a "court hearing" in the yard of the seminary house.

A Ukrainian lawyer was even appointed as defense counsel; several typewriters stood on the tables, apparently to record protocols. 

Six nearly dying Jews were brought to the table, and after they had to make some kind of "confession of guilt," they were read the death sentence by the "judge." An hour later, all victims were stripped and taken away. The remaining clothes were burned in the seminary yard by the SS men and the Ukrainian nationalists.

In the same way, another 100 of the assembled were taken away in an unknown direction, and the remaining Jews, in terrible health condition, came home. We later learned that the 100 young men had been murdered in the brickyard, 2 km away.

But this was not enough for the murderer Czarnecki. On June 30, 1941, Ukrainian policemen rounded up all Jewish men in Sokal to the marketplace. No explanations were given, only blows were distributed. I too was driven there, and I saw that all Jewish men between 15 and 60 years of age from the town were assembled.

There I learned that we had allegedly appeared in order to obtain work permits, and that whoever had not come would be shot. About 800 Jews were present, guarded by 3 SS officers and 10 Ukrainian policemen.

Czarnecki divided the Jewish workers, according to his own judgment, into various categories. Around us stood the Christian population of the town and mocked us; the Germans let their cameras run. 

They chose the religious Jews with beard and peyot, made them kneel, sit, and pose in all positions. Finally, Czarnecki, accompanied by an academic named Karawan, selected two groups, standing separately. One glance from Czarnecki was enough to assign someone to the first or second group. None of us knew which assignment meant advantage.

Suddenly, the SS officers shouted to one group: "Los, weg mit euch!" (Go, away with you!) and we were dispersed, while the second group was encircled and guarded strictly by Ukrainians.

From peasants working in the fields we learned that around 10 o’clock in the morning the unfortunate 400 of the second group were brought to the brickyard. Stripped naked, in groups of 30–40 persons, they were led to a prepared mass grave. Only a cry "oj-joj, Mame!" and the detonation of shots could be heard every few minutes.

Also, the watchman of the brickyard told us how the grave had already been prepared earlier and how dreadful the night after the execution was, when he had to listen to the voices of the dying.


Page 2
This was one of the first blows of German rule that cost the Jewish population of Sokal, which before the war numbered about 6,000, its first victims.

The real fist of the Gestapo, however, we felt only when they founded their executive organ, the Judenrat (Jewish Council). At its head was placed Dr. Jonawczynski, who began to carry out the first German orders.

Jewish apartments were soon visited by members of the Judenrat and the Jewish Order Service, who, on behalf of the Gestapo, confiscated gold, jewelry, textiles, leather, food, and even washing soap.

Then followed the first deportation action: 300 young men were handed over by the Judenrat and the Jewish Order Service under Gestapo supervision and deported to the Złoczów camp. None of them ever returned.

Forced labor was introduced for those who remained. I was employed as a gardener in the Gestapo building and thus was in the center of the annihilation machine. The slightest infractions were severely punished.

I remember once, while working, I accidentally stepped on a withering flower and for this Oberscharführer Hartmann beat me until I bled.

Also working in the Gestapo headquarters were the SS men: Scharführer Zschmann and Scharführer Rahmann, who at every opportunity revealed their murderous activity in the Jewish quarter.

On Passover 1942, in the house of the rabbi of Sokal (whose father still lived in America), a group of 35 gathered for prayer. Suddenly, a Gestapo truck appeared, and all those present, together with the rabbi, were dragged out, brutally loaded onto the truck, and taken to the Gestapo.

I was an eyewitness: at that moment I was performing my daily work together with other Jewish workers when they were brought in.

The rabbi’s son, Rokach, when he saw the entire group of Jewish workers and at the same time the Gestapo men who began beating the other Jews in the hallway until they bled, gathered courage and cried out to the Gestapo lieutenant: "Ihr Mörder! Ihr seid stark gegen Hilflose und Schwache. Aber es wird die Stunde schlagen, da eine stärkere Macht euch bestrafen wird!" ("You murderers! You are strong against the helpless and weak. But the hour will come when a stronger power will punish you!")

The Gestapo men rushed at him and beat him bloody. Still the young Rokach cried: "Ihr Mörder!" ("You murderers!") They beat him over the lungs until he fell silent.

The others were driven to the prison building and beaten all the way. In the afternoon of the same day I saw them being loaded onto a truck. They were already all beaten and bloody. The rabbi’s son was carried by other Jews; blood ran from his head and mouth. 

From laughing Ukrainian policemen we learned that they had cut out the tongue of the unfortunate, 26-year-old rabbi’s son.

Some Jews carried spades in their hands, and as I later learned, they were all driven to the brickyard, forced to dig their own graves, and later shot.

Our life in Sokal was shaped by constant fear of what would come next. In September 1942, a total blockade of the Jewish quarter was introduced. No one was allowed to leave. Previously respected work permits were confiscated by the Gestapo, and rumors spread of a coming Aktion.

These rumors were confirmed by the extermination of the Jews of the nearby town Kamionka Strumiłowa. Yet our town had so far been spared. Requests to the Judenrat were met with calming words: nothing would happen.



Page 3
The first Aktion in Sokal took place on October 8–10, 1942.

The day before, Christian townspeople warned me that a large number of German gendarmes had arrived in the city. Comparing this with the ghetto blockade and all previous rumors, I understood the danger. I handed over my wife and children to a Polish acquaintance so that they might hide, and I remained at home.

Early in the morning I heard noise in the street. When I looked out, I saw Jews of our town being driven under German guard in one direction. My brother went out to see what was happening and was immediately seized. Soon after, I saw my father, mother, my sister and her child—all driven along with many others by German gendarmes.

Moments later, a German gendarme in full uniform appeared at my door and, shouting "Los!", ordered me to follow him. On the way I saw many Jews, women and children, being dragged along. They were crying.

A German demanded fire from me. When I gave him my matches, he put them in his pocket and said with ironic flattery: "The angels in heaven will give you fire soon."

By 1 p.m., about 1,000 Jews had been concentrated on the assembly square, seated cross-legged in rows of 25, men and women alike, all bareheaded. Around them stood German and Ukrainian policemen, Jewish Order Service men, and some Judenrat officials. A reserve unit of the Sonderdienst, in full armor, marched up and down.

Around noon, a Gestapo officer appeared and had an order read out: that all workers employed in Gestapo offices should step out. Many suspected a trick, but nevertheless stepped out. The Gestapo officer signaled to the commandant of the guard unit, and they opened rifle fire on the whole group. In minutes, about 100 people lay dead.

More Jews were constantly brought in from the city; the number of detainees grew by the minute. The Judenrat counted, and when the number reached 2,400, the Gestapo officer gave the order: "Aufstehen! Los!" ("Get up! Move!").

We were formed into a marching column and driven 3 km to the railway station. The sick and weak, as well as the wounded from the square, were carried by the healthier ones.

At the station we found already 400 Jews from the town of Lopatyn, who told us they had been driven 50 km through the night to reach here.

A Gestapo non-commissioned officer counted the arrivals by striking each one on the head with a stick and assigning them to wagons. Each wagon held 120 people.

I still managed to get into the same wagon as my father, but my mother and sister were separated; I never saw them again.

The small wagon windows were barred with barbed wire; the door was locked. When we tried to ask for water through the cracks, shots were fired into the wagon. About 20 people in my wagon were hit, among them my father. I tried to bandage him. He told me to focus on surviving and not to look after him, as he was 74 years old. He wanted someone from the family to remain alive.

But there was no real chance of survival. The wagons remained sealed at the station until night. Exhausted from heat, thirst, and the day’s horrors, many collapsed into unconsciousness.


Page 4
Around 4 o’clock in the afternoon, an SS man opened the door of the wagon and shouted inside: "Wer ist hier Moses Bruh?" ("Who here is Moses Bruh?")

When I stood up, they pulled me out. I emerged covered in the blood of the wounded.
In front of me stood a Polish chief forester, who had known me well before the war and showed genuine concern for me. Behind me I heard my father’s words: "God will protect you."

I was led to a group of 50 men who, as I heard, were destined for the forced labor camp Mosty Wielkie. The whole group was guarded, but as soon as the wagons with the deportees disappeared from the station, an SS officer came, dismissed the guards, and said: "So, I have saved your life. Now follow me."

Along with him stood the forester and a Polish engineer. We walked toward the town. On the way I saw about 50 corpses of Jews, men and women, lying in blood.

Before the forester’s house I saw an unforgettable sight: a dead woman, and on her chest a small infant, alive, sucking at the dead mother’s breast. I later learned that the child had been sent into the newly established ghetto after the Aktion.

The next day all the corpses were collected in front of the Judenrat building. The Judenrat was ordered to bury them in the cemetery.

Those destined for forced labor, including Sussman, were handed over into protective custody of the Judenrat.

The number of remaining Jews was about 3,000. The district commissioner ordered that they be concentrated again, this time into a smaller ghetto area. The largest houses were chosen.

All possessions of the deported Jews were immediately confiscated by the SS. The resettlement had to be completed within 5 days under threat of death.

The ghetto was fenced with 2-meter-high barbed wire. The Jewish Order Service was in charge of guarding the ghetto, and no one was allowed to leave without a pass.

Only four Jewish doctors and the Judenrat members remained outside. No work orders were issued. It seemed we would soon be exposed to a new annihilation Aktion.



Page 5
Life in the ghetto began. Hunger grew severe. Typhus broke out. Every day 20–30 people died. The Jewish doctors, Dr. Falk and Dr. Kindler (the latter survived), with help of the Judenrat, founded a hospital for typhus patients.

The Gestapo group in Sokal consisted of two men: Remann and Zehmann, who every 2–3 days at night entered the ghetto and hunted Jews. Each visit ended with beatings and murders.

At 3 a.m. daily, work groups of about 100 men were taken from the ghetto to workplaces. Out of fear, the Jewish Order Service did not knock on the doors but threw stones through the windows to wake the workers. Windows were broken, causing damage.

Thinking Jews like Singer Berl and Engineer Schwarz (both no longer alive) founded a public kitchen that daily fed about 600 people. Later Engineer Schwarz became head of the Judenrat.

There was great lack of firewood in the ghetto. The chief forester Engineer Rebak proved to be a benefactor, delivering much wood to the ghetto.

In winter 1942/43 about 1,500 Jews died of hunger, typhus, and cold. Jews built underground bunkers in their apartments.

From April 15, 1943, workers were no longer sent individually outside but only in groups under Gestapo or police guard.

The group of forest workers, to which I belonged, was not let out anymore. Already in May 1943 the final Aktion took place. On May 28, 1943, the third annihilation Aktion was carried out.

At 2 a.m. the ghetto was surrounded by Gestapo and Ukrainians. A Jewish militiaman ran through the ghetto and shouted: "It will be made Judenfrei! Save yourselves, whoever can!"

I went home, woke my wife and children, and my brother and his family. We all lived in one house. There was no way to flee—the ghetto was surrounded.

In a neighboring house there was an underground hiding place for 30 people, but about 80 crowded inside, including me and my brother’s families. It was so cramped that people fainted. We tried elsewhere, but that too was full.

We went into the street. Shots rang. The Aktion had begun. There was no turning back. My brother and I hid in another Jewish house, separated from our families, whom we never saw again.

The whole day there was shooting, artillery fire, and terrible screaming. By 8 p.m. it became quiet.
At 10 p.m. my brother and I dared to leave our hiding place and went to the shelter where our families had been. We found only three female corpses. Everything else was blown up with dynamite.

We escaped from the ghetto, went 4 km across fields, and reached a forest. We hid in bushes near the brickyard. All night we heard the cries of women and children, and shots.


PAGE 6 
This page is missing from the original document. 
It appears that Moses Bruh was able to reach Poryck, about 20 kms (35 miles) from Sokal.



Page 7
On July 18, 1943, the Banderists issued an order to exterminate all Poles in Volhynia. I heard this from Ukrainian acquaintances. That same day, they massacred the Poles in Poryck, about 400 people, men, women, and children. Their church was burned.

We Jews were ordered to bury the corpses, which we did.

Two months later, a German tank unit attacked and surrounded Poryck. The Banderists and all Ukrainians, together with the Jews, fled to the forest. 14 Jews who could not flee were slaughtered by the Germans, tied with barbed wire, doused with petrol, and burned.

Two weeks the Germans stayed in Poryck. After they withdrew, we returned and, under Banderist orders, worked the fields of the murdered Poles.

In September 1943, German troops again attacked Poryck with armored cars. We Jews fled into the forest for 6 weeks, building bunkers in the ground.

Although the Germans left, we did not return to town, for we heard the Banderists were already killing isolated Jews.

On October 24, 1943, a Banderist warned us that his organization planned to liquidate the forest. We had no way out: Germans in the towns, Banderists in the villages.

I advised those in our bunker to return to Sokal. They did not. My brother Meilech and I left that night and marched toward Sokal, traveling only by night.

After two nights, dying of thirst, we drank swamp water. At dawn we approached Sokal, but did not dare enter: we saw patrols with lanterns everywhere.

We hid in a forest near Sokal. There we asked a peasant, Adamrek Józef, for bread. He said he could not keep us at his farm, but if we built a bunker in the forest, he would bring food weekly.

We followed his advice. But while building the bunker, two Banderists appeared and chased us. We ran. At the edge of the forest we saw a German military convoy on the road.

I decided to cross the road, which I managed to do, and I escaped; my brother remained in the forest. Later my brother told me that the two Banderists had stopped him and that he had managed to convince the Banderists that I, as the elder, had the gold and dollars with me; he would go and search for me and take that wealth away, and on the next day, since we would no longer need the money, we were to hand it over to the Banderists at the same place. Thus he was set free.



Page 8
I add further, that my brother had arranged with the mentioned Banderists that, in exchange for the money they would receive, they would provide my brother and me with food supplies, and that we would remain in the same forest in a bunker.

After some time, I went to the farmer mentioned above and told him about what had happened in the forest. He and his family realized that I had only survived because of them, and we were convinced that my brother was no longer alive.

I asked them to keep me on their farm and to hide me. The father of the said farmer, an approximately 80-year-old old man, took the word and declared: I should stay with them, build myself an underground bunker in the stable, and, if discovered, I should state that only the old man had given the order.

The whole family agreed. I thanked the old man warmly for his truly generous deed and began to build a bunker in the stable, when the next day I was told that my brother had come out of the forest during the night and had hidden himself in the barn.

The noble family decided also to take in my brother, since they saw in our rescue the hand of God, and so we both remained in the said hiding place until the Red Army liberated us.