Forced covering of mass graves

... On Thursday, July 13, 1944, we noted an extraor- dinary change. We were packed into airless trucks and taken to a field. We were ordered to cover up all the open graves containing dead bodies, and we understood that our work had come to an end. Near each one of us a soldier stood with an automatic weapon. One of them approached me and asked: ‘“‘What will you do with us when we lose the war?’ I remained silent. But he an- swered his own question sardonically: ‘““You will take away our women and children as we did to you, and you will enslave us as we enslaved you. But, do not worry, for before the Russian bandits arrive, you will all be lying in your graves.’ I realized that our end was near, only a matter of a few hours. We were told that at twelve o’clock a high Gestapo officer would come on the scene and issue orders. We waited; time moved very slowly, like an eternity. And then the fateful hour, twelve noon. The Gestapo chief had arrived.