THE BEGINNING OF THE HOLOCAUST For the Jews in Bialystok, as in many other places, the unexpected German invasion of the Soviet Union on Sunday, June 22, 1941, struck like a bolt of light- ning. The night before, they slept peacefully, not fore- seeing what was about to happen. Suddenly the drone of airplanes was heard overhead. At first, people thought these were routine exercises of the Soviet Air Force. Then there were explosions, bombs detonating, and it seemed as though the whole city was under attack. It soon became clear that the Germans and the Russians were conducting an air war over Bialystok. Several bombs fell on the Soviet military base, others exploding within Jewish neighborhoods. Large numbers were killed or wounded. The first who were killed included Zalmen Wajnrajch, longtime Treasurer of the Municipal Administration and his only daughter; Gold- berg the baker and many others. Among the wounded was J.J. Indicki, former newspaper and book dealer, who later succumbed. His wife was killed instantly. The news from Berlin broadcast over the radio brought home the tragic realization that war had erupted between Hitler’s Germany and Soviet Russia. Yet the Soviet authorities in Bialystok at first denied the grim reality of war between the former allies, insisting the Air Force was merely involved in training exercises. Nevertheless, 11 was evident that the events of this day dealt a severe blow to the Soviet military. Chaos ensued. Soviet officers and soldiers quickly loaded their jeeps with their wives and children, as well as with irreplaceable possessions, and immediately took off. Then-Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov delivered his historic address conceding that Hitler had deceived Stalin and that a horrible war between the two nations would lead to grim consequences. Jews in particular felt that difficult and tragic times lay ahead. Fear and Uncertainty The Jews of Bialystok, as elsewhere, were con- sumed by panic and confusion. No one knew what to do. People asked their family and friends for advice, but no one could predict what the future would bring. With the frenetic departure of the Soviet military, the Jews felt insecure and abandoned. Soon the Nazis would replace the Russians, their arrival presaging robbery, suffering, and extermination. After all, it was well known what the Nazis were doing to the Jews in the rest of Poland. The roads leading out of Bialystok soon over- flowed with fleeing, freshly uprooted Jews from Bialy- stok. Their destination was the Russian interior, the farther from the Nazi attackers the better. It was virtu- ally impossible to move along these roads, but panic The Bialystoker Memorial Book eclipsed whatever reluctance there may have been to encounter the difficulties along the highways. On that day in Bialystok no one slept; everyone kept a nervous vigil for the forthcoming Nazi onslaught. On Monday morning, June 23, it appeared that the prison guards had also departed, thereby turning loose the more than 2,000 prisoners the Soviets had earlier incarcerated, including Jakow Goldberg, Zionist acti- vist; Bunem Farbsztejn, Agudath Israel leader in Bialy- stok; Michl Kancypolski, representative of the left- wing of the Labor Zionists; Hersz Szwec, right-wing faction leader of the Labor Zionists; Aron Brzezinski, writer for Unzer Leben; Josef Rubinlicht and others. The Russians arrested them for “unsuitable political activities.”” Mordechaj Chmelnik, right-wing Labor Zionist, returned to Bialystok from a year’s imprison- ment in Brisk. Bialystokers who were freed from the Minsk jail included Szmuel Finkel, former textile manu- facturer, and Cybulkin, longtime head of the Pajen Bank. Finkel died shortly after his return. So did manu- facturer Oswald Trilings’s youngest son, who remained incarcerated at Minsk. Shortly thereafter, the prison tower was set afire, and many of the former prisoners ran wild into the streets, robbing and looting businesses and the like. They were seen carrying off bundles of clothing, home appliances, furniture, etc. Those Soviet police who remained attempted to restrain the crimi- nals, wounding a number of them. All along the highways Bialystoker Jews fled in the direction of the Russian interior, pursued overhead by Nazi airplanes. The murderers dropped incendiary bombs and fired upon the runaways with machine guns. Those who managed to return to Bialystok told of many dead and wounded, of overturned tanks and cars. People were warned of the dangers of leaving the city. Paying no attention, many young Jewish Bialystokers took to the roads. Most others, however, remained in Bialystok. Some vainly hoped that the Russians would ultimately succeed in repelling the Nazi attack, but they were destined for bitter disappointment.