Mass Grave Database - Based On Early Testemonies

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Where vicitims are from, last know location	Białystok
Town/county where mass grave is located	Grabowka
Mass Grave Location	5 pits in the forest near Grabowka- bodies exhumed and burned 2 pits left unearthed
Date of Murder	July, 1944
Numer of Victims	1500
Names of Victims Mentioned
Full Testimony	Then, we were taken to barracks in Białystok, which we ourselves had built at Kraszewskiego street. [...] From there we left for Grabówka village. We worked in Grabówka for 4-5 days. Five pits were unearthed and bodies from three of them were burnt. The pits were located in the forest. One of them was of unprecedented size - 40m long, 2m wide and 1,5m deep. The bodies were completely naked. 700 bodies were in that pit - that's what the Germans said and it turned out to be true. Bodies were well-preserved. Other pits were 15-20m long. 800 bodies from the remaining two pits were burnt. In early July, on Thursday, I don't remember the exact date, we came there to work. On the roads we could see the German units withdrawing. They told us to cover two unearthed pits still containing bodies and two which we had already emptied, the last one was supposed to be left unearthed. Then, we were ordered to burn the stretchers we used for work. Finally, they told us to form a row and go towards the remaining pit. In pairs, the policemen surrounded us from three sides. Altogether, there were 40 policemen. Seeing that we are being herded to death, we started calling on others to escape and we were running away in various direction.
Testimony Number	301/547
page in longer testimony	pages 6-7
Date of Testimony	Bialystok September 6-7, 1944 (1945?)
Name of Witness	Mojżesz Gerszuni a member of a special kommando responsible for burning the bodies from mass graves in order to cover up the traces
Current Country	Poland