Waserztajns testimony and the Jedwabne pogrom.

• The @@Jedwabne pogrom@@ was a massacre that took place in the town of Jedwabne, located in northeastern Poland.

• The massacre was carried out by a group of @@local Poles@@, who were instigated by German Nazi occupiers.

  • The Germans had recently invaded Poland and were pursuing a policy of @@exterminating Jews@@ in the region.
  • The local Poles, who had long-standing @@anti-Semitic@@ attitudes, were encouraged by the Germans to take part in the massacre.

• Waserztajn's testimony describes the Polish perpetrators of the @@Jedwabne pogrom@@ as "hooligans" and "bandits" who were from the local Polish population.

  • He describes them as @@committing brutal acts of violence@@ against Jewish men, women, and children, including stoning, knifing, and drowning. He also notes that they used instruments such as axes and clubs studded with nails for torture and destruction.

• Waserztajn mentions several names of the Polish perpetrators who distinguished themselves by their brutality during the pogrom@@. He does not provide any positive descriptions of the Polish population as a whole in his testimony.@@

• Prior to the war, 1,600 Jews lived in Jedwabne, but only @@seven survived@@, with the rest murdered by Polish hooligans and German authorities. (line 10.)

• The testimony describes the events of @@June 25, 1941,@@ when German forces entered the town and local Polish hooligans initiated an @@anti-Jewish pogrom@@.

What happened?

• On @@July 10, 1941@@, the Germans issued an order for all Jews to be destroyed, which the @@Polish hooligans@@ carried out using the most horrific methods.
• The hooligans roamed from one Jewish home to another, @@playing music@@ to drown out the screams of their victims.
  • The hooligans @@burned all the Jews in a barn@@ after torturing and humiliating them.
  • The hooligans armed themselves with axes and other instruments of torture and chased all the Jews into the streets, selecting seventy-five of the youngest and healthiest Jews to carry a huge monument of Lenin until they collapsed.
• The testimony @@lists the names of those hooligans who distinguished themselves by their brutality@@. The testimony also notes that the town authorities agreed with the Germans' proposal to kill all Jews, and even local carpenter @@Bronislaw Szlezinski@@ gave his own barn for the massacre to take place.
  • The testimony notes that Waserztajn personally witnessed the murders of @@Chajcia Wasersztajn, Jakub Kac, and Eliasz Krawiecki.@@
  • Jakub Kac was stoned to death with bricks.
  • Krawiecki was knifed and had his eyes and tongue plucked out, suffering for twelve hours before dying.
  • @@Chaja Kubrzanska and Basia Binsztajn@@ both drowned their newborn children and themselves in a pond rather than fall into the hands of the hooligans.
  • The testimony indicates that the pogrom was eventually stopped by a @@local priest@@, who explained that the Germans would take care of things themselves.
  • However, the local population no longer sold food to Jews, making their circumstances even more difficult.