At this time militiamen brought in an entire family which had escaped from Proskurov in the same way and was heading for Felshtin. But when asked whence and whither the family was going, the head of the family was clever enough to answer that they were going from Felshtin to Proskurov. Then the commander of militia took steps to send this family back to Felshtin. The witness Kreimer made use of this and immediately asked this family to tell his relatives in Felshtin of his dangerous situation, and to ask them to spare no means whatever to save him. After this the commander agreed to let him stay in the village till the next morning. But after some time, approximately two hours, the militiamen brought in sixteen other Jews, who had escaped from Proskurov. Then the commander of militia declared that he could not keep such a crowd of people until morning, and decided to send all of them, including Kreimer, to Proskurov at once. They were already placed on carts, but at this time a telephone call came from Felshtin and the (Felshtin) commander of militia, who knew him, asked insistently for Kreimer. Then it was again decided to let them all stay in the village till morning. In the evening Kreimer succeeded in speaking with a certain local Jew, who entered into negotiations with the commander of militia on his behalf and that of four other Jews, to let them go to Felshtin for a fixed sum. The amount agreed upon was five thousand rubles, which was paid. Owing to this, Kreimer and the four other Jews, with the latter's families, succeeded in getting away in carts to Felshtin. But the other Jews, not having money to pay a thousand rubles apiece, were taken back to Proskurov. Kreimer arrived in Felshtin on Monday during the day; in the evening the Gaidamaks arrived there. He succeeded in getting his relatives to a neighboring village in good time, and he himself hid in the cellar, where he spent the whole night, and likewise all
FELSHTIN:
the next day. Through a crack in the boards with which the cellar was covered he watched various episodes of the massacre, and also saw how the militiamen, especially peasants, stole goods from the shops, and also property from the houses.
The witness Schneider assures us that telegrams similar to the one received from Kiverchuk by the military commander in Malinichi, were sent also to other villages and hamlets, and that owing to them many Jews were shot on sight. He knows of the fact that a Jewess named Brauer, who was fleeing with her children from Proskurov, was in this manner led out to be shot, but ransomed herself for a large sum of money. The same witness Schneider states that he was well acquainted with the head of the post and telegraph bureau, who likewise managed the local Bureau of Information, and that he went to see him at twelve o'clock noon to find out about the situation. While he was there the postmaster was called on direct wire from Proskurov, and remained at the telephone more than an hour. When he returned, Schneider asked him: "Well, what do they tell you from Proskurov?" The other answered that the Gaidamaks had gone out over the whole canton of Proskurov, and would probably come to Felshtin, too. When he asked what was going to happen in Felshtin then — surely not a repetition of the horrors in Proskurov, the other gave an evasive answer. Upon the repetition of the question he made no reply. Then Schneider hastily said good-bye to him, so as to communicate what he had heard to the Jews. As he left the postmaster said to him: "Come and see me this evening." But Schneider in his heart replied that he had no time to go visiting at such a time.
It is to be noted that the Gaidamaks arrived the evening before, but nevertheless did not let the Jews leave their houses. Schneider spent the night from Monday to Tuesday, the whole day Tuesday, and the following night, in the cellar where he had hidden himself. He did not know that the massacre had ended at two o'clock on Tuesday. Only on Wednesday morning did he come out of the cellar. But even then corpses in great numbers were still lying about the streets. He started to help the wounded and with this object went to the public hospital. The militia commander happened to be there, and Schneider was an involuntary witness to the following conversation of the militia commander with the regional ("government," gubernia) commander from Kamenetz. Evidently in reply to a question about the 'happenings in Felshtin, the militia commander reported: "Monday morning some Cossacks appeared, who said they were Gaidamaks. Their ataman suggested to me that I
UKRAINE