[original page 26]
During that particular day the policeman was entering the village on his bicycle, as usual, and had just crossed the wooden bridge, when [the] young man, hiding on a slight embankment of the street and behind a heavy post of the bridge rail, shot him. From where we were sitting we had observed every detail of the occurrence. We did not wait to see what would happen after that. We rushed into the house, excited and scared. All of our family was quickly distributed in different parts of the village and hidden (we thought) from possible harm or fire. A few of us were hidden in our paternal grandparents' house. Those who had shutters closed them tightly. We children could not grasp the real danger, yet we shook with fright from the actions of the elders.
The first night passed. All was quiet. The following day passed without any incidents. We strained our ears for sounds that we were delighted not to hear. We children were given food that we did eat but could not understand why the older folks would not [eat] the food with us. A tense quiet remained over the village for a few days before anyone ventured out of their houses or shops.
…[Then a] squadron of armed soldiers marched into our village. We knew it was not a parade. They searched every house, rounded up all male youths of certain ages, [and] gathered them together in a temporary compound on our main street...
After that mission was accomplished, they marched the captive youths through our main street, surrounded by armed soldiers for all of us to see. We were told they [were being] sent to Siberia. No thing was ever heard from or about them during the following years we remained in the village. For those who lost their sons or young husbands it was a sudden tragedy. For me and others it was an unpleasant and unforgettably sad event. We thank Father and the great-great-grandfathers of many of the readers [of this account] --for making the best decision of their lives, which got us out of a country where life was so limited and dangerous and brought us to the USA...
We Decide to Leave for America
After the near-pogrom event in our village, Father decided to dispose of our business and to leave the country as soon as possible. With advice from Mother's sister and her husband (the Bleherts, who had been in the USA for a number of years), preparations for his departure were started without delay. Father, as a young and ambitious man in his early thirties, was to travel alone to America and was to send for the family when [he became] financially capable. Much had to be done by Father and many arrangements made.
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