Leib Garfunkel, holocaust survivor of Kovno, Lithuania. The Germans entered Kovno July 1941. They first talked to Rabbi Shapiro and he gave the names of myself and others to the Gestapo as the first representatives of the Jewish population. In the first two weeks 5,000 people were killed. 9,000 were arrested but to where was unknown to us. The Germans deceived us, all men were annihilated by the Germans with the help of the Lithuanian police. One week before the ghetto was closed an “Action” was taken on the remaining 1,200  men, some were selected, others annihilated. The Jewish council was given 500 certificates to distribute among the artisans. The next action was the liquidation of the small ghetto, gestapo burned alive the hospital with all the people locked inside. During the big action the president of the Jewish council, Doctor Elkes, ran to the big ghetto because he knew people would be killed and he knew it would take days to move 30,000 people. The Nazi beast gave us two days to give a list of 500 intellectuals of any profession under the pretext of work, all these people were executed. The people agree, Doctor Elkes you are for all the Jewish community in this tragic hour when we are bleeding, to bring this cruel sacrifice which fate had demanded from him. He was a saintly man, a ray of hope in broken hearts. After the big action he got permission to enter into the second ghetto which was destroyed and take 100 Jews. He went to this place together with the Jewish police to get these people. Many began to cry, save us. He wrote a letter to his children, in me is a desert, my soul has left me. In my ears is a terrible symphony of weeping and yelling of thousands of people old, young, and babies which was tearing the heavens apart. There was not an ear that heard such a crying in all the generations and eras. Together with many holy people I am crying out of a torn heart. People steal newspapers and have hidden radios, we knew everything, we knew the moment of the fall of Mussolini in Italy. The Germans completely controlled the Jews with these “life certificates”. 5,000 white certificates. At this time there were 30,000 Jews in the ghetto and they planned to let alive only 5,000. The Jewish council distributed the white certificates. We did not know, the people who got the certificates would live, the others would die. The rest of the ghetto, 25,000 people, were condemned to perish. The knowledge spread quickly and people were distressed, hysterical, people stormed the office of the Jewish council in thousands. The Jewish council lost control of the situation, nobody could close an eye this terrible night. Doctor Elkes had a heart attack and fainted. Goldberg was thrown down by the crowd and he also fainted, he was lying there a long time unconscious. In the climax, the Germans began putting machine guns around the ghetto and entered the ghetto with the Lithuanian police. All people were ordered outside their homes, those who had certificates were put on one side and all the others on the other side. Soldiers loaded the people with no certificates onto trucks and the trucks left filled with Jews in the direction of the old Fortress prison. The crowd was standing there paralyzed, praying, trembling. The commander didn’t care about certificates, according to his wish he sent to the right or the left. He tore families apart. An officer came and whispered in the ear of the commander in charge of the Action, then he announced, “the rest is cancelled, everybody go home” That day 26,400 people left their homes and 17,400 returned.