translation of an excerpt from the War Diary of 3 rdBattalion, 15th Police Regiment, transcribed in Paul Kohl, Der

Krieg der deutschen Wehrmacht und der Polizei 1941-1944. Sowjetische berlebende berichten, 1995 Fischer
Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH, Frankfurt am Main, pp. 231-32. Archival sources provided: USSR State Central
Archive of the October Revolution, Fond 7021, List 148, File 4, fl. 193; ZSt II 204 AR-Z 38/70, Vol. 2, fl. 369
and 371. ZSt stands for Zentrale Stelle der Landesjustizverwaltungen zur Aufklrung nationalsozialistischer
Verbrechen (Central Bureau of the Federal Judicial Administrations for Investigation of National Socialist
Crimes), Ludwigsburg, Germany.
Date, Time, Place and Type of Quarters
23 September 1942, Local Quarters [O.U. = Ortsunterkunft] Kobryn
Description of Events
Battalion Command Post Mokrany
The operation begins by surrounding the locations, which is completed in the early morning hours. At daybreak
the inhabitants are gathered and checked by the SD [= Sicherheitsdienst, Security Service]. After excluding the
immaculately reliable families 169 men, women and children in Borysovka, 705 in Borki and 289 men, women
and children in Zabloni are shot according to orders. Right thereafter begins the securing of cattle, equipment
and grain.
Weather, Health Conditions, Replacements, Ammunition Spent
Weather: cool, temporarily rain.
My translation of an excerpt from a report about activities from 22.9 to 26.9.1942, written by the deputy
commander of 10th Company, 3rdBattalion, 15th Police Regiment and describing the destruction of the village
Borki on 23 September 1942. The translated text is transcribed in Kohl, Der Krieg der deutschen Wehrmacht
und der Polizei, pp. 233-34. The archival source provided is USSR State Central Archive of the October
Revolution, Fond 7021, List 148, File 2, fl. 358-362.
O.U. [Ortsunterkunft = Local Quarters], 28 September 1942
On 21.9.42 the company received the order to destroy the village Borky, 7 km east of Mokranie.
In the night hours of the same day the companys platoons were informed about the impending operation.
Preparations had to be made.
The number of motor vehicles was completely sufficient to bring all platoons and the attached platoon of 9th
Company to the Mokranie collection point on 22.9. The journey went smoothly. There were no casualties.
The panje carts necessary for the operation were made available on time, so that they could reach the marching
destination Borky at the ordered time. When the panjecarts were made available some unwilling peasants were
recorded by name, whose punishment by the company has been arranged for.
The operation was executed according to plan, however the various phases of the operation had to be shifted in
time. This shifting was essentially due to the following reasons:
The map showed the location Borky as a closed conglomeration of houses. In actual fact, however, this
settlement has an extension of 6 and 7 km in depth and length. When day broke I recognized this fact, opened
the cordon on the east side and surrounded the village like a pincer while at the same time enlarging the spaces
between posts. Thus I succeeded in catching all the villages inhabitants without exception and bringing them to
the collection point. It turned out to be of advantage that the purpose of rounding up the population remained
unknown until the last moment. At the collection point there was quiet, and the number of guards could be
reduced to a minimum and be available for the further operation. The shovel detachment received the shovels

only at the execution site, which also contributed to the population remaining ignorant of what was coming.
Light machine guns inconspicuously set up nipped an emerging panic in the bud when the first shots could be
heard from the execution site 700 meters away. 2 men who tried to flee dropped after a few steps under the
machine-gun fire. The execution began at 09:00 hours and was completed at 18:00 hours. Out of 809 persons
rounded up 104 were set free as politically reliable and their relatives, among them were seasoned workers of
the Mokraine estate. The execution proceeded smoothly, the procedure proved to be completely appropriate.
The securing of grain and equipment went according to plan, except for the shifting in time. The number of
panje carts employed turned out to be sufficient, as the amount of grain was not large and the collection points
for un-threshed grain were not too far away.
House and agricultural tools were secured with the grain loads.
In the following a numerical overview of those executed. The number executed was 705 persons. Thereof:
203 were men
372 were women
130 were children.
The number of cattle rounded up can only be given approximately, as an exact overview was also not possible at
the collection point. The numbers were the following:
45 horses,
250 [heads of] beef cattle,
65 calves,
450 pigs and piglets,
300 sheep.
Poultry was only found here and there. This was made available to the released inhabitants.
The equipment secured was the following:
70 panjecarts
200 plows and harrows
5 cleaning boxes for grain
25 chaff machines
and other small equipment.
All secured grain, equipment and cattle was handed to the administrator of the Mokraine state estate.
Ammunition spent in the Borky operation:
Rifle ammunition: 786 rounds

Pistol ammunition: 2,496 rounds.

Casualties the company had none. One policemen was turned in at the Brest hospital due to presumable
hepatitis.
Mller
Constabulary Lieutenant-Colonel [Oberleutnant d(er)Sch(utzpolizei).]
and Deputy Company Commander