Priest finds witnesses to Mass Murder

Via New York Times:

A Priest Methodically Reveals Ukrainian Jews’ Fate

By ELAINE SCIOLINO
Published: October 6, 2007

PARIS, Oct. 5 — His subjects were mostly children and teenagers at the time, terrified witnesses to mass slaughter. Some were forced to work at the bottom rung of the Nazi killing machine — as diggers of mass graves, cooks who fed Nazi soldiers and seamstresses who mended clothes stripped from the Jews before execution.

They live today in rural poverty, many without running water or heat, nearing the end of their lives. So Patrick Desbois has been quietly seeking them out, roaming the back roads and forgotten fields of Ukraine, hearing their stories and searching for the unmarked common graves. He knows that they are an unparalleled source to document the murder of the 1.5 million Jews of Ukraine, shot dead and buried throughout the country.

"I cannot react to the horrors that pour out. If I react, the stories will stop." -- Rev. Patrick Desbois

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For the photo: Father Desbois and his team have been quietly seeking witnesses, roaming the back roads and forgotten fields of Ukraine. His most powerful tools are his matter-of-fact style, and his clerical collar. Efrem Lukatsky/Associated Press

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