Apparently in late August or early September 1942 the ghetto was surrounded. Shortly beforehand, as the rumors spread about an impending murder operation, some people tried to escape to the nearby forest while others went into hiding. Most of them were later found in hiding or shot to death while trying to run away. The remaining several thousand inmates of the ghetto were ordered to assemble at the town's square; during this round up some people were killed on the spot. After being kept at the grain warehouse in the town, the Jews, mainly women, children, and old people, were taken by truck under the guard of Ukrainian auxiliary police to the Gorbki (Gurki in Ukrainian) Forest, located about 6 kilometers from Kołki. Upon their arrival at the murder site, the Jews were made to strip naked and forced into pits that had been prepared beforehand. The victims were shot to death with submachine- and machine-guns by security police and Gendarmerie units, and their bodies were covered with earth by Ukrainian auxiliary policemen. The clothes, belongings, and valuables of the victims were taken and divided among the perpetrators of this murder operation. In October 1942 the ghetto was surrounded by Gendarmerie and Ukrainian auxiliary police, and apparently several hundred Jews, including some women and children, who were still there were collected in one house and then taken in groups by truck, under the guard of Ukrainian and German police, to the same murder site. According to one testimony, during the transport to the murder site several young Jews started shooting while trying to escape, but most of them didn't succeed in reaching the forest. Upon their arrival at the murder site, these Jews also were stripped naked and shot to death with submachine-guns and machine-guns by Security Police and members of an SD murder squad.

More information: Yad Vashem

In July 1941 a murder squad, apparently from Einsatzgruppe C, under the command of Kołki's regional military chief, assisted by German military police and Ukrainian auxiliary police, under the pretext of taking them for work, took several dozen Jewish men to the Tserkvishe" site, located near the Styr River bank, one kilometer from Kołki. Upon their arrival, the victims were made to dig a pit, where they were shot to death by the German murder squads.

More information: Yad Vashem