With knives, they were able to force a farmer to hand over a Russian shotgun, and with it they armed themselves with more guns. Their raids were done at night, and caused the Germans to believe that a large armed Jewish force of communist Partisans was acting nearby. They also threatened the local population if they would assist in turning in Jewish refugees. Following heavy fighting against the Ukrainian militia staying at one of the farms in the town, the German troops avoided entering the town. Ukrainian militia attacked any local people who assisted Jews in any way. A Polish doctor and his whole family were murdered, as were many others. Jews continued to be hunted down, if not under a Partisan group. They were also killed in higher proportions than other nationalities among the partisans, in many cases by fellow antisemitic partisans. Some of the partisan commanders had committed atrocities and had participated in the mass murder of civilian Jews. During this time there are reports of many atrocities commenced by the local Ukrainians, when finding or when approached by Jewish refugees asking for help. A group of Jews had cold water poured on them and after freezing to death were set on the main road, standing there for over a month. In other cases children crushed the head of an old man, and a family watched as another was scalped alive. In 1943, as the Germans retreated, the Ukrainians began attacking Polish villages, and burning people alive. By March 1944 the Russian army captured the region. The Jews decided not to return to the village, not wishing to meet with their hateful neighbors, and instead gathered in Refaowka, a former Jewish town who's Jews were all slaughtered. 200 Jewish refugees from the whole area assembled in the town, and began ritual Jewish life, in defiance of the antisemitic calls, still prevalent even after the German defeat. Ilya Ehrenburg wrote his famous work after visiting Dubrovytsia and speaking with the locals. He had never met the Jewish survivors from the town, and was not told the continuation of the story. Most of the survivors emigrated to Israel, some to the US, and a few to other parts of the Soviet Union.