 Although Schmid interrogated the soldiers strictly, he sympathized with them—many were in fact suffering from combat fatigue—and avoided charging them with military offenses such as desertion or cowardice in the face of the enemy, which could have resulted in a death sentence.During the first week of September alone, 3,700 Jews were rounded up and murdered, most at the Ponary killing pits outside of town.Schmid could see the collection point outside the window and witnessed scenes of great brutality.