Since 2015 a memorial near Ostrozhets remembers the approximately 800 Jews who were shot there by German units on October 9, 1942.
Ostrozhets, 2015, Memorial to the murdered Jews of Ostrozhets, Anna Voitenko
Ostrozhets (Polish: Ostrożec) in the historical region of Volhynia belonged to Poland until September 1939 and came under Soviet occupation as a result of the Molotov-Ribbentrop-Pact. First hints on Jewish inhabitants date back to the 16th century.
In 1941 the Jewish community counted approximately 750 members. End of June 1941, few days after their invasion of the Soviet Union the German Wehrmacht occupied Ostrozhets. The German occupation administration suppressed the Jews by forced labour, curfews and identifying armbands. Anti-semitic inhabitants and Ukrainian police also took violent actions against the Jews. The latter also participated actively in anti-Jewish »Aktionen«. Already in August 1941 German occupiers shot about 40 Jews. In April 1942 the Germans ordered the establishment of a ghetto where also the Jews of Torhovytsia, located 16 km to the southwest, were relocated to. On October 9, 1942 the German occupiers liquidated the ghetto. Beforehand, they had local non-Jews dig a pit next to the Jewish cemetery. This day the Security Service of the SS (SD) Rivne shot approximately 800 Jews, aided by German and Ukrainian police. Of the approximately 200 Jews who were able to flee in the run-up to the »Aktion« less than 20 persons survived. Many of them were immediately captured again and shot on the Jewish cemetery on the outskirts.
In 1941 the Jewish community counted approximately 750 members. End of June 1941, few days after their invasion of the Soviet Union the German Wehrmacht occupied Ostrozhets. The German occupation administration suppressed the Jews by forced labour, curfews and identifying armbands. Anti-semitic inhabitants and Ukrainian police also took violent actions against the Jews. The latter also participated actively in anti-Jewish »Aktionen«. Already in August 1941 German occupiers shot about 40 Jews. In April 1942 the Germans ordered the establishment of a ghetto where also the Jews of Torhovytsia, located 16 km to the southwest, were relocated to. On October 9, 1942 the German occupiers liquidated the ghetto. Beforehand, they had local non-Jews dig a pit next to the Jewish cemetery. This day the Security Service of the SS (SD) Rivne shot approximately 800 Jews, aided by German and Ukrainian police. Of the approximately 200 Jews who were able to flee in the run-up to the »Aktion« less than 20 persons survived. Many of them were immediately captured again and shot on the Jewish cemetery on the outskirts.
Ostrozhets, 2015, Memorial to the murdered Jews of Ostrozhets, Anna Voitenko
About 800 Jews were shot during the »Aktion« of the liquidation of the ghetto in October 1942. The Jews who managed to flee in the run-up were with a few exceptions captured again and also murdered. Another 40 Jews were shot by the occupants in June 1941 already.
Torhovytsia, 1937, The Jewish Miller family before the war, USC Shoah Foundation
Ostrozhets, 2015, Memorial plaque, Anna Voitenko
For more than seventy years there were no memorials for the victims of the mass shootings of Jews in October 1942. The site of the mass grave remained unmarked, the area was used for agriculture. The crime slowly fell into oblivion.
As part of the international project »Protecting Memory« supported by the German foreign office, the American Jewish Committee Berlin built a memorial site in the summer of 2015. The approximate location of the mass grave and the area of the cemetery were reshaped. A total surface area of 3,800 square meters has been surrounded by wooden fencing. The mass graves are covered with black-grey granite stones. An information stele remembers the life and fate of the former Jewish community of Ostrozhets.
As part of the international project »Protecting Memory« supported by the German foreign office, the American Jewish Committee Berlin built a memorial site in the summer of 2015. The approximate location of the mass grave and the area of the cemetery were reshaped. A total surface area of 3,800 square meters has been surrounded by wooden fencing. The mass graves are covered with black-grey granite stones. An information stele remembers the life and fate of the former Jewish community of Ostrozhets.
Ostrozhets, 2015, Information stele in front of the memorial, Anna Voitenko.
Ostrozhets, 2015, Total view of the memorial, Anna Voitenko
- Name
- Pamjatnik ubitym ewrejam w Ostroschzi
- Phone
- +380 (044) 285-90-30
- Fax
- +380 (044) 285-90-30
- Web
- http://www.protecting-memory.org/de/memorial-sites/ostrozhets/
- uhcenter@holocaust.kiev.ua
- Open
- The memorial is accessible at all times.