1 Execution site(s)
Mykola T., born in 1926, explains:
“Y. U.: The Germans established the local police in order to help them to exterminate the Jews, is that correct?
Witness: Yes, at the beginning they exterminated the Jews, and after they started to kill the Poles.
Y. U.: Did the polizeis wear uniform?
Witness: The polizeis of our village were in civilian clothes but those who arrived from Lukiv wore uniforms.
Y. U.: Were the polizeis of your village armed? Did they wear armbands?
Witness: Yes, they had yellow and blue armbands. They were armed with rifles.
Y. U.: When did they start to kill Jews?
Witness: Yes, the Jews from small villages were shot on the spot and those from Lukiv were firstly enclosed in a ghetto. Several tried to hide in nearby hamlets but they were caught and taken to the ghetto in Lukiv”. (Testimony n°1438, interviewed in Lukiv, on April 23rd, 2012)
Chornoplesy is located 112 km northwest of Lutsk. According to the witness, several Jewish families lived in Chornoplesy before the war. There was a much bigger Jewish community in the nearing town of Lukiv, formerly known as Matsiov, located 14km away. The first records of the Jews in this area dates back to17th century. In 1897, 2,337 Jews lived in the town of Lukiv comprising about 60% of total population. In 1921, its number reached 2,206. The majority of Jews were artisans or merchants, who owned their shops. There were several religious and cultural movements, such as the Bund, the Zionists and the Hassidism. There was a synagogue and a Tarbut school in Lukiv. However, in 1939 under the Soviet rule all religious and cultural movements were forbidden and the school was closed. On the eve of the war there were about 2,600 Jews in Lukiv.
Chornoplesy was occupied by Germans on June 24, 1941 along with Lukiv and other nearing villages. According to the archives, all the Jews from Chornoplesy were taken to the Lukiv ghetto, established at the end of 1941. This ghetto numbered over 2,000 Jews from Lukiv and nearing villages, including Chornoplesy. It existed until its liquidation in the fall 1942. However, thanks to the field research and accounts of the local witnesses, Yahad –in Unum found out that some isolated execution were carried in Chornoplesy at the end of summer 1941. At least 6 Jews were shot and buried in mass graves located in the forest. They were a couple of men, two women and two children who had stayed in hiding but were found by the local police who conducted the killings. According to a witness, the Jewish men were shot on the spot while the Jewish women and children were taken and shot in the forest.
For more information about killing of Jews in Lukiv please refer to the corresponding profile
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