1 Killing site(s)
Stepan L., born in 1930: "The Jews were taken to Ivangorod and locked up in the labor camp. Camp inmates wore distinguishing marks – numbers - on their backs. Every day, around 8 a.m., Jewish men and boys of my age were taken to work, only to return in the evening. They were fed at midday, with the guards bringing them food in a cart. Obviously, the prisoners didn’t have enough to eat, as Jewish boys came to Sychivka to beg for food. Every day, between 5 and 6 Jewish boys came to my house for food. I remember asking two boys, born in 1930, why they hadn’t tried to escape and join the partisans. They explained that they had signed papers and that if they didn’t return in time, 100 camp inmates would be shot as punishment. From time to time, I went to their workplace bringing some bread to the Jewish workers, but it was dangerous because the policemen beat anyone who tried to feed the prisoners. I saw these policemen whip the workers if, in the course of their work, they overstepped the boundaries of the demarcated territory. Once, a friend of mine was ordered to bring water to the Jews. He was not to distribute more than 250 milliliters per person. So when a Jewish woman offered him a ring in exchange for extra water, he had to refuse. Then, one day, these Jewish prisoners disappeared." (Testimony N°YIU2852U, interviewed in Sychivka, on November 16, 2020)
Ivangorod, situated approximately 210 km (130 mi) southwest of Cherkasy and about 33 km (20.5 mi) west of Uman, had a sparse Jewish population before the war, totaling about 20 Jewish families. While agriculture formed the backbone of the local economy, with many Ukrainian and Russian residents working at the collective farm, the Jewish inhabitants were primarily involved in various professions such as trade and crafts. There were Jewish shoemakers, glaziers, blacksmiths, and slaughterhouse workers. Jewish and Ukrainian children attended the same school. According to accounts of local witnesses, there was a Jewish cemetery in Ivangorod before the war.
Before July 1941, when German troops entered Ivangorod, a number of local Jews had either been mobilized or voluntarily enlisted in the Red Army, while some others managed to evacuate to the East. Following a brief period of military control, the village transitioned to German civil administration shortly thereafter. Subsequently, a Ukrainian police unit was established in the village. The remaining Jews of Ivangorod were murdered during an Aktion, carried out presumably in the summer of 1941 (the summer of 1942 or 1943 according to the accounts of some local witnesses). Entire Jewish families, including children and adults, totaling several dozen people, were taken to an agricultural field, where they were shot and buried in a pit previously used as a silo pit, part of the local kolkhoz (collective farm). No memorial currently marks the site.
From May to June 1942, a Jewish labor camp was set up in the Ivangorod school building, initially housing Ukrainian Jews, who were then transferred to the Tarasivka labor camp. From August 18, 1942, Jews from the Romanian-occupied zone were brought to Ivangorod and put in the same labor camp, followed by Jews transferred from the Mykhailivka camp - 100 people on November 11, 1942, and a further 120 on December 14, 1942. The camp detainees were guarded by local policemen and subjected to forced labor on the DGIV highway. At the end of April 1943, about 90 Jews, including children, were transferred to the Krasnopilka camp to be murdered. In June 1943, 13 more Jews were executed as punishment for the escape of the 3 Jewish workers. The labor camp was liquidated in September 1943, when about 80 prisoners were transferred to the Oradivka camp, a number of prisoners to the Talalaivka camp, and up to 30 prisoners to the Krasnopilka camp, where they were murdered.
Do you have additional information regarding a village that you would like to share with Yahad ?
Please contact us at contact@yahadinunum.org
or by calling Yahad – In Unum at +33 (0) 1 53 20 13 17
Go to the Bukovina Jewish Heritage website