Kamin-Kashyrskyi (Kamien Koszyrski) | Volyn

Kamin - Kashyrskyi is located about 120km north of Lutsk. The first record of a Jewish community goes back to the mid-16^th century.  By 1897, 1,189 Jews lived in the town. The Jewish community suffered from several pogroms conducted in 1921 where about 120 Jews were murdered. Due to a massive migration, only 617 Jews lived in the town in 1921. Between the two world wars, the town was under Polish rule. The majority of Jews lived off small scaled trade and handcraft. There was a synagogue, a Jewish cemetery, and a Tarbut school. Many Zionist youth and cultural institutions operated in the town, until 1939 when the territory was taken over by the Soviet Union. On the eve of the war, there were about 2,000 Jews in the town. The Germans occupied Kamin-Kashirskiy on June 28, 1941.

Before the German arrival, a pogrom was organized during which two Jews were killed and many Jewish houses and shops were plundered. When the Germans arrived, the isolated shootings continued.  On August 1 and August 2, a group of 8 and 80 Jews respectively were murdered by the SS regiment and Security police.  Soon after, all remaining Jews were registered and marked with yellow distinguishing badges on their clothes. They continued to live in their houses, isolated from other residents but they were systematically subjected to robberies, forced payment of contributions and forced labor.The ghetto was created in late March-early April and it numbered about 2,300 Jewish residents. The ghetto was fenced in with barbed wire and guarded by local police. Any contact with the local population was forbidden, however the local residents managed to bring food to Jewish inmates on the sly.  From the German reports, we know that in the summer of 1942 the Gebietskommissar and other German officials occasionally entered the ghetto and shot Jews arbitrarily, on the street or in their homes. The first mass execution was carried out on August 10, 1942 by German Security police who were assisted by German gendarmerie and local police.  During this aktion, about 3,000 Jews were murdered at the former Jewish cemetery not far away from the airfield. Since 3,000 Jews were murdered, yet only 1,700 Jews inhabited this town, it is inferred that of the Jews murdered many were from this village while others were from neighboring towns. The pits were dug by requisitioned locals beforehand.  From the accounts of the local witnesses interviewed by Yahad, the Jews were shot in groups of ten. Before being shot they were forced to disrobe completely. The remaining 600 Jewish specialist and their families remained in the ghetto until early November when about 400 of them managed to flee while the others were shot. Only about 100 from the escapees survived the war by joining the partisan groups while others either were caught and shot dead or died from hunger and disease.

Go to the Townpage on JewishGen Ukraine SIG website