Lityn (Litin) | Vinnytsia

/ The entrance to Lityn © Ellénore Gobry -Yahad-In Unum Local ambiance © Ellénore Gobry -Yahad-In Unum Roman G., born in 1926, remembered the skilled worker families who were shot at the military camp during the second aktion © Ellénore Gobry -Yahad-In Unum Ksenya R., born in 1927, “Wounded Jews caught us by the hands and begged us to save them” © Ellénore Gobry -Yahad-In Unum Ivan B., born in 1924, remembered that for a while, before being killed, the Jews were forced to wear yellow distinguishing badges © Ellénore Gobry -Yahad-In Unum

Execution of Jews in Lityn

3 Killing site(s)

Kind of place before:
Forest/Military base
Memorials:
Yes
Period of occupation:
1941-1944

Witness interview

Roma G. remembers: « While I was grazing my cow, I saw a mass shooting. It was the second shooting that took place at the military base. There were about 50 skilled workmen and members of their family killed that day. They were shot by two German shooters who fired with rifles. The shooting lasted several hours.” (Witness N°1044, interviewed in Lityn, on August 25, 2010)

German archives

“On this day, all the Lityn Jewish inhabitants were gathered in the big garrison building. There, about 200 skilled workmen and their families were selected. Others, 200 men, 500 women and 1186 children among them, were lined up in columns of 100-150 and taken in the direction of the pits that had been dug in advance, where they had to undress completely. After, they were shot in groups of ten. The children were thrown into the pit alive. [Final report made in 1973, B162-7367]

Historical note

Lityn is situated about 30 km northwest of Vinnytsia. On the eve of the war, there were 1,410 Jews living in Lityn. The town was occupied by the Germans on July 17, 1942. The regional German headquarters of the Zhytomyr district was situated in Lityn.

Holocaust by bullets in figures

Part of the Jewish population managed to flee to Tashkent before the Germans’ arrival. During the first Aktion, on August 20, 1941, 56 young Jews were murdered. After a while, the Jews were confined to ghetto. On December 19, 1941, about 1.800 Jews were shot at the nearby military base. In the middle of April 1942, a limited shooting of skilled workmen took place. The remaining Jews were killed in the fall of 1942. According to different sources, about 3,353-4,000 Jews were murdered in Lityn, including 1,000 Jews who were expelled from Bukovina. The anti-Jewish aktions were carried out by German gendarmeria, accompanied by Ukrainian auxiliary police and a special SD commando. Some Jews from Lityn survived the war because they were deported to the Zhmerynka ghetto which remained under Romanian occupation.

Jewishgen

Go to the Townpage on JewishGen Kehilalinks website

Go to the Townpage on JewishGen Ukraine SIG website

Other links

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