1 Killing site(s)
Yevdokia V., born in 1932: “When the Germans arrived, many Jews went into hiding. We had a forest nearby, so they all went and hid there. There were about fifty of them hiding there at any one time. One of the Jews we knew was Adel. She had a mother, father and three siblings, one sister and two brothers. I remember only hers and her sister’s name. Her name was Rania. They decided to go into hiding as well. Adelka’s father and two brothers went to hide in Kozoav, while she stayed with her mother and sister in the village. At the beginning she was hid with the villagers, then they went to hide in a chapel. The local priest sheltered them. He would bring them food. I used to bring them food as well. After a while, it became dangerous to stay in the village, and Adelka decided to go and hide in the forest.” (Witness n°2627U, interviewed in Kalne, on July 16, 2019)
Kalne is a village located 40 km (25mi) southwest of Ternopil. Little is known about the Jewish community in Kalne, as it somewhat small compared to the community in the nearby town of Kozova, located 9km (5,5mi) to the north. Only few Jews lived in Kalne, while there were 1,328 Jews living in Kozova in 1883, making up a little bit more than 10% of the total population. From 1350 to 1772, and, during the interwar period, the territory was under Polish rule, and in 1939 was taken over by the Soviet Union. In 1897, with the development of the railway station in Kozova and the majority of Jews being merchants, the Jewish community grew.
Kalne was occupied by German forces in July 1941. The Kalne Jews were rounded up and taken to the Kozova ghetto created shortly after the occupation. Some of them managed to hide in the village with the help of local villagers and the local priest. According to local witnesses who brought food to the Jews in hiding, at one point there were about fifty people hiding in the forest. Five Jews, including a mother and sister of a Jewish survivor, Adel, were murdered in the forest by the Germans. They were shot in a pit dug by two Jewish men requisitioned by the Germans, who had most probably also been found in hiding. The remaining Jews discovered in the forest in Kalne were taken to Kozova where they were murdered along with the local Jews.
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