Pidvysoke (Podvysokoye) | Kirovohrad

/ Local ambiance© Kate Kornberg/Yahad-In Unum Yahad team with a witness and his wife during the interview at the execution site © Kate Kornberg/Yahad-In Unum Fedir Kh., born in 1927: “The bodies were exhumed from the former clay quarry and reburied several hundred meters away. In all there were 297 people, women, men and children.” © Kate Kornberg/Yahad-In Unum Volodymyr S., born in 1931: “My elder brother used to work with our Jewish neighbors at their horse farm. When he came back sad: the police took Monia and Leiba and shot them in the pit close to the garden with my eyes.”© Kate Kornberg/Yahad-In Unum The Soviet memorial to all the victims of Nazi regime. The 297 victims were shot at the clay quarry located just behind the actual memorial. After the war they were reburied under the memorial. © Kate Kornberg/Yahad-In Unum The abandoned memorial at the execution site of Jews in Pidvysoke © Kate Kornberg/Yahad-In Unum

Execution of Jews in Pidvysoke

1 Killing site(s)

Kind of place before:
Grove/Clay quarry
Memorials:
Yes
Period of occupation:
1941-1944
Number of victims:
Over 300

Witness interview

Fedir KH., born in 1927, was appointed to guard the site during the exhumation after the war: “After the war I was appointed to guard the site during the exhumation process. The bodies were exhumed from the former clay quarry and reburied several hundred meters away. In all there were 297 people, women, men and children. Actually, here there were two execution sites of Jews. One was located in the grove. There is a monument there, but it is abandoned. I don’t know how many Jews were shot there, because I wasn’t there. And here, there were 297, including some partisans and communists who were shot in 1943-1944 in the same clay quarry.” (Testimony n°2038, interviewed in Pidvysoke, on April 14, 2016)

Historical note

Pidvysoke is a village located about 130km east from Kirovohrad, today’s Kropyvnytsky. Before 1939, it was a part of the Uman district, the region of Kyiv. The first records of Jewish community date back to the late 18th century. Due to the pogroms in 1919 and Jews relocating to bigger towns, the Jewish population dropped. Unfortunately, there is no information about the number of Jews living in the village before the war, but according to the local witnesses they were many. The majority of them worked in kolkhoz as artisans. Some held shops. There was no Jewish school; all children went to school together. There was no synagogue. The village was occupied by Germans in August 1941. 

Holocaust by bullets in figures

Little is know from the historical sources about the execution of Jews in Pidvysoke. According to the local witnesses, the Jews from Pidvysoke continued living in their houses without being marked until they were exterminated in December 1941. There were two major Aktions conducted by Germans with the help of local police. The first execution took place in a grove. The exact number of victims is unknown. The second execution took place in the clay quarry. The Jews were shot dressed. From the witness account, we understood that the pit had been dug 3-4 days in advance by the Jews themselves. Besides the two executions, there were isolated shootings of Jews, communists and partisans. All the pits were filled in properly only in the spring, when the snow melted. 

Nearby villages

  • Torhovytsya
  • Mariyivka
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