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1 Killing site(s)
Vasylyna I., born in 1930: "The Jews lived in the village. At the other end of the village all the houses were Jewish houses. They had a good relationship with the other villagers, like a family. The Germans arrived during the night. They put all the Jews onto trucks and then took them somewhere, we have no idea where. The Germans only left a very elderly Jewish couple. They were called Motia and Motyha, I also remember their surname - Moz. They were left in their house to die of cold and hunger. The villagers were forbidden to feed or help them. It was winter, and cold, so the old couple froze. They died from the cold.” (Eyewitness N°1853, interviewed in Yablunytsya, on September 8, 2013.)
“The principal function of the police’s 133rd battalion in Galicia was the retention of the occupied territories and security. We mostly had to work at the Yablunytsya – Pass. Our battalion was also used during actions against the Jews. In these cases, we had to obey the SD. I don’t know if members of the second company volunteered to participate in the mass killings. I have never participated and I have never seen one of these actions.” [Deposition of Johann B., a member of Police bataillon n°133, taken in Nuremberg, April 19, 1961, B 162-4989].
Yablunytsya is located about 90km southwest from Ivano-Frankivsk. Before the war, many Jews lived there. According to the local witness, interviewed by Yahad, the Yablunytsya Jews were religious and had a synagogue.
According to the eyewitness Vasylyna I. (Eyewitness n°1853), born in 1930, the Yablunytsya Jews were not shot in the village but taken away during the night in 1941 or 1942. During the occupation in Yablunytsya, there was a border pass to Hungary which was guarded by a special German sub-branch of security police settled in Tatariv (Aussenstelle). Many Hungarian Jews were transported to and shot at Yablunytsya. Vasylyna I. witnessed three mass executions of Hungarian Jews which took place at different times. During the first shooting, 30 Jews were killed. It is difficult to establish the number of Jews executed during two other Aktions because of the large number of victims.
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