Zhashkiv (Zhashkov, Zaszkow) | Cherkasy

/ Nina B, born in 1929: “I remember one Jewish woman with a scarf that nobody had at that time. She wrapped herself in it and didn’t want to give it up before being shot.” © Victoria Bahr – Yahad- In Unum Mikhail F., born in 1930 : “The Jews were gathered little by little. It lasted about one month. Sometimes I saw the carts passing at night, sometimes during the day. They were escorted by 6-7 policemen.” © Victoria Bahr – Yahad- In Unum Maria B., born in 1923: “I saw the carts with Jews passing by the village center. There were no Jews walking nearby. We didn’t know where they were being taken to…” © Victoria Bahr – Yahad- In Unum Aleksandr P., born in 1932 : « The one who made the Jews get out of the truck, he accompanied them to the pit and fired at the nape of the neck with a revolver.” © Victoria Bahr - Yahad-In Unum Aleksandr P. leads the team towards the execution site © Victoria Bahr – Yahad- In Unum The execution site of about 300 Jews, near the brickyard which doesn’t exist anymore. © Victoria Bahr – Yahad- In Unum Yahad research team during the interview © Victoria Bahr – Yahad- In Unum The execution site of Jews situated in the field, close to the village of Sokoryaga. © Victoria Bahr – Yahad- In Unum

Executions of the Jews of Zhashkiv

3 Killing site(s)

Kind of place before:
Near brickyard/ Field/Quarry
Memorials:
Yes
Period of occupation:
1941-1944
Number of victims:
500

Witness interview

Aleksandr P., born in 1932, remembers: “It was at the end of summer when we went to the forest to get some wood for winter. With the other boys, we saw a shooting. We couldn’t get close because the police threatened us with guns, so we looked on from afar. They were brought in open trucks. There were no children, mostly men and some women. In one truck, the one I saw, there were about 15 people. There was a German in the cabin who gave orders. The Jews were forced to get off the truck, one by one, and run towards the pit. Those who refused to run were flogged.” (Eyewitness n°1755, interviewed in Zhaskhiv, on June 13, 2013)

Historical note

Zhashkiv, founded in 1636, is located 170 km west of Cherkasy, 64 km from Uman, 160 km from Kiev. According to the census in 1939, 877 Jews lived in the town. The majority of the Jews lived in the town center and held little commerce. From some sources, we know that in 1920-1930s, there was an elementary school but all the witnesses we interviewed told us that Jewish children went to school with Ukrainians. There was no synagogue as all the religious places were forbidden by the Soviets.  The Germans occupied the town on July 19, 1941. By that time, some Jews evacuated to the East and men were enrolled into the Army. 

Holocaust by bullets in figures

Shortly after the German occupation, all the Jews were marked and registered. At the end of July till the beginning of August, an open ghetto, partly fenced in, was created. Yahad’s research confirmed this and found the eyewitnesses of several Aktions against the Jews. In the summer, about 300 Jews, women, men, children included, were shot near the brick factory. According to Nina B., an eyewitness of the shooting, the grave measured 3m long, 6m wide and 2.5m deep. Oleksandr P., interviewed by Yahad, watched another shooting in a sand quarry, about 1km east of the village. From his account, there were several shootings that took place in spring 1942 and each lasted about an hour. After being brought by trucks, the Jews were shot one by one with a revolver. According to Mikhail, in 1942, another shooting of the Jews took place in the field behind the village of Sorokotyaga, but unfortunately, he didn’t remember all details.  In total, about 500 Zhashkiv Jews became victims of the Holocaust.

Other links

Nearby villages

To support the work of Yahad-in Unum please consider making a donation

Do you have additional information regarding a village that you would like to share with Yahad ?

Please contact us at contact@yahadinunum.org
or by calling Yahad – In Unum at +33 (0) 1 53 20 13 17