Bender (Tighina) | Tighina

/ Sunset in Bender, Thigina, Moldova © Victoria Bahr /Yahad-In Unum The Bender fortress today © Victoria Bahr /Yahad-In Unum The Bender fortress today © Victoria Bahr /Yahad-In Unum Yahad team with the witness during the interview. © Victoria Bahr /Yahad-In Unum Vasiliy M., born in 1929, remembered that before the war, the Jewish community was large. The majority of Jews were artisans. There were several synagogues. © Victoria Bahr /Yahad-In Unum Plaque in memory of the Bender Jews murdered during WWII © Victoria Bahr /Yahad-In Unum

Execution of Jews in Bender

1 Killing site(s)

Kind of place before:
Territory of the fortress
Memorials:
Yes
Period of occupation:
1941-1944
Number of victims:
58

Witness interview

Vasiliy M., born in 1929, remembers: “By the beginning of the war, the Jews had evacuated before the Germans arrived, crossing the Dniester. They walked by foot or by cart by their own means.” (Witness N° 130, interviewed in Bender, on August 16, 2013)

Soviet archives

“Near the Bender Castle, in a ravine located 300m from the town, pits have been discovered. After having opened them, the Commission has ascertained that there are four mass graves that contain 58 bodies, including 8 children, 26 women and 22 men.” [Act of the Soviet Extraordinary Commission, drawn up on December 1944, 22.002M.7021-96/84-85]

Historical note

Bender is a town located on the banks of the Dniester River in eastern Moldova, about 60km East of Chisinau. The presence of Jews was first recorded in 1793.  The Jewish community was very large, at the end of the 19th century, there were more than 10, 000 Jews living in the town. There was a Jewish hospital with a pharmacy and a residence as well as several Jewish synagogues. In 1912, there were 2 Talmud Torah, one secondary school for boys and one for girls.  Due to Anti-Semitism, the Jewish population decreased. One of the reasons was a pogrom, organized in 1917, which lasted several days. The Bender Jews lived off of small trade, agriculture, and craft. German and Romanian forces occupied the town on July 21, 1941. 

Holocaust by bullets in figures

According to the archives, the execution of Jews took place on the territory of the fortress over the course of July, August, and September 1941. They were carried out by Germans with the help of Romanian gendarmes. Unfortunately, Yahad was not able to find any witness of the execution as the place was fenced in and forbidden to entry. However, witness n°130, maintained that aside from being killed in Bender, many Jews were taken and executed in Dubasari.

Jewishgen

 Go to the Townpage on JewishGen Kehilalinks website

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