Bulăieşti | Orhei

/ Nadezhda, born in 1931: “There were quite many Jews living here before the war. They were mainly merchants.” © Aleksey Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum Vladimir G., born in 1929: “Before being taken to be shot, all the Jews were gathered in a local Jewish house, where they were kept for several hours.” © Aleksey Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum Nadezhda, born in 1931: “I saw the Jews being taken to the forest. They walked with their hands tied behind their backs, escorted by Romanian gendarmes. Those who managed to escape were drowned in the Dniester river.” © Aleksey Kasyanov/Yahad -Unum Raia P., born in 1936: “The Jews knew they were being taken to be shot. They were crying, they knew they were about to die.” © Aleksey Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum Raia P., born in 1936: “Parents of a Jewish girl begged Romanians to spare their daughter’s life. She was ten years old. The Romanian refused, shot her and thew her into the pit.” © Aleksey Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum YIU’s witnesses took the team to the execution site of the Jews from Bulăieşti, killed in the nearby forest by Romanian gendarmes during the occupation. © Aleksey Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum Mass grave site of the Jewish inhabitants of Bulăieşti, men, women and children, shot and buried in the nearby forest during the German-Romanian occupation. ©Aleksey Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum

Execution of Jews in Bulăieşti

1 Killing site(s)

Kind of place before:
Forest
Memorials:
No
Period of occupation:
1941-1944
Number of victims:
At least 10

Witness interview

Raia P., born in 1936: “Before the war, there were some Jewish families living in the village. They were mainly merchants, buying and selling different goods. They owned several shops in the village. After the Romanians arrived in Bulăieşti, the Jews couldn’t work anymore. One day, the Romanians arrested them at home. I saw the column of Jews being taken away to the shooting. The children in the column were crying. The Jews were shot in the forest, they had to lie down in the pit. They did not have to undress before the execution. They were killed on the same day as their arrest. After the execution, the villagers were requisitioned to bury their bodies in a mass grave on the edge of the forest (…)”. (Witness N°21, interviewed in Bulăieşti, on May 25, 2012)

Historical note

Bulăieşti is a commune and village in the Orhei district in eastern Moldova. It is located about 22km from the town of Orhei, the district capital. Very little is known about the Jewish community from Bulăieşti. According to several witnesses interviewed by YIU’s team in May 2012, there were numerous Jewish families living in Bulăieşti before the outbreak of the Second World War. The local Jews were mainly merchants, they owned several shops in the village.

Holocaust by bullets in figures

According to Vladimir G., witness interviewed by Yahad, when the German-Romanian occupation started, the Germans were the first to arrive in village on horseback and motorcycles. They arrived from the direction of Orhei and stopped in the nearby forest. They were heading in the direction of the border, which was established 9km further along the Dniester river. The Romanians arrived in the village later, and took over local administration. They established a gendarmerie post office. The day of the shooting of the Jews, one German with one Romanian gendarme went from house to house to round up the Jews. All the Jews were gathered in a building that belonged to a Jewish family. The latter was guarded by the Romanian gendarmes. Sometime later, during the night, the Jews were taken to the nearby forest, located about 1,5km from the village where they were shot. The mass grave of the victims is located on the edge of the forest and remain without memorial to this day.

Nearby villages

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