Katashyn | Vinnytsia

/ Hryhoriy D., born in 1928: “A Jewish woman Leika and her husband stayed in our house for two months. They lived with us. Leika was a tailor and made clothes for us and other villagers.” ©Les Kasyanov/Yahad-In Unum Valentyna B., born in 1930: “Those Jews who had money or some valuables managed to survive. Others, who didn’t have much and were in bad health died in the cowsheds.” © Les Kasyanov/Yahad-In Unum The location of the mass grave of the Jews who died in the cowsheds due to the diseases, lack of food and inhumane living conditions. The cowsheds were located not far away but have been destroyed. © Les Kasyanov/Yahad-In Unum The monument in memory of about 500 Jews from Bukovina and Bessarabia who died here under the occupation. © Les Kasyanov/Yahad-In Unum

Execution of Jews in Katashyn

1 Killing site(s)

Kind of place before:
Pit between the vegetable garden
Memorials:
Yes
Period of occupation:
1941-1944
Number of victims:
About 500

Witness interview

Hryhoriy D., born in 1928: “Hundreds of Jews were brought here from the direction of Chechelnyk. They were Jews from Bukovina and Bessarabia. I don’t remember when they were brought, but they stayed here for a while.
First, they stayed in the open field but then they were resettled in the cowsheds that belonged to a collective farm. With the outbreak of the war, all the cattle was taken away to the East and the premises remained empty.” (Witness n°2671U, interviewed in Trostianets, on October 23, 2019)

Historical note

Katashyn is located 150km (93mi) southeast of Vinnytsia; Katashyn was home to Ukrainians;  no Jews lived in the village before the war. There were several kolkhozes [collective farms] in the village. Agriculture was the main occupation. The Jews lived in the nearby town of Bershad, located about 20km away.  

Holocaust by bullets in figures

Katashyn was occupied by German and Romanian forces on July 28, 1941. The village remained under the Romanians and became part of Transnistria in September 1941. Even though the village wasn’t mentioned in the archives, from the field research with the help of the local witnesses, Yahad-In Unum managed to establish that a temporary ghetto for the Jewish refugees was also created here under the occupation. In the fall of 1941, hundreds of Jews - men, women, and children among them- were brought from Bessarabia and Bukovina and placed in the cowsheds that belonged to the collective farm. The buildings were not fenced in, although it was forbidden for the Jewish people to leave the territory. Some Jews, who managed to bribe the gendarmes and leave the ghetto, found shelter within the local people. They worked in exchange for food and a place to sleep. Many of them survived thanks to that. About 500 Jews died from starvation, bad treatment and diseases. They were buried in the pit located close to the cowsheds. Today, there is a memorial there.

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