Kolinkivtsi | Chernivtsi

/ Local ambience. ©Kate Kornberg/Yahad-In Unum Local ambience. ©Kate Kornberg/Yahad-In Unum Kolinkivtsi, the location of the synagogue where all the Jews were rounded up before being shot. The synagogue doesn’t exist anymore. ©Kate Kornberg/Yahad-In Unum Yahad’s team during the interview. ©Kate Kornberg/Yahad-In Unum Vasyl R., born in 1922, a Moldovan: "From the arrival of the Romanians, all the Jews were brought into the forest and shot." ©Kate Kornberg/Yahad-In Unum Vasyl S., born in 1934: "When we got closer to the pit, it was open, the bodies were haphazardly placed everywhere. There was a lot of blood everywhere." ©Kate Kornberg/Yahad-In Unum The execution site of Jews from Kolinkivtsi is located in the forest. ©Kate Kornberg/Yahad-In Unum The shooting site of 12 Jews from Kolinkivtsi. ©Kate Kornberg/Yahad-In Unum

Execution of Jews in Kolinkivtsi

1 Killing site(s)

Kind of place before:
Forest
Memorials:
Yes
Number of victims:
12

Witness interview

Vasyl R., born in 1922 to Moldovan family, remembers: “Straight after the Romanians’ arrival all the Jews who lived in our village were rounded-up and taken to the forest. There were women, men and children in the column. Everyone walked. Only weakest ones who could not walk were taken by cart. Some of them hold small bundles or bags but they didn’t have many belongings with them. They were taken in the direction of the forest. " ”(Testimony n°1868, interviewed in Kolinkivtsi, on June 19th, 2015)

Soviet archives

« On Saturday, July 5th, 1941 the Romanian troops arrived to Kolenkovtsy. Straight after they started to loot the local population. The Romanian soldiers looted the kolkhozes, the shops, the hospitals. They sent the cattle, the goods, the clothing to Romania. They started as well to shoot the civilians. Thus, in July 1941 the Romanian soldiers arrested and shot dead 12 Soviet civilians.” [Act n °1 drawn up by State extraordinary commission on July 18th , 1945; RG 22.002M: 7021-79-75]

Historical note

Kolinkivtsi is a village located 23km north east of Chernivtsi. It was part of the historical region of Bukovyna. On November 28, 1918, the village fell under the control of Romania and became a part of Chernivtsi County. Back then, most of the population consisted of Romanians and Ukrainians. In 1940 Romania ceded the northern part of Bukovyna to the Soviet Union. A small part of Jews lived in the village back then. There was a synagogue. The Jews were shopkeepers.

Holocaust by bullets in figures

The village was occupied by the Romanians on July 5th, 1941. On the same day all the shops and a hospital were looted. After several days, all the Jews were fiirst confined in the synagogue building and then taken to the forest where they were shot dead. According to the local witnesses the pit was dug by the Jews themselves prior to the execution. The execution was conducted by Romanians with an active participation of two local gendarmes. In all, 12 people were murdered. Only one girl managed to survive.

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