Mala Hlumcha (Malaya Glumcha) | Zhytomyr

/ Mykhailo D., born in 1932: “I don’t know exactly, but people said that about forty Jews were shot in the forest.” ©Les Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum Mykhailo D., born in 1932: “A group of Jews was hiding in the Jewish house for a while until the Germans came, rounded them up and took to the forest to be shot. The house was burned down.” ©Les Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum The Yahad team during an interview with a witness at his yard. ©Les Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum The execution site, a former flax pit where 48 people, mainly Jews, were murdered. ©Les Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum The execution site, a former flax pit where 48 people, mainly Jews, were murdered. ©Les Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum

Execution of Jews in Mala Hlumcha

1 Killing site(s)

Kind of place before:
Flax pit in the forest
Memorials:
No
Period of occupation:
1941-1943
Number of victims:
48

Witness interview

Mykhailo D., born in 1932: “YIU: You said that the Jews stayed hiding in the house for a while.
W: Yes, they stayed there because back then there were no partisans.
YIU: Wait, are you talking about the Jews or partisans?
W: The Jews. Back then there were no partisan units in the forest. So, the Jews couldn’t go hide in the forest. Some of them came here to hide, they might have come from the chief district.” (Testimony n°2563U, interviewed in Mala Hlumcha, on March 25, 2019)

Soviet archives

"In the locality of Malaya Gumcha [Mala Gumcha], 48 innocent citizens were shot. The execution was led by policeman Piotr L*** The village starosta Raingard B*** also participated."[Act n°7 drawn up by Soviet State Extraordinary Commission (ChGK) on May 30, 1945; GARF 7021-60-316, p.100-101]

Historical note

Mala Hlumcha is located 110 km (68mi) northwest of Zhytomyr and 50 km (31mi) west of Korosten. According to local villagers, only few Jewish families lived in Mala Hlumcha, and they owned shops. A big Jewish community lived in the nearby town of Yemilchyne where, prior to war, 1,115 Jews resided, comprising 21% of the total population. 

Holocaust by bullets in figures

Mala Hlumcha was occupied by Wehrmacht troops in early July 1941. According to local witnesses interviewed by Yahad, all the local Jews managed to evacuate before the Germans arrived. Several Jews came to hide in the village, but moved on after only a couple of days. Yahad’s field investigation managed to identify the execution site of 48 innocent people, mainly Jews, murdered most probably in the winter of 1941. It is possible that the victims were Hungarian Jews enslaved by the Hungarian army as forced laborers.    

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