Petrivka (former Korneevo) | Odesa

Destruction of Jews in Petrivka

1 Killing site(s)

Kind of place before:

Anti-tank ditch

Memorials:

No

Period of occupation:

1941-1944

Number of victims:

Approximately 30

Witness interview

Valentyna N., born in 1930: "My brothers told me that our people were being taken to an area not far from our house to be shot. Soon after, a group of Jews were marched toward the anti-tank ditch, which served as the shooting site. I observed this from my vegetable garden, alongside my friend, Nadia. Following the shooting, the victims’ clothing was gathered into a pile and placed right near our garden. A man sitting near the clothes called out to us and offered us to take some items. I took a few pieces of clothing, but upon returning home, my mother scolded me and immediately gave all of them away. Later that evening, a group of villagers went to inspect the ditch, and I followed them. On the opposite side of the ditch, we discovered a half-naked man. He was climbing inside the ditch asking for water. However, the village chief arrived shortly after with several other men, and as far as I know, they killed him." (Testimony n°2082, interviewed in Petrivka, on June 1, 2016)

Historical note

Petrivka, formerly known as Korneevo and Kandybino, is located approximately 115 km (71.4 mi) north of Odesa. The village is situated in the present-day Berezivka district of the Odesa Oblast which before WWII belonged to the Andreevo-Ivanovka district.

Petrivka was founded in 1811 by settlers who were serfs from the Poltava and Kyiv provinces. Following the revolution, the region became part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. During the Soviet period, notably in the 1920s and 1930s, the area underwent significant agricultural development, leading to the re-organization of local settlements and the creation of collective farms (kolkhozes). The Berezivka district was therefore characterized by a significant presence of Jewish agricultural colonies alongside numerous ethnic German settlements inhabited by Volksdeutsche.

While there were no Jewish residents living in Petrivka itself on the eve of World War II, a thriving Jewish community lived in the nearby settlement of Andreevo-Ivanovka, today known as Chernove, which is located approximately 22 km (13.7 mi) northwest of Petrivka. Before the war, it was a Jewish suburban agricultural center, where Jewish residents coexisted with a diverse local population. Most of local Jews worked in the kolkhoz, while others were merchants and artisans. In 1928, the settlement featured a windmill and an oil factory. There was also a Jewish cemetery, which no longer exists today. According to some sources, 330 Jews lived there in 1939. 

Holocaust by bullets in figures

Petrivka, like the rest of the Berezivka district, was occupied by German troops in early August 1941 and, at the end of the same month, was transferred to the Romanian civilian administration as part of the Transnistria Governorate.

According to Soviet archival data, 30 victims were killed in Korneevo, which is today part of Petrivka, during the German occupation. This information was confirmed by local witnesses interviewed by Yahad-In Unum. According to Kateryna S., born in 1930, who estimated the number of victims to range between 25 and 30, a group of Jewish people from a nearby Jewish suburban agricultural center called Andreevo-Ivanovka, today renamed Chernove, tried to evacuate during the summer using three or four of their own carts. While Kateryna S. recalled that this took place in the summer of 1943, it most probably happened in 1941.

When the group passed through Korneevo, they were intercepted by 3 or 4 Germans who forced them to leave their carts and belongings on the spot. The Jewish detainees were then taken on foot to the killing site at the bottom of a hill, where an anti-tank ditch had previously been dug to stop the German invasion. Upon arriving at the site, the victims, including adults and children, were aligned at the edge of the ditch and shot with automatic weapons. After the execution, the pit was filled with earth by local women who had been requisitioned for the task. Following the shooting, the victims’ belongings were offered to local residents.

According to both witnesses interviewed in Petrivka, one Jewish man managed to survive the shooting and climb out of the pit by the evening of the same day. While Kateryna S., born in 1930, stated that he was helped by local residents and survived, another witness, Valentyna N., born in 1930, maintained that he was killed by a group of local men led by the village chief.

As for today, the killing site in Petrivka (former Korneevo) remains uncommemorated.

Nearby villages

• Chernove
• Novopetrivka

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