Novoselivka (Nayfeld) | Odesa

Nayfeld was created as a Jewish agricultural colony in 1920s.  Today, the colony doesn’t exist. On its place stand the village of Novoselivka, located 85km (53mi) north east of Odesa. The colonists lacked agricultural skills and rented out their land plots to peasants of neighboring villages in exchange for half the harvest. Those Jews, who weren’t involved in the agriculture, were artisans or merchants. A small percentage lived off vineyards.  Besides the Jews, other nations lived in the settlement, such as Ukrainians, Moldovans, and Germans. The head of the rural council was a Jew, Mr. Gotsman. The Jewish and non-Jewish children went to the same school. There were two schools, one primary school located near Raukhivka, and one secondary school located in Nayfeld itself.  There was no synagogue, but there was a Jewish cemetery located in the today’s village of Zbruzhkivka.

The area was occupied in mid-July 1941 by Germans followed by Romanians. There is no exact information of what happened to the local Jewish community. Even the field research carried out by Yahad didn’t give any results. They might have been taken and exterminated in the nearest camps, but it is very possible that local Jews were exterminated on the spot along with other Jews of the district. According to the Yahad’s witness (YIU/2478U) there was an execution where the Jews victims were burned alive. According to the locals they were Jews from Chisinau (Moldova) brought by train to the station, but this information couldn’t be verified. According to the same witness the aktion was conducted by Germans and Romanians. This happened close to the village of Zbruzhivka. Today, there is a monument at this place.