- Back to home
- Community:
- Starokonstantinov
- Murder Sites:
- The Former Soviet Military Camp
- Commemoration:
- Commemoration of Jewish Victims
The Novogorodskiy Forest
The Novogorodskiy Forest murder site
YVA, Photo Collection 3797/1
A Russian New Testament with a piece of parchment from a Sefer Torah glued on the inside cover
Click here for story
Yad Vashem, Museums Division, Artifacts Collection
On August 3, 1941, 489 Jews (302 men and 187 women) were assembled by Germans and local policemen in the town square near the power plant. They were divided into two columns, men and women, and then led to the murder site, where they were shot in anti-tank ditches. The murder operation carried out by two companies of Battalions 1 and 2 of the SS infantry regiment 8, with the participation of Police Battalion 320.
In August or on September 2, 1941 (according to German sources, at the end of September), 500-800 Jews were taken to the Novogorodskiy Forest by members of Police Battalion 304 and shot.
In the morning of June 23, 1942, some 3,000-4,000 Jews (according to other sources, 6,500 Jews) – men, women and children – residents of the Starokonstantinov ghetto, including Jews from Gritsev, Ostropol and Novaya Sinyava, were rounded up near the town’s power station. Seven Jews were hanged for being partisans – arms were allegedly found in their homes. After separating a number of families of professionals, the Jews were transferred by the Sonderkommando, with the assistance of Ukrainian police, to the Novogorodskiy Forest, where they were undressed and shot.
On November (or December) 29, 1942, 4,000 Jews (men, women and children) were taken to the same murder site and shot dead. The action was commanded by the local security police commander, Graff.
