Koryukovka

Jews settled in Koryukovka in the 19th century. In 1897 Koryukova's 381 Jews comprised 11 percent of the total population. During the pogroms of the civil war many Jews left for towns with larger Jewish communities. Most local Jews were petty merchants or artisans but some Jews worked in local factories, including one that was the largest sugar refinery in the Soviet Union at that time. In 1939 Korykova’s 475 Jews comprised 4.9 percent of the town's total population. Koryukovka was occupied by German troops on September 5, 1941. Since flight from Koryukovka was difficult due to the lack of a railway station and main roads, many Jews were forced to remain in the occupied territories. On November 9, 1941 a group of Jews from Koryukovka was loaded by Germans and Ukrainian police onto trucks that would, ostensibly, take them to Chernigov but they were killed instead. Similar murder operations were carried out in December 1941, and on February 13 and on December 12, 1942. A total of at least 40 Jews from Koryukovka were taken by truck and murdered in or on the way to Chernigov. Most of Jews did not reach Chernigov but were gassed inside the trucks and buried in an unknown location. Those Jews who did reach Chernigov were murdered by Germans and their accomplices. In December 1941 and January-February 1942 many Koryukovka Jews were shot in the village by Hungarians. In March 1943 the entire town was detroyed by fire together with its remaining residents. 2 Jewish children were transported from Kozlyanichi to Koryukovka and shot there by Ukrainian police in an unknown location on February 18, 1942. The Koryukovka area was liberated by the Red Army on September 19 (or September 20), 1943.