Murder story of Miropol Jews in the Municipal Park

Rumors circulated among the Jewish population that there was going to be a mass shooting in Miropol. The men decided to defend their families, to frustrate their oppressors, and provide enough time for their families to escape the murderers. On the morning of October 13, 1941, drunken Ukrainians policemen, supervised by a few SD members, entered the houses of the Jews. The Ukrainians said that the Jews were going to be taken to a village just south of town. The victims were ordered to take only necessary things and valuables with them. Thereafter, they were concentrated in the central square of the town. At this stage the Jewish artisans that had been separated from the other Jews, tried to find their family members in the crowd, but few of them could find their relatives. From the square Jews were taken to the municipal park, located 300 meters from the city center. On the way to the park the Jewish men started to attack the drunken policemen so that the women and children could have a chance to run away or find a place to hide. The policemen were too drunk to catch them, especially the young people. However, since few Jewish children were not able to find a refuge in houses or apartments of non-Jewish friends or neighbors, many of them were captured and shot. The policemen took the remaining Jews to a pit and divided them into groups of ten. The policemen shot the Jews at the edge of the pit and the victims fell into it. Some policemen were so drunk that they had difficulty aiming. As a result many Jews were only wounded; they pleaded to be put out of their misery. In this massacre 250 Jews were killed while an unknown number of Jewish youths ended up wandering around the forests near the town. Another killing operation took place at the same location on December 15, 1941 (according to other sources this took place on February 16, 1942). Jews were again collected at the town’s square and taken under guard to the municipal park, where they were divided into groups of 10. The policemen shot the Jews to death with rifles. In the two murder operations about 960 Jews of Miropol were murdered.