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Oral history interview with Vladimir Gridin

Oral History

Vladimir Gridin, born in Ukraine, describes the roundups of Jewish citizens in Odessa; the sight of men who had been hanged in the streets; the relocation of Jews to Slobodka, Russia; the deportation of Jews to extermination camps; the antisemitism and the attitude of non-Jews of Odessa towards the Jewish population

Oral history interview with Elena Sobchenko

Oral History

Elena Sobchenko, born in Ukraine, describes the beginning of the war in Odessa; Romanian soldiers and their uniforms; her fear of German soldiers as a result of stories about German troops; how her family provided food for Romanian soldiers; seeing a group of people whom she thought were Jews taken to the outskirts of Odessa by Romanian soldiers; a Romanian soldier’s attempt to force her and her friend to join the procession of Jews; another group of people whom she thought were Jews passing by the windows of her family’s house, escorted by soldiers; and the sight of two men who were hanged near the railway station.

Oral history interview with Antonina Chervenko-Krasnoshtein

Oral History

Antonina Chervenko-Krasnoshtein, born in the Ukraine, describes the roundup and deportation of Jews by German and Romanian soldiers; some local Jews hiding in their neighbors' basements; the sight of a murdered Jewish family in the street; and liberation by the Soviet Army in 1944.

Oral history interview with Alla Tetereyyatnikova

Oral History

Alla Tetereyyatnikova, born in Ukraine, describes the occupation of Odessa by Romanian and German forces; Jewish families that were brought from Romania and other locations to Odessa; their placement in the ghetto in Slobodka and in the homes of the non-Jews; the Jewish family which stayed in her home; the attitudes of the local townspeople to the Jews; the settlement of a Jewish family from Bessarabia in the home of her neighbor, and the disparaging and nationalistic comments made by this neighbor toward the Jewish family; the relocation of the Jews to the ghetto; Romanian guards that took the Jewish population to the ghetto; hiding a Jewish family in her aunt’s house; a local German citizen’s comments that they kill those who hide Jews; the flight of the hidden Jewish couple from her aunt’s home; an incident in which a family friend was hiding her Jewish mother-in-law, and a Romanian officer discovered the mother-in-law and took her away; the behavior of the Romanian soldiers, including their attempts at theft; and the sight of people who had been hanged.

Oral history interview with Tamara Dmitrenko

Oral History

Tamara Dmitrenko, born in 1924 in Ukraine, describes the beginning of the occupation of Odessa by Romanian and German forces in 1941; the raid on and persecution of Jewish families; studying before the war in a German school and having many Jewish friends; an order to keep all doors and windows open in 1941; Romanian soldiers driving Jews out of their homes; Romanian soldiers coming into homes during the night and sexually assaulting women; the relocation of the city’s Jews to the ghetto in Slobodka; attempts of some Jews to go into hiding; the attitude and behavior of the local citizens during the relocation of Jews to the ghetto; life for Jews in the ghetto; local citizens who brought food to Jews in the ghetto; the length of time Jews stayed in the ghetto until they were driven out and murdered; the sight of people who had been hanged; a Jewish woman who initially left her baby with the family of the witness when relocated to the ghetto, and then retrieved it the next day; her mother who brought food to Jews in the local jail; the efforts of an acquaintance to hide her Jewish husband; the lack of water in the city; the sight of a Jewish family being driven out into the street by Romanian soldiers and then hanged; the building of gallows; an escalation of the mass murder of Jews in 1942; the development of the city of Odessa during the occupation; the looting of Jewish belongings and occupation of Jewish homes by local residents; liberation by Soviet forces; and the relationship between Soviet soldiers and local residents.

Oral history interview with Vilen Krupsky

Oral History

Vilen Krupsky, born in 1931 in Odessa, Ukraine, discusses the German-Romanian occupation of his birthplace; his Russian mother and Jewish father; the death of his father who had been a communist; moving to a new region of Odessa after the outbreak of war; the invasion of Odessa by German troops, and later Romanian soldiers in 1941; house-to-house searches conducted to search for Jews and communists; numerous arrests during the initial days of occupation; a round-up of Jewish neighbors in their courtyard; being reported to the police as a result of his background; enduring multiple interrogations; his mother’s friendship with the family of a policeman; the policeman’s help in easing the restrictions on his family; the sight of gallows; partisan activity in Odessa prompting harsh retaliation by German forces; two groups of Jews who were arrested by the Romanian patrol and forced to march through the streets; hiding in the attic of the policeman and in military trenches in his neighborhood; trips his mother took outside the city to trade personal items for food; his arrest and placement in the Jewish ghetto; life in the ghetto, including overcrowding and hunger; his mother’s attempt to find medication for his sick younger brother; his mother’s purchase of their release in 1942 by giving items of gold to a camp guard; liberation by the Soviet Army in 1944; and the unruly behavior of the SMERSH forces in the Soviet Army.

Oral history interview with Tatjana Stojanova

Oral History

Tatjana Stojanova, born in 1922 in Odessa, Ukraine, describes leaving Odessa as a result of bombings; returning to Odessa after the arrival of German and Romanian forces; the sight of gallows in a park; objects dropped in the street by Jews who had been led to the prison; rumors of Jews being arrested; the entrance of Romanian cavalrymen in Odessa; the disappearance of all of her Jewish neighbors; the grandmother of a Jewish friend who hid in an empty house and then later disappeared; the special treatment of Jewish doctors who were allowed to remain in their homes to exclusively treat Romanian officers and functionaries; the occupation of Odessa; engineers from Holland who raised vessels sunk by the Soviet Army before leaving the city; and her move to Holland in 1944.

Oral history interview with Valentina Brandner

Oral History

Valentina Brandner, born in 1925 in Odessa, Ukraine, describes the Romanian occupation of Odessa; living in a suburb of Odessa at the beginning of the war, and then returning to the city; the forced relocation of two neighboring Jewish families from their apartments to the ghetto by Romanian soldiers; her reaction to the deportations; first hearing the word “ghetto” and asking her parents to explain its meaning; the sight of the gallows; her traumatic memory of seeing bodies hanging along the railroad; the reaction of local citizens to the bodies; returning to the suburbs for the duration of the war; and the aftermath of the war in Ukraine.

Oral history interview with Lidiya Parokonnaya

Oral History

Lidiya Parokonnaya, born in Ukraine, describes the beginning of the German and Romanian occupation of Odessa; the atmosphere of fear during the occupation; posters ordering all Jews to report to certain locations within a short period of time; the imprisonment of her Jewish uncle; the actions of her aunt to get him out of prison; how her family hid her uncle; her family’s quartering of a Romanian officer for two years; her uncle’s flight from Odessa as a result of frequent raids by German forces; her uncle’s enlistment into the Soviet Army; the sight of Jewish women and children being forced to march through the streets by Romanian soldiers; one Jewish woman in the march who threw her child to a female bystander, who may have adopted the child afterwards; the sight of people who were killed by hanging; a burned down military warehouse in which Jews were rounded up and killed; and her fears when Soviet soldiers entered the city.

Oral history interview with Tatiana Tsiklopulo

Oral History

Tatiana Tsiklopulo, born in 1915 in Ukraine, discusses Jews going into hiding during the German occupation; the impossibility of escape from the police if one was caught hiding Jews; the local administration which reported the hiding places of Jews; seeing the bodies of Jews who had been hanged; hiding Jews in her home; Jews who were killed or arrested by members of the police; an attempt by police to kill her; visiting the ghetto to provide money to people who had been arrested; the appearance of Jews in the ghetto; and acquiring passes for some Jews so that they could escape the ghetto and hide in her home.

Oral history interview with Stanislav Ishenko

Oral History

Stanislav Ishenko, born in 1927 in Veresy, Ukraine, describes the arrival of German forces in his village in 1941; dead soldiers on the side of the road; violence committed against the Jewish population of Zhitomir; Jews who attempted to escape the persecution; his father’s participation in the rescue of Jews; helping his father transfer refugees between safe houses; the danger of raids from the German police; individuals who assisted in the rescuing of refugees; many of the Jewish refugees joining partisan groups; the evacuation of Jews from Veresy; an incident in which he and his father were almost killed by a German firing squad, only to be saved by one of the women they were hiding who spoke German; the differences between German soldiers and local policemen; a policeman’s warning to his father that he was being watched; his father dispersing the refugees and then joining a partisan group; the sight of people who had been hanged in the center of his village; his postwar years as a soldier in the Soviet Army; and events after the war, including his assistance in the construction of a memorial for Holocaust victims.

Oral history interview with Inna Gavriltchenko

Oral History

Inna Gavriltchenko, born in 1925 in Kharkov (Kharkiv), Ukraine, describes the German occupation of Kharkov from 1941 to 1943; announcements ordering Jews to move to the ghetto; the procession of Jews, including her neighbors, to the ghetto; the fate of a Jewish family who was unable to move to the ghetto because the grandmother was paralyzed; the compulsory registration of Jews and communists; a horse market that was the location of hangings; the threat of being shot for Jews who appeared on the street; restrictions on the Jewish population; the looting of Jewish homes by local townspeople; and meeting a Jewish woman and child who were attempting to hide in plain sight by saying that they had a Ukrainian last name.

Oral history interview with Boris Mikhaylovsky

Oral History

Boris Mikhaylovsky, born in 1929 in Ukraine, describes the relocation of groups of Jews into the Kharkov ghetto; attacks on the Jews by criminals who were released from prison by German forces; the mass murder of Jews in a synagogue; hiding a Jewish boy with his mother; being mistaken for a partisan and almost being executed; escaping from a labor camp; hiding in a village with his mother; and mass murders and arson committed by German soldiers during their retreat.

Oral history interview with Lubov Boyeva

Oral History

Lubov Boyeva, born in 1927 in Kharkov, Ukraine, describes the arrival of German forces in Kharkov in 1941; subversive activity by partisans; the ghetto in Kharkov; convincing a Jewish friend to leave the ghetto; hiding her Jewish friend; conditions in Kharkov during the war; the fate of family members of her Jewish friend; the arrest and deportation of her sister to Germany; and the return of her sister from Germany in 1945.

Oral history interview with Yuri Grot

Oral History

Yuri Grot, born in 1932 in Kharkov, Ukraine, describes his father's work in Moscow at the beginning of the war; the order from the German forces for Jewish residents to register; his mother's attempt to convince their Jewish neighbors not to register; the roundup and deportation of the Jewish community to the ghetto; the treatment of Jews by local policemen; German soldiers and local policemen searching for hidden Jews; local townspeople forced to attend public hangings; the deportation of local townspeople to work in Germany; German soldiers burning down a hospital containing wounded Soviet soldiers in 1943; German soldiers burning books; gas vans; and the different nationalities of forces occupying Kharkov during the war.

Oral history interview with Mykola Garmash

Oral History

Mykola Garmash, born in 1931 in Liptsy village, Ukraine, describes life in Kharkov under the German occupation; the cruelty of German soldiers towards local Jews and communists; his Jewish neighbors; an announcement ordering local Jews to gather with their belongings; details of the gas vans used by killing squads; the loading of Jews into gas vans by German soldiers; the murder of a Soviet mother of a half-Jewish child; rescuing the half-Jewish child; the punishment of the operators of the gas vans in 1943; and the murder of local townspeople by German soldiers.

Oral history interview with Nina Frass

Oral History

Nina Frass, born in 1926 in Kharkov, Ukraine, describes the beginning of the war; surrendering an apartment to a German officer; the forced relocation of local Jews to the ghetto; the looting of Jewish owned homes and belongings; the experiences of her Jewish friend during the war; the deaths in her friend's family, her friend's escape from the ghetto and flight to a suburban collective farm; threats of punishment for those caught helping Jews; the hanging of civilians; and the deportation of the Jewish community.

Oral history interview with Lubov Zhelevskaya-Savchenko

Oral History

Lubov Zhelevskaya-Savchenko, born in 1924 in Gubarevka (Hubarivka), Ukraine, describes a roundup of Jews in Kharkov by German soldiers; her Jewish stepmother saving herself by falsifying documents; the hanging of partisan members; German soldiers expropriating their food supplies; her arrest and time in prison; her transfer to Auschwitz concentration camp; life and conditions in Auschwitz, including details about her labor, other inmates, policies of the camp, her illnesses, and the execution of Jewish prisoners; the knowledge of the German retreat in 1945; her transfer to a displaced persons camp at Bergen-Belsen; the imprisonment of concentration camp inmates upon returning to the Soviet Union; her lawsuit against German officials for reparations; and meeting with other concentration camp survivors in Kharkov.

Oral history interview with Pavlo Paltsan

Oral History

Pavlo Paltsan, born in 1926 in Ukraine, describes details of mass shootings of Jews by German soldiers and the execution of a Ukrainian man who refused participate in the shootings.

Oral history interview with Olga Granichka

Oral History

Olga Granichka, born in 1932 in Ukraine, describes the roundup and deportation of the Jewish community by German forces; details of mass shootings of Jews by German soldiers; a Jewish man who survived by hiding in the forest; and the looting of her home by German soldiers.

Oral history interview with Katerina Podolyak

Oral History

Katerina Podolyak, born in 1931 in Ukraine, describes German forces entering her hometown in 1941; the establishment of a Jewish ghetto; local townspeople who betrayed Jews in hiding; details of a mass shooting of local Jews by German soldiers in 1941; and the involvment of local policemen in the persecution of the Jewish community.

Oral history interview with Eugenia Boyko

Oral History

Oral history interview with Anna Sherstjuk

Oral History

Anna Sherstjuk, born in 1927 in Glinyany, Ukraine, describes the prewar Jewish community of Glinyany; the establishment of a Jewish ghetto; witnessing a shooting of two Jewish men by Gestapo members in 1942; details of a mass shooting of Jews by German soldiers; and Jewish townspeople who were in hiding during the war.

Oral history interview with Stepan Farmiga

Oral History

Stepan Farmiga, born 1922 in Ukraine, describes details of a mass shooting of Jews by German soldiers.

Oral history interview with Stepan Zhelikhovsky

Oral History

Stepan Zhelikhovsky, born in 1932 in Ukraine, describes details of mass shootings of Jews by German soldiers and local policemen; escape attempts by some of the victims; and the actions taken by local townspeople to memorialize the murder site after the war.

Oral history interview with Emilia Voitovych

Oral History

Emilia Voitovych, born in 1935 in Ukraine, describes the prewar Jewish community of Mogilnitsa; the establishment of a Jewish ghetto on a nearby estate; bringing food to the hungry children in the ghetto; hiding the family of a Jewish friend of her father; being caught hiding Jews; the deportation of her family to the Jewish ghetto; conditions in the ghetto, including the cruel treatment of prisoners by soldiers; mass shootings of Jews by German soldiers; her family's relocation to the Terembovlya ghetto, including the conditions there; her escape from the ghetto with her mother and brother; and living in a village until the end of the war.

Oral history interview with Svetlana Ratkina

Oral History

Svetlana Ratkina, born in 1928 in Ukraine, describes living in Kiev during the German occupation; the Jewish wife of her uncle; the arrest and imprisonment of her father; posters ordering Jews to gather at a certain location; her Jewish aunt and cousin reporting to the German authorities; her aunt's decision to leave her child with non-Jewish family members; her family's move to protect her Jewish cousin; her father taking her and her cousin to a village to stay for the duration of the war; and the murder of a Jewish boy by German soldiers.

Oral history interview with Vladimir Kravchuk

Oral History

Vladimir Kravchuk, born in 1931 in Kiev, Ukraine, describes an announcement for local Jews to gather in a location with their personal belongings; details of the Babi Yar massacre; hiding his Jewish aunt and a Jewish man; efforts by local townspeople to save local Jews; his father's imprisonment in the concentration camp Rakhovo; relocating to Proskurovo; a German citizen who assisted his family; the Jewish ghetto in Proskurovo; a mass shooting of Jews in Proskurovo; the execution of Soviet prisoners of war by German soldiers; the deportation of his friend to Germany to work, and his efforts to return to Ukraine; executions of local townspeople by German soldiers; and the gas vans used for executions.

Oral history interview with Anatoliy Timoschenko

Oral History

Anatoliy Timoschenko, born in 1930 in Kiev, Ukraine, describes witnessing German soldiers torture and kill a Jewish man; a roundup of local Jews by German soldiers, including his neighbor; the arrest of any person suspected of being Jewish; local police collaborating with German soldiers; his Jewish neighbor escaping arrest and hiding until liberation in 1943; and conditions for local townspeople during German occupation.

Oral history interview with Nina Kalinina

Oral History

Nina Kalinina, born in 1926 in Ukraine, describes her town's prewar community; her father assisting in the prevention of her deportation to Germany; details of a mass shooting of Jews in Rokitno by German soldiers and local townspeople; and the looting of Jewish owned homes.

Oral history interview with Vera Mironova

Oral History

Vera Mironova, born in 1924 in Kiev, Ukraine, describes her family and the beginning of the war; witnessing a German soldier kill her Jewish neighbors; the Babi Yar massacre; the deportation of many local townspeople to work in Germany; saving a Jewish child; the treatment of local townspeople by German soldiers; the shooting of a Jewish family who had gone into hiding; German soldiers offering rewards to local townspeople to inform on hidden Jews; local collaborators; and her work which prevented her from being deported to Germany.

Oral history interview with Anna Bebykh

Oral History

Anna Bebykh, born in 1924 in Kiev, Ukraine, describes the German invasion; gas vans; the killing of patients at the mental hospital; an announcement for the Jewish community to gather and bring their valuables; advising her Jewish friend not to go, but never seeing her again; Jews hiding in the stove at the brick factory; mass shootings of Jews by local policemen; local townspeople reporting hidden Jews to the local police; escaping into the forest to avoid being sent to Germany to work; and joining the army in 1943.

Oral history interview with Pyotr Nizvetskiy

Oral History

Pyotr Nizvetskiy, born in 1930 in Ukraine, describes the prewar work of his mother for a Jewish employer in Novyy Pikov; restrictions placed on the Jewish community during the war; a roundup of local Jews; a mass shooting of Jews by local policemen; and some Jews who escaped the mass shooting and went into hiding.

Oral history interview with Dmitriy Chiger

Oral History

Dmitriy Chiger, born in 1924 in Lwow, Poland (present day L'viv, Ukraine), describes the prewar community of Blazhiv, including his relations with the Jewish community; the arrival of German forces; the establishment of the Jewish ghetto; his work for the German forces; hiding his Jewish neighbors; the behavior of the German soldiers in the village; witnessing individual murders and mass shootings of Jews; local collaborators who assisted German forces; local townspeople's negative feelings for Soviet authorities; the public execution of Komsomol members by local policemen; and the dismantling of the ghetto.

Oral history interview with Alla Gavrishova

Oral History

Oral history interview with Boris Kravets

Oral History

Boris Kravets, born in 1924 in Ukraine, describes his relocation to the village of Pilipovichi; the disbanding of school there by German forces; seeing a large group of Jews who were surrounded by barbed wire; bringing food to Jewish girls in the group; a local policeman who mistreated the girls by forcing them to act like cows; witnessing a mass killing of Jews in which soldiers shot adults and the stabbed children; the mass grave in which some bodies still moved the day after the massacre; joining a partisan unit; a traitor in his unit who prevented them from freeing prisoners of war; the number of Jews who joined his partisan unit; Germans shooting anyone they thought was Jewish, even if that individual was Ukrainian or Russian; and an incident in which a policeman joined the partisans, and then betrayed them, and retaliation on local policemen by partisans.

Oral history interview with Maria Kravets

Oral History

Maria Kravets, born in 1929 in Ukraine, describes how Novogrod Volinski was a predominately Jewish town at the beginning of the war; how the Germans destroyed everything on their way through the town; the closing of the school; the beginning of mass killings of Jews in 1942; receiving a beating from German soldiers with a whip; Jews being driven in trucks or walking in columns to the mass shooting site; a Ukrainian woman who shouted support to a column of Jews and then was killed along with them; the mass shooting of Jews by German soldiers; and a German soldier who came to her house for water after the shooting and showed distress at the killing of a pregnant woman.

Oral history interview with Mykola Polishchuk

Oral History

Mykola Polishchuk, born in 1927 in Korets', Ukraine, describes the destruction of his village in 1935 by Soviet soldiers; the German occupation during which prisoners of war were forced to dig a large pit near an open field; seeing, from a nearby field, truckloads of Jewish people arrive at the pit; the unloading of the trucks by German soldiers or local policemen; witnessing a mass shooting of Jews by German soldiers; investigating the mass grave with other children a short time after the shooting; an underground organization in the village which was discovered by German soldiers; and the execution of members of the organization.

Oral history interview with Nikolay Kuz'menko

Oral History

Nikolay Kuz'menko, born in 1928 in Ukraine, discuses living in Z︠H︡adkivka, Ukraine during the war; early rumors that the Jewish population was going to be killed; the large clearing that the Germany Army used for training exercises; hearing the mass shooting of Jews, who were transported to a training area on trucks; and the mass grave in which Jews were buried.

Oral history interview with Svetlana Golovinchenko

Oral History

Svetlana Golovinchenko, born in 1930 in Ukraine, describes the arrival of German soldiers in Kiev; the announcement that the Jews from the city should gather; the knowledge among citizens that the Germans were shooting Jews; the threat of death to anyone hiding Jews; the massacre of Jews at Babi Yar; a neighbor who, as a prisoner of war, had to cover the bodies of those killed by Nazi forces; the neighbor’s description of the terrible scenes he had witnessed; the neighbor’s suicide a short time later; hearing some people who crawled out of the mass grave; an incident in which a Jewish girl in hiding was betrayed and dragged by a German soldier behind his horse; soldiers driving prisoners of war along the street to a concentration camp; and giving food to the prisoners of war, but not being allowed to give food to the Jewish prisoners.

Oral history interview with Olga Skuratovskaya

Oral History

Oral history interview with Edem Sejdametov

Oral History

Edem Sejdametov, born in 1929 in Simferopol, Ukraine, describes the German occupation and orders for local townspeople to help dig anti-tank ditches; the requirement for Jews to register with the belief that they would be resettled in Palestine; the belief among non-Jews that the Jewish population was being taken to Palestine; the mass shooting of the city’s Jews by German forces; hearing the machine gun shots and seeing through binoculars people’s bodies, some of whom were neighbors, being thrown into ditches; attempts by some local families to save Jewish children, risking death if they were caught; the hanging of Jews who did not register with German authorities; the killing of Romani people and other ethnic groups by German forces; Islamic leaders convincing the Germans to stop killing Muslims; his mother bringing food to prisoners of war; Germans offering freedom to prisoners of war who joined the German army; some volunteers taking the weapons offered by the Germans and joining the Partisans; and the torture of a captured partisan.

Oral history interview with Liubov Kornejchuk

Oral History

Liubox Kornejchuk, born in 1918 in Danilovka, Russia, describes the sight of trenches being dug in Simferopol on orders by the Soviet Army prior to the German invasion; the German occupation and the beginning of the removal of Jews from their homes; the patients of a Jewish mental hospital who were the first to be shot; witnessing a mass shooting of Jews and seeing their bodies being thrown into pits; a German soldier who lived with her family and told them about the plans for the Jewish population; her father’s position as a Soviet Army commissar; Germans taking her father away and returning him after three days in terrible condition; and theft by German soldiers.

Oral history interview with Dmitriy Garmash

Oral History

Dmitriy Garmash, born in 1923 in Ukraine, describes the German occupation of Feodocia; hangings committed by the SS and their collaborators, including Tatars, Russians, and Ukrainians who were dissatisfied with Soviet power; the confiscation of weapons by Germans and local police; the mandatory registration of Jews in 1941; the order for Jews to report for relocation to a ghetto; warning his Jewish neighbors and assisting with their escape; seeing people taken away on carts; the mass shooting of Jews by a tank ditch; German soldiers searching for Jews who did not register; lying to a policeman about the identity of a Jewish friend who was staying with him, then helping him escape the town; Germans and Soviets battling over Feodocia; Soviets forces hunting those who collaborated with the Germans after they gained control of Feodocia; the shooting of civilians after the Germans regained control of Feodocia; the hanging of civilians for hiding Jews and committing other illegal actions; forced civilian labor on the construction of trenches; his arrest by German authorities in 1943 and their attempts to force him to confess to hiding Jews; his transfer to a jail in Kyrovska, where the Kubanian guards treated prisoners harshly; an attempt by a guard to shoot him after an attempted escape; his transfer to Simferopol jail; receiving an offer to join the Russian Liberation Army to which he refused; his transfer to an internment camp; and liberation by the Soviet Army.

Oral history interview with Boris Muzychenko

Oral History

Boris Muzychenko, born in 1928 in Ukraine, describes seeing Jews driven out of their homes by the local police and collaborators; the belief, spread by German authorities, that the Jews were going to Palestine; a mass shooting of Jewish and Romani people at a trench for tanks; the escape of one Romani woman who came to his house in the early morning; and how difficult it was to help the Jewish population, particularly after Crimean Tatars joined the Germans and started guarding camps.

Oral history interview with Zoya Popova

Oral History

Zoya Popova, born in 1925 in Ukraine, describes the sight of many people carrying their belongings as they evacuated Kiev before the arrival of German forces; helping a pregnant woman who later returned and asked her to take care of her baby, which she did; the Babi Yar massacre; and the killing by German soldeirs of people who aided the escape of communists.

Oral history interview with Nina Yefremenko

Oral History

Nina Yefremenko, born in 1933 in Ukraine, describes the betrayal of her uncle which led to his arrest, along with his Jewish wife and children, by the Nazis, her attempt to bring food to the family with her grandmother who was beaten by guards; witnessing the shooting of a man who tried to give food to prisoners; her grandmother’s attempt to secure the release of the children; information from her aunt that executions were taking place; hearing shooting at night; her uncle’s sacrifice to secure the release of his children; the brutal murder of her uncle; the release of her aunt and cousins; the arrest of the individual who betrayed the family; and the aftermath of the war.

Oral history interview with Nikolai Sushchuk

Oral History

Nikolai Sushchuk, born in 1930 in Ukraine, describes visiting the Jewish ghetto in Novograd-Volynsk; a mass shooting of Jews by German soldiers and policemen at a shooting range in 1941; the sound of machine gunfire; searching the site of the shooting several days after for cartridge cases and seeing a mass grave; a second mass shooting of Jews by Germans at the shooting range in which victims attempted to escape; and Germans dragging the bodies of those killed into a mass grave.

Oral history interview with Valentina Sukalo

Oral History

Valentina Sukalo, born in 1925 in Kiev, Ukraine, describes the beginning of the war in Kiev; the order for the Jewish population to go to Babi Yar; seeing her Jewish neighbors arrested by policemen; the looting of her apartment by Germans soldiers who soon after shot a Rabbi and other Jews who were walking in the street; her aunt’s request that her mother hide a Jewish girl during the Babi Yar massacre; seeing women forced into carriages and taken away by policemen; her relocation to work in Germany; working in an ammunition factory; sabotaging the production and then escaping to Magdeburg to stay with a friend; her arrest and transfer to Auschwitz; work carrying cobblestones; the broad range of nationalities at Auschwitz-Birkenau; hearing the screaming of people being burned alive; the smell of burning bodies; witnessing the murder of a girl by beating and dog attack; her transfer to Mauthausen; evacuation as Russian forces approached; and her escape and recapture, for which she was not executed because of advancing Russian forces.

Oral history interview with Maria Grinyuk

Oral History

Maria Grinyuk, born in 1934 in Ukraine, describes the local Jewish population as well as the refugees from Zhitomir residing in the village of Levkov; roundups of Jews by German soldiers; German soldiers forcing Jews into vans where they were gassed; the murder of two Jews who were then buried in the vegetable garden of local townspeople; her mother taking caring for the children of the murdered Jews; German soldiers tormenting and sometimes killing local townspeople; and the construction and use of a gallows by Germans soldiers.

Oral history interview with Lyubov Ostapenko

Oral History

Lyubov Ostapenko, born in 1923 in Ukraine, describes the beginning of the war in Kiev; hearing about the atrocities committed against Jews; warning her Jewish friend not to respond to an announcement by the Germans for Jews to gather; her friend’s belief that the Germans would only use him for work; hearing rumors that Jews in the area were being shot; searching for her sister’s husband, who was Jewish; the shooting of her sister at Babi Yar; her membership in an underground organization; betrayal by a woman from the organization; home imprisonment by German soldiers; interrogation by German soldiers and Ukrainian policemen; the departure of the German soldiers who warned that they would return to arrest her and her family; going into hiding; German soldiers destroying her family’s house and digging in search of guns; seeing the bodies of people who were hanged; witnessing the arrest of her neighbors being by Germans and Ukrainian policemen; and the postwar trial of a Ukrainian policemen who collaborated with the Germans.

Oral history interview with Klavdiya Gubareva

Oral History

Klavdiya Gubareva, born in 1924 in Ukraine, describes German soldiers forcing Jews out of their homes and bringing them to a killing site in Kozoryzoyyi Jar; traveling to Odessa and seeing a column of Jews from Odessa being taken by German soldiers and policemen to be executed at Bogdanovka; German soldiers and policemen beating the Jews in the column; and seeing Jews being left overnight in a schoolhouse with no doors or windows to freeze to death.

Oral history interview with Andrey Yermolenko

Oral History

Andrey Yermolenko, born in 1930 in Ukraine, describes working near a pit from which lime was extracted; seeing groups of Jews taken to the pit, made to undress, and then shot from behind by German guards; the bodies being set on fire when the pit was full; the smell of burned flesh; hearing screams during the execution; how none of the prisoners could escape because of the presence of the guards; and the removal of the clothing in wagons after the execution.

Oral history interview with Valentina Natochi

Oral History

Valentina Natochi, born in 1930 in Ukraine, describes the murder of a pregnant Jewish school teacher at Bogdanovka by a policeman; the transport of thousands of Jews to Domaniovka where they would be executed; how Jews were forced to stay in pigsties before they were brought to a pit for execution; Jews being forced to undress and then stand by the edge of the pit where they were shot by Ukrainian civilians and Romanian soldiers; German soldiers giving the orders for the execution; and the burning of the bodies in the pit.

Oral history interview with Nina Anushchenko

Oral History

Nina Anushchenko, born in 1928 in Ukraine, describes the forced relocation of Jews from Odessa to Domanivka in 1942; the exhaustion of the Jews as a result of the march without food or water; the guarding of the Jews by Romanian and German soldiers; the imprisonment of the Jews at an empty club and old synagogue until they could be taken to Bogdanovka; local townspeople attempting to give food to the Jews, only to be turned away by the guards; the deaths of many Jews as a result of cold and starvation; seeing a wagon filled with bodies which would be transferred to a ditch in the forest; seeing Jews being transported to a sheep-fold where they were later shot; and the burning of the bodies.

Oral history interview with Neonila Tatarenko

Oral History

Neonila Tatarenko, born in 1926 in Ukraine, describes German soldiers raiding homes in Nikolaiev, Ukraine; German soldiers taking hostages in response to partisan activity; the execution of hostages which took place in the center of the city; the announcement that Jews were to gather for deportation; the deportation of the Jews by German soldiers and Ukrainian policemen; the execution of the Jews at Meshkovka-Pogorelovka; and reports that the waters of the Buga River ran red as a result of the executions.

Oral history interview with Gertruda Mostovaya

Oral History

Gertruda Mostaovaya, born in 1929 in Ukraine, describes seeing partisans who had been hanged to death in Uman, Ukraine; trucks loaded with the bodies of babies taken from a maternity home; being caught in a raid by mistake and being taken to the Uman ghetto; witnessing attempts to humiliate Jews; the deportation of Jews to execution sites; fleeing from the ghetto and hiding in the cellar of her former house; her neighbor who turned her in to the police; her deportation to a labor camp in Germany; working in a clothing factory and then in a plant; being assaulted and tortured; and rumors that their food was designed for animals and made from human bones.

Oral history interview with Albert Yuryev

Oral History

Albert Yuryev, born in 1930 in Nikolaiev, Ukraine, describes announcements in the city following the German occupation for Jews to report for deportation, and those who did not report would be killed; Jews being taken to a field near the graveyard and kept under guard for several days; being turned away by guards after he attempted to go to the Jews; the transfer of Jews to the execution site at Meshkovka; finding money along the road from Jews being brought to the execution site; marauders walking among the bodies after the mass shooting and killing any survivors; a barn in Meshkov which stored the clothes and hair of executed Jews; mass shootings of Jews near the Buga River in 1942 and 1943; and his imprisonment in a prisoner of war camp in 1944, where he worked burning corpses.

Oral history interview with Anatoly Nemchenko

Oral History

Anatoly Nemchenko, born in 1934 in Krivoi Rog (Kryvyi Rih), Ukraine, describes seeing German soldiers cut off the hand of a fourteen year old boy accused of stealing bread; a sawhorse at which policemen executed people whom they considered delinquents; seeing a group of Jews being driven to an execution site; the brutal treatment by policemen of those unable to stay in the column; a column of prisoners of war guarded by German soldiers; the involvement of policemen in the mass shooting of Jews; the way in which victims were organized and had to undress before the execution; the pit into which bodies fell; after the mass shooting, the placement of salt over the bodies in the pit; and the bombing of the pit.

Oral history interview with Maria Bezotosova

Oral History

Maria Bezotosova, born in 1928 in Radonech, Belarus, describes an attempt by German soldiers to arrest a Jewish woman; interference by peasants who passed her as a Belarusian; German soldiers and local policemen gathering residents in stables and then burning them down; hiding in the forest during one of these attacks; hearing cries and smelling a repulsive smell; a mass killing of Jews in Starobin; and seeing German soldiers driving thousands of Jews to execution sites.

Oral history interview with Sergey Yashchenko

Oral History

Sergey Yashchenko, born in 1930 in Krivoi Rog (Kryvyi Rih), Ukraine, describes his involvement in partisan groups throughout the war; seeing a group of Jews near the river between Inguletz and Rachmanovka being shot with a machine gun by German soldiers; witnessing members of the underground movement being shot and pushed down a mine shaft in 1942; and the increase in violent activity by the Kalmyks during the German occupation.

Oral history interview with Yuri Dobrovolsky

Oral History

Yuri Dobrovolsky, born in 1936 in Ukraine, describes the sight of Jews being driven in carts along the street; adults discussing how the Jews were being taken to be executed; the execution site in which German soldiers set up machine guns; the mass shooting from which he remembers a mother with a child in her arms falling into the ditch; and how after the execution children were running on the site which was spotted with blood.

Oral history interview with Raisa Karpenko

Oral History

Raisa Karpenko, born in 1932 in Ukraine, describes seeing German soldiers force a group of Jews to build a bridge; the Jews living in a stable; entering the stable and seeing the group laying in the straw; how the Jews were fed worse than the animals; witnessing Jews being arrested and sent to be executed; an incident in which a five year old boy was taken from his mother, tied by his legs to a car, and dragged to a pit of dead bodies; the mass shooting of Jews; sheltering a Jewish man who escaped the shooting; and how this man was caught by local policemen and executed.

Oral history interview with Vera Babenko

Oral History

Vera Babenko, born in 1928 in Ukraine, describes witnessing a mass shooting of Jews in 1942; how Jews were rounded up from neighboring villages; the rounding up of the local Jewish population; being forced to watch the shooting in which victims were made to line up along the side of a pit so they could fall in; German soldiers using automatic rifles during the shooting; hearing cries and groans from the pit; how after the execution a German soldier shot one more round of bullets into the pit and laughed; a group of Jewish men left alive so that they could bury the bodies; and the execution of the group of men who were buried in the pit by local townspeople.

Oral history interview with Yefrosinya Grigorash

Oral History

Yefrosinya Grigorash, born in 1931 in Ukraine, describes German soldiers searching her family home for a partisan who was hiding in her village; German soldiers setting her house on fire, and then shooting anyone who tried to escape; a grenade which was thrown into her house and mutilated her brother; the shooting of her sister; her and her mother’s injuries; crawling out of the burning house; and how she was the only member of her family to survive the attack.

Oral history interview with Vira Sadovska

Oral History

Oral history interview with Nadia Barlanetska

Oral History

Oral history interview with Mycola Bosyi

Oral History

Oral history interview with Evsafii Mudrac

Oral History

Oral history interview with Adolf Vislovski

Oral History

Oral history interview with Volodimir Rebrik

Oral History

Oral history interview with Stepan Davidovskyi

Oral History

Oral history interview with Valentina Pavlik

Oral History

Oral history interview with Grigoryi Raduda

Oral History

Oral history interview with Yefrosinya Shingler

Oral History

Oral history interview with Katerina Boiko

Oral History

Oral history interview with Ana Mendus

Oral History

Oral history interview with Nadejda Gutsol

Oral History

Oral history interview with Ivan Bratanchuk

Oral History

Oral history interview with Galina Cherniy

Oral History

Oral history interview with Sofia Benderzevskaya

Oral History

Oral history interview with Pavlo Kravets

Oral History

Oral history interview with Jelena Smirnova

Oral History

Oral history interview with Juzek Poljan

Oral History

Oral history interview with Vladimir Kuzmin

Oral History

Oral history interview with Valentin Savchuk

Oral History

Valentin Savchuk, born in 1930 in Ukraine, describes a mass shooting of Jews at the shooting grounds of a local cavalry regiment; the actions of the Jews leading up to and during the shooting; hearing commands shouted in German; seeing some of the victims attempt to run from the shooting site; visiting the site a month later and seeing a pile of rotten clothes; seeing the bodies of members of the underground movement hanging in the middle of the city; hearing gunshots from other mass shootings and seeing people attempt to escape; hearing rumors that German soldiers were going to kill a group of communists; and German soldiers burning the house of his family as a result of their contacts with partisans.

Oral history interview with Izabela Yelnikova

Oral History

Izabela Yelnikova, born in 1927 in Ukraine, describes seeing from a close distance an execution of Jews and communists selected from 300 prisoners of war; her relocation to Germany; working in a dining room; and an incident in which she was falsely accused of stealing a bag of potatoes and was badly beaten by a German officer during the examination.

Oral history interview with Tamara Dyka

Oral History

Tamara Dyka, born in 1927 in Vesyoloe, Ukraine, describes living in Zlatoustivka, Ukraine during the occupation; seeing peasants from neighboring Jewish villages digging a pit; witnessing a group of Jews being transported to an execution site; the sound of gunfire and the sight of the mass burial; and the shooting of children and babies she believed to be Romani.

Oral history interview with Valentina Kolbaskina

Oral History

Valentina Kolbaskina, born in 1931 in Krivoj Rog (Kryvyi Rih), Ukraine, describes living in Blagodatnoe (Blahodatne) village during the occupation; the presence of Jewish refugees from Stavropol in her village in 1941; the German occupation; the gathering of the Jews in the center of town in the local firehouse, from which they were told that they would be resettled; the mass murder of the Jews in gassing trucks; speaking with a local policeman about the killing; the mass grave dug by Jewish men who were later shot; and the actions of policemen during the German retreat.

Oral history interview with Andrey Dudnik

Oral History

Andrey Dudnik, born in 1925 in Krivoi Rog (Kryvyi Rih), Ukraine, describes his family and life before the war; his capture as a prisoner of war in 1942; his time in Chorol where he saw daily executions; his imprisonment in Mironovka; his transfer to Karmin (Czechoslvakia) in crowded railroad vans; working in mines with workers from the east; the punishment of prisoners by whipping; escaping the camp with the workers from the east; his capture and imprisonment in Teschien; his transfer to Auschwitz; daily hangings of prisoners; how any prisoner could be shot on the spot or torn apart by guards’ dogs; the disposal of corpses in the camp; the separate area of Auschwitz for Jewish prisoners; and his transfer to Mauthausen as part of a group of Russian prisoners of war in 1943.

Oral history interview with Mariya Kravtsova

Oral History

Mariya Kravtsova, born in 1924 in Ukraine, describes the sight of the Jews of Odessa living in sheepfolds; going with her mother to trade food for three overcoats; the Jews laying in the sheepfold very close together; rumors that the guard of the sheepfolds took gold from the Jews; hearing gunshots from a mass shooting of Jews; seeing burning corpses; and groups of Jews and Romani people being transferred to the village of Shirokiye Krinitsy, Ukraine.

Oral history interview with Valentina Kushnir

Oral History

Valentina Kushnir, born in 1928 in Kozubovka, Ukraine, describes three Jewish families hiding in the houses of their neighbors in Kozubovka; the raid of local Jews and their arrests by local policemen; the presence of Jews from other regions brought to Kozubovka and settled in sheepfolds; being sent by her mother to the sheepfolds to exchange food for clothes, and then giving away the food for nothing in return; the sight of Jews removing from the sheepfold the bodies of people who had died of hunger; witnessing the mass murder of the Jews by occupying forces; and the fire from the of burning corpses.

Oral history interview with Yelena Guda

Oral History

Yelena Guda, born in 1928 in Ukraine, describes the German occupation in Stepkovka village; the sight of a column of Jews, who had been transferred from different areas, as they were taken to be executed in Stepkovka; Romanian soldiers guarding the column, robbing prisoners and making them undress in freezing temperatures; the mass shooting of Jews; and the burial of the dead by policemen and soldiers of the Russian Liberation Army.

Oral history interview with Valentina Burkun

Oral History

Valentina Burkun, born in 1929 in Kuybyshevo (now Buz'ki Porohy), Ukraine, describes how she was relocated with other peasants in 1943 by German soldiers with dogs and policemen to perform labor near Bogdanovka; being ordered by the Germans to view a mass shooting of Jews near Bogdanovka; details of the mass killing including how Jews were lined up at the edge of a ravine by policemen and then shot; how many Jews were thrown into the ravine alive; the sight of a Jewish family who drowned themselves in a frozen river during the execution; a local policeman who defended the children of local peasants from beatings by German soldiers; receiving a beating after a translator told a commandant that she spoke negatively of him; and an incident in which a young man with a gun shot himself when German soldiers and policemen attempted to arrest him.

Oral history interview with Anastasiya Khomenko

Oral History

Anastasiya Khomenko, born in 1923 in Pokrovka, Ukraine, describes groups of Jews brought by German forces to her village of Pokrovka in 1942; a column of 200-300 Jews being marched to an execution site; seeing, through binoculars, the mass shooting of Jews near the edge of a ravine; how some of the people who fell into the ravine were still alive; and the further details of the mass killing.

Oral history interview with Lubov Radionova

Oral History

Lubov Radionva, born in 1920 in Bashtanka, Ukraine, describes a public hanging of men accused of setting fire to a machinery workshop; how villagers were forced to watch; the emotional reaction of the villages for which they were whipped by guards; the murder by German soldiers of Romani people who were brought to a collective farm in carts; her arrest for stealing German weapons for the underground movement; and her imprisonment for three days during which she was beaten.

Oral history interview with Ivan Slavinsky

Oral History

Ivan Slavinsky, born in 1923 in Ukraine, describes working on a collective farm in Bashtanka during the German occupation; a public hanging of men accused of setting fire to a machinery workshop; how villagers were forced to watch the hangings; fear experienced by the onlookers; and details of how each of the victims was killed.

Oral history interview with Viktor Matveyev

Oral History

Viktor Matveyev, born in 1931 in Ukraine, describes a time period before the German occupation when villagers from Snegirevka helped Jews escape across the river in exchange for money; a transit camp for prisoners of war in the courtyard of the church of Snegirevka; a column of prisoners of war guarded by other prisoners; a selection of Jews and communists from the ranks of prisoners of war for execution by shooting in 1941; forced labor for the remaining prisoners of war in Snegirevka; beatings administered to prisoners of war for drinking water from a well; local women throwing bread to the prisoners of war, and guards shooting those who tried to retrieve the bread; a flood in 1942 which revealed the corpses of executed prisoners; witnessing a group of local Jews being taken away to be shot; being pulled out of school in 1943 to witness the execution, committed by policemen, of a mixed marriage family in which the father was a Jewish and the mother was a non-Jewish Ukrainian or Russian; how the father of the family had to first dig their grave; and the public hanging of several people who committed an act of sabotage on the railroad.

Oral history interview with Yelena Komarenko

Oral History

Yelena Komarenko, born in 1925 in Snegirevka, Ukraine, describes witnessing the executions of Jews and prisoners of war in 1941 or 1942; how victims were shot into an anti-tank ditch with automatic weapons; and the participation of local policemen.

Oral history interview with Andrey Grabovenko

Oral History

Andrey Grabovenko, born in 1929 in Voznesensk, Ukraine, describes living in Marinovka (Marynivka) during the occupation; the sight of columns of Jews, guarded by Romanian soldiers and policemen, being transported from Domanevka to Pervomaisk; the guards beating the Jews who moved without resistance; the Jewish families of Marinovka, including a friend and the mailman; the arrest of the Jewish families by policemen; the execution of local Jews by Romanian soldiers; and the trial and execution of the police commander after the war.

Oral history interview with Vasile Ştirbiţchi

Oral History

Vasile Ştirbiţchi, born in 1927 in Ukraine, describes the prewar Jewish families in Boian village which included some wealthy families; his Jewish classmate; local townspeople who looted Jewish homes and helped gather Jews after the start of the war following rumors that Jews in the city of Cernăuți were shooting at the Romanian army; the murder of a Jewish teacher and her daughter in their home; Romanian soldiers shooting groups of Jews on the edge of a pit; his Jewish neighbor who was discovered while hiding and killed at the pit; hearing the gunfire but not being able to see the shooting as a result of the number of onlookers gathered; the arrival of the head of the Romanian gendarmerie, who ordered the shootings of Jews to stop; the transfer of Jews in horse carts to Transnistria; and an antisemitic song sung by Romanian Nazis.

Oral history interview with Emilia Gostiuc

Oral History

Emilia Gostiuc, born in 1929 in Boian (Boiany), Ukraine, describes the nationalistic sentiment during the interwar years in Boian village; the beginning of the war and the arrival of German soldiers in her village; the violent campaign against the Jewish population following the arrival of German forces, including incidents in which local townspeople dragged Jews from their homes and beat them or brought them to the center of the village where they were shot; brutality and murder committed by Romanian villagers against Jews; an incident in which a Jewish woman, hiding in a field, was discovered by a gang of teenage boys who dragged her away; her fear of persecution because of her Polish heritage; a mass shooting of Jews near a pit in the center of the village; how some local townspeople brought Jews they had caught in the village to the killing site; and the looting of Jewish property by local townspeople.

Oral history interview with Constantin Padure

Oral History

Constantin Padure, born in 1928 in Ciudei village (Chudeĭ), Ukraine, describes witnessing a group of local townspeople and Romanian soldiers break into a home and drag away a Jewish woman; his mother insistence that he run from returning Soviet soldiers whom she thought would harm him; fleeing to the center of the village; hearing gun shots and screams from a former prison; approaching the building and realizing that the shots were occurring on the top floor; seeing bodies thrown out a window near the staircase; the sight of a Jewish woman who was thrown into a burial pit alive; his assumption that Jews were killed as a result of their suspected collaboration with Soviet forces; brutality committed by Romanian soldiers against the Jewish population for welcoming Soviet forces in 1940; the smell of the mass burial pits; the killing of communists along with Jews; the looting of Jewish property by local townspeople; and one local Jewish man who survived the war and later testified against those who harmed Jews or stole their property.

Oral history interview with Constantin Burla

Oral History

Constantin Burla, born in 1927 in Ciudei village (Chudeĭ), Ukraine, describes the prewar Jewish population of Ciudei, his Jewish classmates; tending cows in a field when he heard gunfire and shouts from a former prison; the sight of victims being thrown out a staircase window; a group of soldiers and townspeople who, covered in blood, dragged corpses to mass pits; the 2 to 3 days during which groups of Jews were brought to the killing site; watching the events of the massacre on each day; entering the former prison afterwards and seeing bullet marks on the walls and blood on the floor; seeing a Jewish classmate driven through the village with other Jews; the shooting of two local Romanian villagers for collaborating with Soviet activists; how one Romanian villager managemd to escape after being thrown into the mass pit; the smell of the mass burial pits; the looting of Jewish homes by local townspeople and people from nearby villages; the rumor that Jews were killed because they fought against Romanian forces; a Jewish man who was hidden by local townspeople and returned to Ciudei after the war; and the postwar trial of local townspeople for their participation in the murder of Jews.

Oral history interview with Dumitru Luchian

Oral History

Dumitru Luchian, born in 1930 in Igeshti (Yizhivtsi or ЇZHivtsi), Ukraine, describes the prewar Jewish community of Ciudei; his understanding that Jewish civilians shot at passing Romanian soldiers; mass murders of the Jewish community by Romanian soldiers and local townspeople; the looting of Jewish owned homes; his father hiding three Jewish men and aiding their escape; local collaborators who assisted in the persecution of the Jews; and the prosecution of local collaborators after the war.

Oral history interview with Floria Alexandriuc

Oral History

Floria Alexandriuc, born in 1928 in Budinetz village, Ukraine, describes the mass murder of the Jewish community by local townspeople and the actions of townspeople who searched for Jews and Soviet activists.

Oral history interview with Veronica Babiuc

Oral History

Veronica Babiuc, born in 1928 in Budinetz village, Ukraine, describes the prewar Jewish community of Budinetz village; a local townsperson who hid a Jewish family and then turned them in upon learning that anyone caught hiding Jews would be punished; mass shootings of Jews; and the looting of Jewish owned homes.

Oral history interview with Ivan Ruban

Oral History

Ivan Ruban, born 1928 in Budinetz, Ukraine, describes the murder of a Jewish family by a local townsperson in 1941 and the town's mayor who escaped to Romania to avoid punishment from Soviet forces.

Oral history interview with Ion Lutic

Oral History

Ion Lutic, born in 1932 in Iordaneshti village, Ukraine, describes the prewar Jewish community of Iordaneshti village; prewar antisemitic activities committed by Cuzist party members; a round up of local Jews by local Cuzist party members; bringing milk to the imprisoned Jewish children; the deportation of the local Jewish community; and the sight of two murdered Jewish girls in a ravine.

Oral history interview with Vasile Bojescu

Oral History

Vasile Bojescu, born in 1920 in Iordaneshti, Ukraine, describes the beginning of the war; the arrival of Romanian soldiers in his village; local townspeople who participated in the persecution of the Jewish community; the deportation of the Jewish community; witnessing the murder of two Jewish citizens by local townspeople; the looting of Jewish owned homes; his forced labor in Romania in 1943; returning to his hometown in 1944; and the prosecution of local collaborators who assisted in the persecution of Jews.

Oral history interview with Varvara Meglei

Oral History

Varvara Meglei, born in 1930 in Iordaneshti, Ukraine, describes the prewar Jewish community of Iordaneshti; a mass shooting and burial of Jews; one local Jewish man who returned to Iordaneshti after the war; and the punishment of a local collaborator after the war.

Oral history interview with Ivan Guleaev

Oral History

Ivan Guleaev, born in 1927 in Stara Jadova (Stara ZHadova), Ukraine, describes the sight of a column of Jews being marched by German soldiers; a roundup of local Jews; the rape of a Jewish girl; the sight of unburied corpses; the looting of Jewish owned property; and his thoughts on the relations between Jews and non-Jews.

Oral history interview with Eleonora Bizovii

Oral History

Eleonora Bizovii, born in 1932 in Boian village, Ukraine, describes the close relationship between her family and a Jewish family; the roundup and mass murder of Jews in the center of the town by local townspeople; the sight of a column of Jews guarded by Romanian soldiers; hearing about one local Jewish girl who survived and later immigrated to the United States; and the reburial of mass murder victims after the war.

Oral history interview with Nicolae Soponariu

Oral History

Nicolae Soponariu, born in 1929 in Pasat village, Ukraine, describes the prewar Jewish community of Pasat village; the evacuation of local Jewish families before the arrival of Romanian forces; the murder of several Jews by a local townsperson; the punishment of local collaborators by Soviet forces; and the arrest of his cousin by NKVD members after the war; and his cousin's death while incarcerated.

Oral history interview with Anatolii Zbihli

Oral History

Anatolii Zbihli, born 1935 in Ciudei village, Ukraine, describes the prewar Jewish community of Ciudei village; his mother's attempt to secure the release of a Jewish doctor; the roundup and deportation of local Jews; a mass shooting of Jews in 1943 by local townspeople; the looting of Jewish owned property by local townspeople; and visiting the mass murder site.

Oral history interview with Floarea Zahara

Oral History

Floarea Zahara, born in 1921 in Arbore village, Romania, describes the prewar Jewish community of Boian; living in Cernăuți (Chernivtsi) at the beginning of the war; the Cernăuți ghetto; giving food to the children in the ghetto; witnessing soldiers push Jews from the ghetto onto a truck and take them away; and antisemitic rumors after the war.

Oral history interview with Anastasia Mihailiuk

Oral History

Anastasia Mihailiuk, born in 1934 in Cernăuți (Chernivtsi), Ukraine, describes the prewar Jewish community of Cernăuți; mass murders of local Jews by Romanian soldiers, including her neighbors; and the transport and disposal of the victims' corpses.

Oral history interview with Filipina Dudchak

Oral History

Filipina Dudchak, born in 1928 in Cernăuţi (Chernivtsi), Ukraine, describes the prewar Jewish community of Cernăuţi and her Jewish classmates; an antisemitic song; restrictions placed upon the Jewish community during the war; forced labor; mass murders of local Jews by Romanian soldiers; the sight of a large cart moving the corpses of Jewish victims; and the Jewish ghetto in Cernăuţi.

Oral history interview with Silvia Julinskaia

Oral History

Silvia Julinskaia, born in 1927 in Budinetz village, Ukraine, describes the prewar Jewish community of Budinetz village; witnessing the murder of a Jewish woman by a local townsperson; local townspeople looting the body of the murdered woman; the looting of Jewish owned homes; and the mass murder of the Jewish population.

Oral history interview with Bronislava Voititka

Oral History

Bronislava Voititka, born in 1933 in Ceresh village, Ukraine, describes the prewar Jewish community of Ceresh village; her father going into hiding upon the arrival of Romanian forces because of his role in the Soviet government; a pogrom against the Jewish community at the beginning of the war; roundups and columns of Jews going toward Budinetz village escorted by Romanian soldiers; hearing that groups of Jews were killed and buried in Ciudei; and the looting of Jewish owned homes.

Oral history interview with Olga Vorobet

Oral History

Oral history interview with Ana Mihălus

Oral History

Ana Mihălus, born in 1927 in Mahala village, Ukraine, describes living in Boian with her aunt; a roundup of Jews conducted by local townspeople; the mass shooting of local Jews by Romanian soldiers; her aunt hiding a Jewish family; the former chief of police stopping a mass shooting of Jews; the looting of Jewish property; and the deportation of Jews to Transnistria.