Bilylivka (Belilovka) | Zhytomyr

Old Picture of Belilovka (18th cent.) © 2013 Mark Fainstein/ kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/Belilovka/ / Ivan I., born in 1927: “The Jews were brought by truck to the execution site. It was a covered truck, so I could not see the Jews inside it. They were escorted by German SS, dressed in black.” © Victoria Bahr/Yahad- In Unum The marked mass grave of 850 Jewish victims, murdered in Bilylivka © Victoria Bahr/Yahad- In Unum The monument in memory of the Jews murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators on September 10, 1941 © Victoria Bahr/Yahad- In Unum

Execution of Jews in Bilylivka

1 Execution site(s)

Kind of place before:
Between the forest and the field
Memorials:
Yes
Period of occupation:
1941-1943
Number of victims:
About 850

Witness interview

Ivan I., born in 1927, remembers the humiliation the Jews were subjected to: “Once, I saw a Jewish woman being forced to drag a full barrel of water. It was the wife of the Jew who worked at the mill. I believe his name was Meshenus. She was heavy. They saddled her like a horse and forced her to drag the barrel for about 500m. When she was not going fast enough, they beat her.” (Witness n°1737, interviewed in Bilylivka, on June 6, 2013)

Historical note

Bilylivka is located 134 km southwest of Kyiv. The first Jewish community dates back to the 18th century. The Jewish community was rather important but after numerous attacks against them in the beginning of the 20th century, the population experienced a sizable decrease. On the eve of the war, there were over 1800 Jews living in the village. According to the witness, there was a Jewish school and a Jewish administrative board. There was a brick synagogue, but in the 1930s, it was closed and transformed into a prison. The majority of Jews were shopkeepers, some of them were artisans. There was a mill that was owned by a Jew. Two Jews worked in the kolkhoz, one as chief of the warehouse and another who fabricated ropes.  The town was occupied by the Germans in the middle of July 1941.

Holocaust by bullets in figures

Little is known from the historical sources about the fate of the Jews during the occupation. From the fieldwork, Yahad discovered that anti-Jewish measures were implemented immediately following the Germans’ arrival. All the Jewish shops were looted and closed. They were subjected to different types of humiliation. Some sources stated that there were two executions in Bilylivka, but the local witnesses confirmed only one. During the first action, which was conducted on September 10, 1941, all the Jews were rounded up from their houses and gathered in the center of town. From there, they were taken in trucks outside the village and shot. On this day, over 850 Jews were murdered by mobile SS units, aided by local police.

Jewishgen

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