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2 Execution site(s)
“The Gestapo soldiers under the direction of Ruks, Britshneider selected 320 Jews who were closed up in the prison. During the night the Jews were tortured. The next morning, on July 29, all the Jews were taken 500 meters south of the town, in the forest where the pits had been prepared. All 320 Jews, 300 men and 20 women among, were executed. [Deposition of David Z., a Jewish survivor, drawn up on October 11, 1944 in Buchach; RG-22.002M.7021-75/371]
"I stayed in Buczacz with three children until 1943. I lived through three mass Aktions conducted there. In November 1942, some Jews were deported to Belzec where they were murdered. While others were shot over the course of two Aktions conducted in February and April 1943 at Fedor Hill. The bloodiest Aktion took place in April when about 2,000 Jews were shot on Fedor Hill. During the Aktion, I hid in the attic of a Ukrainian man’s house. From the window, I could see Podhajecka Street and everything that happened. I saw the Germans in green uniforms, with the help of Ukrainians, marching the Jews, arranged in tight rows, to Fedor Hill. Later I heard constant gunfire, as if they were firing with automatic weapons. Even before that, I had heard gunfire, which meant that the Jews had been shot in the city streets and in their apartments. The next day, when I left my hiding place and went home, I saw corpses lying in the streets […]." [Deposition of Shawa KLEIN, Jewish survivor, born in 1912 in Ujscie-Zielone, made in Haifa, on November 8, 1965, BARch162-5169, p.31]
Approximately 10,000 Jews which represented more than a half of local population lived in Buchach. In 1940 some refugees from Carpathian flooded Buchach. The Soviet army occupied the town in September, 1939. After that, Jews were not able to hold their shops and artisans were forced to enter to the collectives. The German army occupied Buchach on July 07, 1941.
After the Soviet army left and before the arrival of Germans several Jews being accused of having active position in Soviet administration were killed by Ukrainians nationalists. As the Germans arrived, the extermination of Jewish population started. So far, a Jewish council and Judenrat were created. The first action took place on July 28, 1941, during which about 350 men, aged from 18 to 50, were shot by gunfire on Fedor Hill. The young Jews were sent in different labor camps. On October 17, 1942, the Germans launched the first large action during which about 200 Jews were killed on the spot and over 1,600 deported to Belzec camp. On November 27, 1942, another 2500 Jews were rounded up and sent to Belzec. A closed ghetto was established at the end of 1942. The first days of February, 1943, 2000 Jews were taken from ghetto and slaughtered near Fedor Hill. The shootings continued during April-May and took the life of about 3000 Jews. On May 12, 1943, most of the remaining Jews were deported to Chortkiv, Kopychytsi. In the middle of June, the remaining Jews of Buchach were shot in the Jewish cemetery at the outskirts of the town. According to the Soviet extraordinary commission in all about 7,000 Jews were murdered in Buchach by Nazis. When the town was retaken by the Soviets on July 21, 1944, fewer than 100 survivors were left alive. The anti Jewish operations were carried out by Einsatzgruppen extermination squads and local Ukrainian police
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