Dobrianka (Dodryanka) | Chernihiv

/ Ambiance in the village © Kate Kornberg/Yahad-In Unum A typical house in Dobryanka © Kate Kornberg/Yahad-In Unum The building where the police station was installed. In the yard behind the building, many Jews were shot dead © Kate Kornberg/Yahad-In Unum Nikolay V., born in 1929: “One day, I came to see my sister who lived close to the police station and I saw that a big ditch had been dug in the yard of the police station. The Jews had been lined up at the edge, in a line, and someone fired at them with Anatoliy C., born in 1928: “The Germans yelled “Jude-Jude.” If the Jews refused to go out or took time to prepare themselves, they were beaten. But the Germans didn’t do the dirty work. They made the policemen do it in their place.” © Kate Kornberg/Yahad- Yahad team looking for witnesses by asking elderly people on the streets © Kate Kornberg/Yahad-In Unum Yahad team with the witness near the execution site © Kate Kornberg/Yahad-In Unum The execution site of about 20 local Jews (Killing site n°2) © Kate Kornberg/Yahad-In Unum The execution site of about 900 civilians, including 125 Jews in Dobryanka (Killing site n°1) © Kate Kornberg/Yahad-In Unum

Execution of Jews in Dobrianka

2 Execution site(s)

Kind of place before:
Yard of the police station/Forest
Memorials:
Yes
Period of occupation:
1941-1943
Number of victims:
About 200

Witness interview

Anatoliy C., born in 1928, remembers seeing the column: “It was in the fall. Around noon, the Germans, accompanied by policemen, came to remove the Jews from their houses. They told them to prepare themselves, to take some belongings and valuables with them as they were going to be relocated in the ghetto. The Germans screamed “Jude” and if someone refused to go and took time to get ready, they were beaten. But the Germans didn’t do the dirty work. They made the policemen do it in their place. Once all the Jews were forced out of their houses, they were placed in the column and marched in the direction of the forest. The column was escorted from all sides by Germans in green uniforms and local police in black.” (Witness n°1968, interviewed in Dobrianka, on November 21, 2015)

Historical note

Dobrianka is located 75km north of Chernihiv. The first Jewish settlements in Dobrianka dated back to the second half of the 19th century. As in many of the shtetels in this region, the Jewish community were victims of several pogroms (in 1905 and 1918) during which the Jewish stores and buildings were destroyed and Jews were beaten, sometimes to death. Due to the migration of the Jews to large cities, the Jewish population decreased dramatically in the 1920-30s and on the eve of the war, there were only 267 Jews living there, comprising 5% of the total population. The village was occupied by Germans on August 25, 1941. The majority of Jews had managed to evacuate to the East by that time. 

Holocaust by bullets in figures

Upon the Germans’ arrival, all the Jews continued to live in their houses till October 1941. On October 23, 1941, the first execution was conducted against 20 Jews in the yard of the local administration, which used to be a police station during the occupation. This execution was confirmed by an eyewitness interviewed by Yahad. Three weeks later, on November 13, 1941, 125 Jews were killed in the forest, near the Hornostaiivka railway station. 

Jewishgen

Go to the Townpage on JewishGen Ukraine SIG website

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