1 Killing site(s)
Mykola Kh., born in 1927: "Hundreds of Jews from Odesa were brought here from the Berezivka railway station. It was winter, and the poor souls were forced to march through the snow on foot; the children were freezing. They were placed in the farm buildings, mostly inside the pigsty. My mother would give me soup and hot water, and I would bring it to them so they could warm up a little. We felt immense pity for them, especially the freezing children. They only spent one night there. The next day, the Romanians requisitioned the local men to transport the Jews to Novohryhorivka. Several dozen weak individuals, unable to walk, along with children, remained behind in the pigsty. Once the main column had been led away, these remaining Jews were dragged outside by gendarmes and shot in front of the farm. Their bodies were then transported to the silo pit and burned there." (Testimony N°YIU1293U, interviewed in Novopavlivka, on November 09, 2011)
Novopavlivka is a small rural settlement located in the present-day Voznesensk District of Mykolaiv Region, Ukraine. The village, established in 1925, is situated approximately 39 km (24.2 mi) southwest of Voznesensk.
According to a local witness interviewed by Yahad - In Unum, the village was inhabited by Ukrainians, and no Jewish residents lived there on the eve of the Second World War.
Following the outbreak of Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, Novopavlivka was occupied by German forces and subsequently placed under Romanian administration.
On two occasions, Romanian gendarmes brought columns of Jews to Novopavlivka. The victims were forced to walk on foot from the Berezivka railway station, where they had arrived from Odesa. These marches took place in winter, leaving the Jews to walk barefoot or with inadequate footwear through the snow, which caused severe frostbite. Upon arrival, they were temporarily detained in agricultural structures, primarily a large pigsty on a local farm, under armed Romanian guard. Local residents were permitted to bring them warm food.
The Jews were held there for a single night. The following morning, local villagers were requisitioned to transport most of them toward Novohryhorivka using sleds. The elderly and young children were placed onto the sleds, while healthier adults were forced to proceed on foot. Concurrently, several dozen Jews, predominantly young children and individuals unable to walk, remained behind in the pigsty. Following the main column’s departure, Romanian gendarmes dragged these remaining detainees outside and shot them by rifle fire in front of the building. Villagers were subsequently forced to transport the victims to a silo pit near the local cemetery, where their bodies were incinerated.
Shortly thereafter, a second column arrived in Novopavlivka under similar conditions. Weakened individuals from this group were also killed and taken to the same site. The incineration process lasted several days before the pit was backfilled and sealed.
Local witness interviewed by Yahad, Mykola Kh., born in 1927, estimates the number of Jewish victims shot in Novopavlivka at several dozen, likely around fifty. No memorial marks the killing site or the pit where the victims were incinerated.
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