1 Execution site(s)
Mykola Kh., born in 1929: "The Jews of the village, including men, women and children, were shot in their homes and then on the road. The dead and wounded were then transported by cart to a ravine known as "Bulban". There, there were three pits. One of them was natural and full of water…. We used to swim there before the war. The other two were dug afterwards. About fifteen armed villagers carried out the pogrom. They requisitioned local men to transport the bodies of the Jews killed in the village. My father was forced to as well, but he refused even though he could have been killed. "(Witness n°2333U, interviewed in Kyseliv, on October 26, 2017)
"On the night of June 29-30, 1941, as well as on July 5-6, 1941, Romanian soldiers and local auxiliaries shot local inhabitants of Jewish origin. On the night of 29-30 June 1941, the executioners brought 41 Jews, men, women and children, to a ravine known as "Bulban", 250 meters northwest of the village Burevtsy [today Borivtsi]. They were shot and drowned. The shooting was led by the former kulak Ivan G.. Here are the names of some of the local auxiliaries who participated in the shooting: […]. The chief of the gendarmerie Todeo A. and his deputy sergeant Radu B. looted the property of the shot people." [Act n°6 drawn up by Soviet State Extraordinary Commission, on July 9, 1945; GARF 7021-79-76]
Borivtsi is a village located on the border of the Chernivtsi and Ivano-Frankivsk regions. It is located in the historical Bukovina region, 40 km (25mi) northwest of Chernivtsi. Between 1772 and 1918, Borivtsi was ruled by the Austrian states of the Habsburg monarchy, Austrian Empire, and finally the Austro-Hungarian empire. During the interwar period, it was taken over by Poland. There is not much information about the Jewish community. According to local witnesses interviewed by Yahad - In Unum, several Jewish families lived in Borivtsi before the war. They were mainly involved in small scale trade and handicraft. The local community did not have a synagogue or cemetery. For the most important religious holidays or funerals, they would go to Zalishchyky, located 10 km (6mi) away. On the eve of the war, several dozen Jews remained in the village.
Borivtsi was occupied by Romanian forces in early July 1941. The village remained under Romanian occupation. Before Romanians occupied the zone, a series of pogroms was organized against the local Jews during a period of anarchy. According to the Soviet archives and the field research carried out by Yahad - In Unum in the area, on June 29-30, 1941, the Jews from Borivtsi were killed in their homes, then taken to be buried in a mass grave, in a ravine known as “Bulban”, where some were also drowned. The shootings were conducted by local civilians. Supposedly, some Jews from Borivtsi were taken to Babyn to be murdered there. After the shooting, Jewish houses and their belongings were looted.
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