2 Execution site(s)
"Question: “What do you know about the German atrocities during the temporary occupation of Narodychi County that were committed against Soviet civilians?
Answer: “In 1941, after one week of the occupation, they begun to collect the Jews in the town clubhouse; from the club they took them by vehicle to the pits prepared beforehand, where they [the Jews] were shot by machine-gun fire.”
Question: “How many people of Jewish nationality did the Germans shoot?”
Answer: “I cannot tell you the exact number, but all the Jews that hadn’t been evacuated, about 400, must have been shot over the course of three days and then [their bodies] were put into four pits located at the cemetery next to the road from Narodychi to Slavinshchina.” [Deposition of a local villager Semion G., born in 1878, given to the Extraordinary Soviet Commission on May 24, 1944; GARF 7021-60-304].
"c) In the Narodychi district:
1) In October 1941, 25 Jewish teenagers were shot in the Narodychi cemetery. German members of the gendarmerie might have committed the crime with the participation of several Russian policemen.
2) 17 Jewish teenagers were shot dead in October 1941. The crime was allegedly committed by an SS unit with the participation of local guards.
3) In November 1941, 370 Jews were shot in the Jewish cemetery of Narodychi.
4) 400 Jews from Narodychi were shot in 1941 over three days in the cemetery near the road from Narodychi to Slawinschtschina. The shootings are probably identical to the shootings that are the subject of point 3.
5) 35 Ukrainians suspected of being partisans were shot and killed.
6) Another 20 people were executed in a forest near Narodychi. No information on the time of the crime and the names of the perpetrators.
7) About 100 Soviet citizens shot dead were found in a mass grave on the northwestern outskirts of Narodychi, in the premises of "Chwores".
8) In the Narodychi district, 943 people were shot and killed 2 more by the Germans and their allies." [Excerpts from the final report of the survey on « Owrutsch, Naroditschi, Basar »; B162-7313, p. 62]
Narodychi is a village located 150 km (93mi) north of Zhytomyr. The first record of a Jewish community dates back to the end of the 17th century. In 1765, 241 Jews lived in the village. By 1897, 2,054 Jews lived in Narodychi, making up 44% the village’s total population. During that time, most of the Jews lived off trade and handicraft. Some were farmers and worked the land. The Jewish community was victim to several pogroms, conducted from 1918 to 1919, during which Jewish houses and stores were plundered. During the 1920s and 1930s, there was a Jewish village council and a Jewish collective farm in Narodychi. The community had three synagogues and a cemetery. Many Jews left the village for bigger towns during the 1920s and 1930s. As a result, the Jewish population decreased and represented only 18% of the total population on the eve of the war. According to the census in 1939, 1,233 Jews lived in the village.
Narodychi was occupied by Wehrmacht troops on August 22, 1941. By that time, more than a half of the Jews managed to evacuate and men of eligible age were enlisted into the Red Army. According to the archives, several Aktions took place quickly after the occupation. In late August, or according to other sources, during the first days of September, 1941, the Germans, assisted by local policemen, arrested 350 Jews from Narodychi and drove them to the local Club building. There they were divided into the groups, men separated from women and children. Once separated, they were taken to the pits dug in advance by the Jews themselves, located close to the cemetery by the road leading from Narodychi to Slavinshchina. They were shot to death in four pits. According to different sources, somewhere between 200 to 600 Jews were killed during this murder operation. In October 1941, several dozen Jewish teenagers were shot at the cemetery by the German gendarmerie. On November 16, 1941, a second shooting took place, during which 370 Jews were murdered at the Jewish cemetery. According to testimonies, the shooting was conducted by local policemen under German supervision.
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