Ushomyr (Ushomir, Uszomierz) | Zhytomyr

/ On the street in the village of Ushomyr ©Victoria Bahr/Yahad-In Unum The Jewish cemetery. ©Victoria Bahr/Yahad-In Unum Anton V., born in 1924: “I had many friends among the Jews. We were classmates, played together during the recess. And after, they were taken and shot.” ©Victoria Bahr/Yahad-In Unum The Jews stayed in hiding for about one month after the mass shooting. They hid in the basement of the hospital building. That building no longer exist. ©Victoria Bahr/Yahad-In Unum Vasyl T., born in 1931, points out the execution site of ten Jews who stayed in hiding but were discovered ©Victoria Bahr/Yahad-In Unum

Execution of Jews in Ushomyr

1 Execution site(s)

Kind of place before:
River bank
Memorials:
No
Period of occupation:
1941-1943
Number of victims:
About 60

Witness interview

Anton V., born in 1924, recalls: “Before the war I lived in the village, located 10km away from Ushomyr. But after, I had to move because I went to school in Ushomyr. So, I stayed with a local Jewish family. The family had three children, two boys and one girl. They were younger than me but I do not remember their ages. I know that the boys’ names were Lyova and Sima. Actually, there were many Jews in Ushomyr. In my class alone there were thirteen Jews. We were friends with them, for instance with Mania Kipnitz, Brosha Leichmann, Yasha Golubchik. And my teacher Guenia Israilivna was also Jewish. ” (Testimony n°1630, interviewed in Ushomyr on April 22nd, 2013)

Historical note

Ushomyr is located on the banks of the Uzh River, 20 kilometers from Korosten, and 165 kilometers from Kyiv. The first records of the Jewish community go back to the end of 18th century. By 1897, there were 1,754 Jews living in the village comprising 74% of total population. The majority of Jews lived off small scale trade or handcraft. The Jewish community suffered from different pogroms organized in 1919.  In 1926, 1,749 Jews lived in the village but it most likely decreased by 1941. According to a witness interviewed by Yahad there was a synagogue. The Jewish children went to the same school as non-Jews. In the early August 1941, Ushomyr was occupied by the German troops.

Holocaust by bullets in figures

Little was uncovered from the archives about the executions in Ushomyr. Shortly after the occupation, 59 Jews were shot in August, 1941, in the trenches near the River Uzh by an  SS unit in1941. After the war, their remains were reburied at the city cemetery of Korosten. However, thanks to the local eyewitness interviewed by Yahad, we know that about a dozen of Jews were shot one month later. During the initial shooting they managed to hide, but after were discovered and shot. In addition to the Jews, 248 prisoners of war were shot in Ushomyr.

Other links

Nearby villages

To support the work of Yahad-in Unum please consider making a donation

Do you have additional information regarding a village that you would like to share with Yahad ?

Please contact us at contact@yahadinunum.org
or by calling Yahad – In Unum at +33 (0) 1 53 20 13 17