1 Killing site(s)
Petro K., born in 1931: "There were many Jews living here before the war — they occupied the entire street. The whole street was Jewish. They worked on the kolkhoz and did all kinds of labor: farming the land, planting, and harvesting. The local selsoviet (rural council) was also run by Jews. Only six Ukrainian families had settled here; the rest of the residents were Jewish.
At the very beginning of the war, some Jews tried to evacuate, but they were unable to cross the river and returned to the village. Shortly after the Germans arrived, the Jews were forced to wear white armbands marked with a black six-pointed star. This situation lasted for about a month.
One day, they were told they would be relocated. They took their best clothes, valuables, and other belongings and went to a private home that had been designated as a gathering point. There, the Germans confiscated their bags and their best clothing. All of these belongings were loaded onto trucks and taken away." (Testimony N°YIU319U, interviewed in Kuybysheve (today Kalynivka), on July 16, 2006)
Kalynivka is a small village in the Snihurivska urban community, located 64 km (39 mi) from Mykolaiv. It was founded in 1890 as a Jewish agricultural colony named Frailand. During the Soviet period, and until 2016, the village was known as Kuybysheve.
According to witnesses interviewed by Yahad, there were only six non-Jewish families in the village before the war; the rest of the population was Jewish. Kalynivka was economically developed: a Jewish kolkhoz operated there, and the selsoviet (rural council) was also headed by a Jewish resident.
At the beginning of the war, some Jewish inhabitants attempted to evacuate. However, since the Dnipro River crossing was reserved for Soviet troops, they were unable to cross and had to return to the village.
Kuybysheve (today Kalynivka) was occupied by German troops in August 1941. Soon afterward, anti-Jewish measures were implemented in the village, including the obligation to wear white armbands with a black six-pointed star.
On the morning of September 18, 1941, two or three trucks filled with Germans arrived in the village. The Jews were ordered to gather their belongings and assemble in a private home under the pretense of relocation. Once assembled, they were deprived of their possessions, forced to undress, and taken on foot in groups of about twenty to the outskirts of the village to be killed.
According to Petro K., born in 1931, the first group was shot in a small ravine. Later, the German soldiers located an abandoned well, and the killings continued there. The Jews were made to sit at the edge of the well and were shot with automatic weapons. The shooting continued until around 1 p.m. That day, 540 Jews from Kuybysheve — including the Kegel, Geller, Loznik, Ulianovski, and Gokhman families — were killed by the Germans.
A few days after the Aktion, local residents moved the bodies from the ravine to the well and filled it in. A memorial now stands at the site of the well, erected in 1973 by the descendants of the victims.
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