1 Execution site(s)
“[…] From the morning on November 21, 1941 all the Jewish population started to be assembled by the German gendarmerie of Fraydorf. At 10 a. m. groups of 5 to 10 Jews began to be led out from the gendarmerie to a well located 800 meters from Fraydorf in order to be shot with submachine guns in front of the non-Jewish civilians. Witnesses confirm that the German monsters smeared the lips of nursing babies with some special poison after which the children died. Afterwards, all those who had been shot and tortured to death were thrown into the well. A total of 64 people, including 19 children, were killed. […] [Act drawn up by State Extraordinary Commission (ChGK), on October 10th, 1944 ; RG.22-002M : Fond 7021, Opis 9, Delo 84]
“[...] On a day, the date can no longer be established, in November or December 1941, an uncertain number of Jewish men, women, and children, - at least 15, were shot in Freidorf by members of a detachment in a well. The victims were placed at edge of the well in such a way that they would fall down the well shaft due to the impact of the bullets. Before they were brought to the well, those Jews who waited could observe from a distance of 50-100 meters the killing of their fellows.” [From the accusation report against Sonderkommando 11b, made in Munich, on July 27th, 1973; B162-1209]
Novoselivske, until 1944 was known as Freidorf, is a village located about 90 km northwest of Simferopol. It was established in the mid-1920s as a Jewish agricultural colony. In 1930 a Jewish kolkhoz was created and the village became the district center. The Jewish community had its own Jewish secondary and high schools, as well as library. The majority of Jews were farmers or industrial workers. A newspaper was published in both Russian and Yiddish languages. In 1939 450 Jews lived in the colony comprising about 42% of the total population. Many Jews were resettled in the newly created Larindorf county which explains the decrease of its population. Before the German occupation the majority of the Jews managed to flee to the East.
Freidorf was occupied by the Germans in late October 1941. By the end of November 1941, up to 70 Jews remained in the village. The execution started on November 21, 1941, when Sonderkommando 11b rounded-up 64 Jews and marched them to a well, located on a field, approximately 1 km from the village. According to the Soviet archives, the victims were shot dead with submachine guns and thrown into the well. After having been smeared with poison the small babies were thrown into the well as well. Later in the year, the remaining Jews from Freidorf and surrounding villages were captured by the Germans and killed in the same way at the same place. According to some historical sources, in February 1942, 5 Jews were caught by the German Feldgendarmerie and executed.
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