1 Execution site(s)
Olha D., born in 1933: “We were playing outside with other children when we suddenly heard some noise. We turned around and saw a column of people being led away. I later found out that they were Jews who being taken in the direction of Pysarivka. There were about 30 or 40 people. I can’t tell you exactly how many there were because I didn’t count them. They were walking calmly carrying their belongings and I think they knew where they were being taken. After that, I heard from the people that the Jews had been shot about 30m away from the village.” (Testimony n°2551U, interviewed in Kamianka, on March 19, 2019)
"The Bazar district was occupied from August 23, 1941, to November 15, 1943, that is, for two years and three months. [...]
In September 1941, on the orders of XXX [district starosta], G. and G., the gendarmerie and police carried out mass executions of the Jewish population, including the elderly, women, and small children: 196 people in Bazar, 50 in Ksaverov. The Jews were taken down the road to Korosten and shot on the way.
According to the investigation conducted, it was established that among the victims were: Liza Roegman, Srul Kutseniuk, Aprel Lymerman, Shapiro, Bronfeld, Ushomirski, Matis Gorshman, Fira Rabicheva and others.
The property of the arrested and shot Jews was looted.
On November 21, 1941, on the orders of XXXX, there was a kind of "commemoration" at the grave of the Petliura men shot in 1922. The inhabitants of Bazar and other districts were forced to attend the "ceremony", during which the district starosta and the interpreter Galina S. spoke and requested some Jews to be shot.
On the same day, 29 Jews were arrested, including women, elderly people, and small children, and publicly shot near the electric station. [A partial list of victims and executioners follows.] The property of the arrested and shot Jews was looted.
Seven days later, seven Jews were arrested, including two children, and shot in the Russian cemetery.
All the above-mentioned crimes, committed by the German-Fascist executioners, were established during the preliminary investigations and trials of the German accomplices and traitors to the Motherland: (list of names follows).” [Act drawn up by Extraordinary Soviet Commission drawn up on April 18, 1945; GARF 7021-60-282, pp. 7-24].
"[…]
1) On October 21, 1941, 29 Jews were shot in Bazar, near the power plant. The perpetrators were allegedly Feldwebel Ferdinand L., gendarmerie member Josef W. and Emil S., whose personal details have not been determined.
2) Around November 26, 1941, 7 Jews were shot at the Russian cemetery in Bazar.
3) 73 Soviet citizens and prisoners of war were killed by the Germans in Bazar and nearby villages, including Marzhatin, Pyatygubiv, Kalinovka, Khriplya and Korolevka. There is no information about the time of the crime and the names of the perpetrators.
4) 281 Jews were killed by the Germans in the Bazar district."
[Excerpts from the final report of the survey on « Owrutsch, Naroditschi, Basar »; B162-7313, p. 61.]
Bazar is a village located 100 km (62mi) northeast of Zhytomyr and 40 km east of Korosten. The first record of a Jewish community dates back to the end of the 18th century. At this time, a dozen Jews lived in the village. In 1897, 833 Jews lived in Bazar, making up 42% the village’s total population. During that time, most of the Jews lived off trade and handicraft. The Jewish community was the victim of several pogroms, conducted from 1918 to 1919, during which time Jewish houses and stores were plundered. According to the census in 1939, 443 Jews lived in the village, comprising only 15% of total population.
Bazar was occupied by Wehrmacht troops on August 22, 1941. By that time, more than a half of the Jews had managed to evacuate and men of age had been enlisted into the Red Army. According to the archives, several Aktions took place soon after the occupation. In September 1941, the Germans, assisted by local policemen, arrested 176 Jews from Bazar, as well as some Jews from the nearby rural areas, and drove them in the direction of the town of Korosten, along with 25 Soviet POWs. They were shot to death at a clay pit near the road to Korosten. According to witnesses interviewed by Yahad in Kamianka, about 30 elderly Jews who were unable to continue walking were selected and shot in an anti-tank ditch between the villages of Kamianka and Pysarivka. On November 21, 1941, a second shooting took place, during which 29 Jews were murdered next to the town’s power station. On November 26, 1941, another seven Jews were shot to death at the local orthodox cemetery.
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