Serafimovskoye | Stavropol

/ Raisa Z., born in 1928 : « When the Jews were taken by police, they said that their last name was Vinogradov. There were three women and two children, including my friend Milya.” © Cristian Monterosso - Yahad-In Unum The Jewish refugees were shot at the edge of a non-functioning well situated in the ravine. © Cristian Monterosso - Yahad-In Unum The Jewish refugees were shot at the edge of a non-functioning well situated in the ravine. © Cristian Monterosso - Yahad-In Unum

Execution of Jewish refugees in Serafimovskoye

1 Execution site(s)

Kind of place before:
Well
Memorials:
No
Period of occupation:
1942-1943

Witness interview

Raisa Z., born in 1928, remembers: “It was already in November, after the Jews had been shot. We saw a column of 15-20 people being brought by our street. There were children and woman among them. One of local boys asked them who they were, because we knew already that the Germans were exterminating the Jewish nation. And some boy from the column answered that they were Jews. Once brought in the village, they were locked up in a house located in the Machine Tractor Service. The police didn’t lock the door, but just closed it so they could not open it from inside. While the policemen were drinking, local boys went there to free the Jews. The local guard who was also a horseman prepared the cart and all the Jews managed to flee. The next morning, when the police came, they couldn’t find anybody.” (Witness n°529, interviewed in Serafimovskoye, on August 16, 2015)

Historical note

Serafimovskoye is located around 200km northeast of Stavropol. Historically home to Russians, there were no Jewish families living in the village prior to the war. According to the witness, once the war broke out, five Jewish refugees along with Russians from Stalingrad settled down in the village. The Jews lived in the school building. Jewish women did farming and cleaning work for the kolkhoz. The Germans occupied the territory in August 1942.

Holocaust by bullets in figures

Thanks to Yahad’s field research, we discovered that 5 Jewish refugees from Stalingrad, including three women and two children, whose last name was Vinogradov, were shot along with other Jews behind the village of Serafimovskoye, close to the mill, at the edge of the well. The Aktion was carried out by local police in October 1942. In November, another group of about 20 Jews, only women, children and teenagers among them, were brought to the village and locked up in a house located at the Machine Tractor Service, Brigade 2. The Jews were freed by local boys and they managed to escape. Unfortunately, Yahad couldn’t find out where this group came from.

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