Chyzhykiv (Formerly Ostriv) | Lviv

/ Anna P., born in 1924: “All the Jews were locked in a house that used to belong to a man deported by the Russians. The house wasn't very big, but there was a large courtyard. The Jews stayed there for over a month. They couldn't leave the ghetto." Volodymyra M., born in 1932: “One day, the Jews from the ghetto were taken to the shooting. The column of around twenty people passed right in front of my house, most of them on foot, but those who couldn't walk, the weak or elderly, were transported. Volodymyra M., born in 1932: “Some time later, other similar columns passed by. All these columns were heading towards the forest and, curious to see what would happen next, I followed them, as my house was only ten minutes' walk from the forest. ©Les Kas Ihor K., born in 1925: “I saw a Jewish man being killed by a German. The Jew was about to eat when a German approached him. The German took out his gun and shot him dead because the Jewish man said that he hadn’t finished eating.”©Les Kasyanov/Yahad - In Ihor K., born in 1925: “Some Jews were taken to the shooting site in carts. Local people were requisitioned for that job.”©Les Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum Maria K., born in 1928: “While working on the road, or on their way to work, the Jews were forced to sing.” ©Les Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum Archival photographs of the Jewish agricultural school that existed in Chyzhykiv (Ostriv) in the 1930s. ©Yahad-in Unum/Provided by the local mayor Archival photographs of the Jewish agricultural school that existed in Chyzhykiv (Ostriv) in the 1930s. ©Yahad-in Unum/Provided by the local mayor The former location of the Jewish agricultural school. Today the building doesn’t exist anymore. ©Les Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum The location of the ghetto. A big house that used to belong to a local man who was deported by the Soviets in 1939-1940. The place was guarded.  ©Les Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum The road by which groups of Jews were taken to the execution site. ©Les Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum Volodymyra M., born in 1932, with the Yahad team at one of the execution sites in the forest. ©Les Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum The first execution site identified by Yahad with the help of the local witness. ©Les Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum Volodymyra M., born in 1932: “The first one was on the edge of the forest. And then, further up the road, there was a pit along that road and towards the hill there was another one. But it is almost impossible to find the exact traces of these pits.” ©Les The second execution site identified by Yahad with the help of the  local witness. ©Les Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum The Yahad team during an interview with a witness.  ©Les Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum A drone view at the execution site located in the forest. At least two mass graves were identified by Yahad where dozen of Jews were killed at different times. ©Les Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum The third execution site identified by Yahad with the help of the local witness. ©Les Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum

Execution of Jews in Chyzhykiv

3 Sitio(s) de ejecución

Tipo de lugar antes:
Silo pit (1); Woods (2,3)
Memoriales:
No
Período de ocupación:
1941-1944
Número de víctimas:
Several dozen

Entrevista del testigo

Maria K., born in 1928: “The camp was located in the hamlet of Ostriv (today Chyzhykiv). There used to be an inn where people stopped to rest and have a drink. The owner of the inn was deported by the Russians. The camp was surrounded by a fence and guarded by policemen. Next to the camp, there were other houses where people lived. The Jews had to work on repairing the road and were guarded by one or two Germans with whips. The stones for the repairs were brought in by truck.
Not far from the camp was a pasture where I used to graze my cows. Next to this pasture there was a beet vegetable garden. So, from time to time I would hide a bottle of milk for our Jewish acquaintances there. While working on the road, and when German guards weren’t looking, or having lunch, they would sneak into the garden and take the bottle. In general, the Germans were very cruel to the Jews. They beat them with whips and batons. I remember once a Jewish man took off his shirt because it was too hot, and he got beaten by a German.” (Testimony n°3017U, interviewed in Vynnyky, on December 4, 2021)

Nota histórica

Chyzhykiv, formerly known as Ostriv, is located about 20 km (13mi) southwest of Lviv. Part of historical region Galicia, the village was under Polish rule until 1772, when it was taken over by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, part of which it remained until late 1918. During the interwar period, it came back under Polish rule until September 1939, when Chyzhykiv was taken over by the Soviet Union following the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. There is not much information regarding the Jewish community, except for what the local witnesses told the Yahad field research team. It is believed that the first Jews began to settle down in the village in the mid-19th century. According to local witnesses, only a few Jewish families lived in Chyzhykiv before the war. One Jewish man, called Shrul, had a shop with alcoholic beverages, another one was Mekhyl. A Jewish agricultural school was opened in Chyzhykiv in the 1930s. Many Jews lived in the nearby towns of Vynnyky or Novy and Stary Iaryshiv.

Holocausto por balas en cifras

Chyzhykiv was occupied by German troops in late June, 1941. According to the available historical sources and oral accounts of the witnesses interviewed by Yahad, a labor camp was created in Chyzhykiv (Ostriv) in the fall 1941. The camp was set up in the former inn whose owner had been deported by the Soviets in 1939. The territory of the camp was fenced-in with barbed wire and guarded by policemen. Camp inmates were subjected to forced labor, working on road construction connecting Lviv to Ternopil. According to local witnesses, women and children were among the inmates, although the majority were men. During the liquidation of the camp, carried out in July 1943, the remaining inmates were transferred to the Janowska camp, in the outskirts of Lviv. As a result of the field research, Yahad managed to identify several execution sites in and outside Chyzhykiv. Local witnesses recalled having seen several columns of Jews being led away in the direction of the forest. A number of isolated shootings took place during the existence of the camp. Today, the execution sites remained unmarked and unprotected.

Pueblos cercanos

  • Lviv
  • Vynnyky
Para apoyar el trabajo de Yahad-in Unum por favor considere hacer una donación

¿Tiene información adicional con respecto a un pueblo que le gustaría compartir con Yahad?

Por favor contáctenos a contact@yahadinunum.org
o llamando a Yahad – In Unum at +33 (0) 1 53 20 13 17