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2 Execution site(s)
Maria K., born in 1930, remembers: “During a pogrom that took place before the war, my mother hid two Jewish girls. The father of these little girls had brought them to my mother and begged her to ‘adopt’ them, to pass them off as her own children”. (Testimony n°1619, interviewed in Slovechne, on April 19th, 2013)
“Several acts, mainly concerning small isolated shootings (Jews, Soviet activists), in various villages of the district. It is also mentioned that some Jewish families were taken to Slovechne to be shot.” [Act drawn up by the State Extraordinary Commission, RG 22.002M:7021-60-311]
“In 1941, 50-60 Jews were murdered in the vicinity. In 1942, 400 inhabitants were shot.” [Closure report drawn up in 1971; B162-7318]
Slovechne is located 160km north of Zhytomyr. According to local witness, before the war there were mostly Ukrainians and Jews lived in the village. There may have been a few Romanians. The Jews lived in the center. Accoridng to the 1897 cenus, 1,187 Jews lived in the town making up 56% of the town’s total population. The Jews were traders and possessed several businesses. Durign the Civil war (191-1919), several pogroms took place in the village. As a result of which many Jews mioved to bigger towns. The Jewish and Ukrainian children went to the same school. In 1924 there were two synagogues, a Jewish cemetery. On the eve of the war oly 27% of the population was Jewish.
Slovechne was occupied in July of 1941. By that time, the adults and the youngest Jews managed to evacuate while others enlisted in the army. According to the archives, there were two executions: one in 1941, and another one in 1942. The executions were conducted by the SS Punitive Detachment. During the first execution, 50-60 Jews were killed. According to the witness, the execution was conducted in July 1941. The second execution was conducted against the 400 residents, but there is no any information if there were Jews among the victims.
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Read Yahad-In Unum’s report of the research trip in this area