Killing sites in Ukraine
Pre-war Ukraine has largest Jewish population in Soviet Union, second World largest, and it had common border with countries occupied by Germany and it allays. Therefore, it is no accident that Ukraine occupied second place in the world, after Poland, by number of Holocaust victims and first place by number of Holocaust by Bullets victims and by number of Holocaust killing sites. Many Ukrainian towns and villages have multiple killing sites where Jewish local residents and evacuee from Poland and Western provinces were murdered, and very often each site has more than one mass grave.
The exact number of these sites is yet to be determined, but we now know of more than 1000+ registered sites in Ukraine and there were many hundreds such mass murder sites known only to some local residents. Uhad-In Unum documented 916 killing sites in Ukraine.
Many killing sites and mass graves, especially in Western Ukraine (see table below), don’t have a memorial. Some old memorial markings and monuments from Soviet time don’t identify the killed as the Jews, the victims of the Holocaust.
The exact number of these sites is yet to be determined, but we now know of more than 1000+ registered sites in Ukraine and there were many hundreds such mass murder sites known only to some local residents. Uhad-In Unum documented 916 killing sites in Ukraine.
Many killing sites and mass graves, especially in Western Ukraine (see table below), don’t have a memorial. Some old memorial markings and monuments from Soviet time don’t identify the killed as the Jews, the victims of the Holocaust.
Percentage of sites with memorials:
| Oblast | Killing sites | Memorials | Percentage |
| Crimea | 24 | 20 | 81% |
| Ivano-Frankivsk | 12 | 5 | 42% |
| Kherson | 7 | 5 | 71% |
| Khmelnytskyi | 49 | 37 | 76% |
| Lviv | 60 | 17 | 28% |
| Mykolaiv | 44 | 9 | 21% |
| Rivne | 23 | 13 | 57% |
| Temopil | 21 | 7 | 33% |
| Vinnytsia | 21 | 13 | 62% |
| Vo!yn | 28 | 12 | 43% |
| Zaporizhia | 11 | 6 | 55% |
| Zhytomyr | 25 | 20 | 80% |
| TOTAL: | 325 | 164 | 50% |
Source: Tal Bruttmann Report “Mass Graves and Killing Sites in the Eastern part of Europe”, page 1, MMWG, 2010
The situation improved since 2010 but not drastically. Newest memorials are initiated mostly by individuals and small groups.
TKF contributed to that movement by erecting a Monument at the Soshne Forest near Izyaslav.
Second monument at another killing site in Izyaslav is going to be installed in September 2019.
TKF contributed to that movement by erecting a Monument at the Soshne Forest near Izyaslav.
Second monument at another killing site in Izyaslav is going to be installed in September 2019.
Yad Vashem's websites “Untold Stories” and “Online Guide of Murder Sites of Jews in the Former USSR” and Yahad-In Unum's "Guide to The Holocaust By Bullets“ are best online collections about Holocaust killing sites in Ukraine. But, unfortunately, those collections don’t cover all known sites, they concentrate on middle-sized and small settlements (Yad Vashem) and villages (Yahad-In Unum).
A Map of Holocaust in Ukraine is shown on website of Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center, Kyiv.
The Map show number of victims in each oblast by different color shades. The map linked to yahadmap.com (Yahad-In Unum’s map). A list of Holocaust localities in each region (oblast) can be obtain by clicking map area of particular region, then locality name’s click leads to short description of Holocaust event in that location. The information is sourced from Yad Vashem Archive data. Interlinked design of the map and listings provide easy access to information. The map provides visible picture of levels of life losses in different regions of Ukraine. However, some Holocaust location s are missed in the listings, individual killing localities aren’t accessible from the map, actual information about killing sites is very sketchy or not provided at all.
A Map of Holocaust in Ukraine is shown on website of Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center, Kyiv.
The Map show number of victims in each oblast by different color shades. The map linked to yahadmap.com (Yahad-In Unum’s map). A list of Holocaust localities in each region (oblast) can be obtain by clicking map area of particular region, then locality name’s click leads to short description of Holocaust event in that location. The information is sourced from Yad Vashem Archive data. Interlinked design of the map and listings provide easy access to information. The map provides visible picture of levels of life losses in different regions of Ukraine. However, some Holocaust location s are missed in the listings, individual killing localities aren’t accessible from the map, actual information about killing sites is very sketchy or not provided at all.
