Yahad-in Unum collection
Yahad-in Unum database covers 930 killing sites, or about 3 times less. However, scope of information and its sourcing are very different. Yahad-in Unum database provides rich visual content including testimonies witnesses, photos and video recording. The information was gathered, in most cases, by visiting killing sites and by interviewing local residents. Those expedition was started in 2004 by French Catholic priest Patrick Desbois.
For last 14 years Yahad-In Unum developed extensive database of Holocaust by Bullets in Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Poland, Moldova, Lithuania and Romania. Yahad-in Unum’s teams made 102 research trips during 2006 – 2016. Yahad-In Unum is focused to document execution events taken places less populated locations and less known for that reason. Bulk of its investigative expeditions is directed toward villages and small towns. For last 14 years Yahad-In Unum developed extensive database of Holocaust by Bullets in Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Poland, Moldova, Lithuania and Romania. Yahad-in Unum’s teams made 102 research trips during 2006 – 2016.
Yahad-In Unum is focused to document execution events taken places less populated locations and less known for that reason. Bulk of its investigative expeditions is directed toward villages and small towns.
Yahad-In Unum is focused to document execution events taken places less populated locations and less known for that reason. Bulk of its investigative expeditions is directed toward villages and small towns.
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Yahad-In Unum’s maps present currently 1,460 killing sites, and its website provides detailed information about 870 locations visited by Yahad-In Unum’s investigative teams. Static map for each mentioned above country shows locations of killing sites and utilizing 3 size of dots (1-500, 500-10,000 and more than 10,000 victims) to visualize a scale of the execution in each location.
Users would be able to get information about specific villages by using search box or by clicking on the link to another map, interactive map. Clicking particular dot or drillable dots cluster on interactive map led to the page for particular village. The page contents video interview with witnesses, photos and usually short text from witness interviews, Soviet archive, German archive, and on some pages Historical Note, description of Holocaust events and link to Jewishgen pages. Visual information, video interview with witnesses and photos, dominate the page. Vital information about the place and the event such as, kind of place before it became an execution site, presence of a memorial, period of occupation, number of victims, is presented for each listing.
Users would be able to get information about specific villages by using search box or by clicking on the link to another map, interactive map. Clicking particular dot or drillable dots cluster on interactive map led to the page for particular village. The page contents video interview with witnesses, photos and usually short text from witness interviews, Soviet archive, German archive, and on some pages Historical Note, description of Holocaust events and link to Jewishgen pages. Visual information, video interview with witnesses and photos, dominate the page. Vital information about the place and the event such as, kind of place before it became an execution site, presence of a memorial, period of occupation, number of victims, is presented for each listing.
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Scope of Yahad-In Unum’s work can be seen in table below:
Patrick Desbois describe Yahad-In Unum methodology in his presentation at IHRA Conference “Killing Sites. Research and Remembrance”:
“Before we begin the on-the-ground search for witnesses of mass killings and the mass graves of the victims, important work is first completed in the archives. The main archival collection we work with is the German Federal Justice Archives, which contain prosecution files on the trials of perpetrators. The information taken from this collection is focused mainly on the organization of the crimes (which units participated in the crimes, who gave the orders, who was in charge of surveillance at the sites, and so on). It is incredibly rare to obtain precise data on the Killing Sites. The second collection Yahad works with is the Soviet Extraordinary State Commission Archives. This collection stems from an inquiry led by the Soviets immediately after the liberation of occupied villages, town and cities. The aim of the commission was to establish the historical record in each location during the occupation: who the collaborators were, who the victims were, how many of them there were, assessing the damages and so on. These files include: interrogations of witnesses, lists of victims, drawings of Killing Sites, forensic expertise and conclusions of the investigations Unfortunately, as aforementioned, the information gathered in the different archives varies from one file to another and, as we will explain later on, field research is also undertaken to find Killing Sites that are not mentioned in the archives and to identify them as accurately as possible. A Yahad research trip lasts 17 days. It is conducted in one specific area. Given the huge number of mass killings, it sometimes takes six to seven trips to cover one region, such as Lviv, Volhynia, and Khmelnitski regions in Ukraine or the Mogilev region in Belarus. Yahad has four research teams, each composed of one interviewer, one historian, one professional cameraman, one professional photographer, two translators, two drivers, and two investigators. The latter are crucial because they are in charge of finding eyewitnesses to the crimes or people who know where mass graves are located.” |
