Obj. ID: 44956
Jewish Funerary Art Holocaust memorial in Shumsk, Ukraine, 1991, 2006
Memorial Name
Пам’ятне місце масових розстрілів євреїв
Translation: Memorial Place of the mass shootings of Jews
Who is Commemorated?
2432 Jewish Holocaust Victims from Shumsk
Description
The monument is located on the killing site on the outskirts of the Shumsk city. The path to the monument is unmarked. Several steps lead to the monument, which is located on a hill. The area around the monument is paved, and there is a flowerbed there. It is a concrete wall with two corners. At the top of the wall, there is a metal structure, which consists of three metal pieces, resembling rails. A piece of barbed wire is attached to them. A black granite plaque with a Magen David and Ukrainian and Hebrew inscriptions is attached to the wall.
Inscriptions
Ukrainian:
Тут в серпні 1942 року
німецькими фашистами
розстріляно 2432 громадян
єврейської національності...
Схилімо голову в задумі
Не даймо повторитися біді
Translation: Here, in August 1942, 2432 citizens of Jewish nationality were shot by the German Nazis... Let us tilt [our] head in thoughts. Let us not let the tragedy happen again.
Hebrew (2006):
כאן טמונים 2432 יהודים בני שומסק
שנרצחו על ידי הנאצים ועוזריהם
בחודש אלול תש”ב, אוגוסט 1942
אבותיהם באו להתיישב בשומסק
בראשית המאה התשע - עשרה
קבר אחים זה קורא לבני ישראל
לשוב למולדתם בארץ ישראל
תהא נשמתם צרורה בצרור החיים
Translation: Here buried 2,432 Jews of Shumsk, who were murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators in Elul 5702, August 1942. Their ancestors came to settle in Shumsk in the early 19th century. This mass grave is a sign to the people of Israel to go back to their homeland in the Land of Israel. // May their souls be bound in the bundle of life.
Commissioned by
4 image(s)
sub-set tree:
According to Yad Vashem, 1,792 Jews were killed in Shumsk in August 1942 [Szumsk]. The Soviet Extraordinary State Commission reported that the number of Victims was 2,432 ["1944 Witnesses from Shumsk"].
The monument was erected in 1991 ["The Mass grave in Shumsk"].
The Representative of the President of Ukraine included the monument on The List of Monuments of History of Local Significance by the order no. 148 on June 25, 1992 (protected number 1917) ["Ternopilska oblast..."].
The Hebrew inscription on the monument has undergone several changes. In 1999, a plaque with a new Hebrew inscription was leaned to the monument, but was not attached. There is an undated photo with a black granite plaque, covered the initial Hebrew inscription on the monument. In 2003, the covering plaque was broken to pieces, there was also a relief image of people on one side of the wall. In 2006, the killing site was cleaned up, and a new plaque with Hebrew and Ukrainian inscription was installed ["The Mass grave in Shumsk"].
In August 2017, on the 75th anniversary of the mass murder of the Jews in Shumsk, Yaroslav Banysh, the founder of the "Światło ze Wschodu" Polish organization, organized a memorial ceremony. Representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox, Catholic and Greek-Catholic Churches read prayers in Ukrainian and Polish languages. The representatives of the Jewish Community could not participate in the ceremony due to technical reasons. Residents of Shumsk laid flowers and lit icon lamps at the end of the event [Kapitsa].
The International Holocaust Remembrance Day (January 27) is commemorated on the site. On January 27, 2020, Volodymyr Pletiuk, the Head of the city, and other city council representatives visited the memorial, laid flowers, and lit icon lamps ["Vshanuvannia zhertv Holokostu..."].
"1944 Witnesses from Shumsk," JewishGen KehilaLinks, https://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/Shumskoye/shumsk.1944commission.html (accessed November 12, 2023)
Kapitsa, Bohdana, "U Shumsku vshanuvaly zhertv yevreiskoho henotsydu," Den, August 10, 2017, https://day.kyiv.ua/news/271221-u-shumsku-vshanuvaly-zhertv-yevreyskoho-henotsydu (accessed November 12, 2023)
"Ternopilska oblast. Skhema planuvannia terytorii (prodovzhennia roboty). Okhorona nerukhomykh obiektiv kulturnoi spadshchyny", vol. 3 (Kyiv: Derzhavne pidpryiemstvo "Ukrainskyi derzhavnyi naukovo-doslidnyi instytut proiektuvannia mist "Dipromisto" imeni Y.M. Bilokonia", 2017), p. 269., https://architecture.te.gov.ua/media/uploads/сп__тернопільська_область_том_iiі.pdf (accessed April 25, 2023)
"The Jewish Mass Grave in Shumsk," JewishGen KehilaLinks, https://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/Shumskoye/shumsk.mass.html (accessed November 11, 2023)
"The mass grave in Shumsk", https://ltolman.org/Shumsk-mass-grave.html (accessed November 11, 2023)
"Vshanuvannia zhertv Holokostu...," Shumska miska rada, January 27, 2020, https://shumska-gromada.gov.ua/news/1580143232/?fbclid=IwAR2iFe_kp2mCEBhB0EsckR0lbRTJR4i_vfDHf4iazwnKUJLGYqCasS5VuIE (accessed November 12, 2023)