Obj. ID: 51168
Memorials Holocaust memorial in Bronytsia near Drohobych, Ukraine
Memorial name
No official name
Who is Commemorated?
Jewish Holocaust Victims murdered and buried in Bronytskyi lis
Description
The monument is located at the killing site in Bronytskyi lis near Drohobych. A sign and a sculpture of a woman near the road lead to the killing site. Deeper in the forest, there is a stone with several plaques. A metal Soviet plaque does not mention the ethnicity of the Vitims. Two stone plaques, which were attached to the stone in the 2010s, includes a prayer in Ukrainian and Hebrew. Thirteen mass graves, scattered in the forest, are covered with large slabs with stars of David. Plaques, dedicated to the individual Victims, attached to some of the slabs. The plaques include Polish, Russian, Hebrew, English, and Ukrainian inscriptions, most of them feature stars of David. Some Hebrew texts on the plaques includes Hebrew traditional formula (Tantzabah).
Inscriptions
On the metal Soviet plaque (Ukrainian):
Жертвам
фашистського терору
під час тимчасової
окупації Дрогобича
в 1941–1944 р.р.
Від трудящих міста
Translation: To the Victims of the fascist terror during the temporary occupation of Drohobych in 1941 – 1944. From the working people of the city.
On the post-Soviet stone plaque (Hebrew):
אל מלא רחמים, שוכן במרומים, המצא מנוחה נכונה על כנפי השכינה,
במעלת קדושים וטהורים כזהר הרקיע מזהירים,
את נשמות (כל קרובי וקרובותי, הן מצד אבי,
הן מצד אמי) הקדושים והטהורים שהומתו
ושנהרגו ושנשחטו ושנשרפו ושנטבעו ושנחנקו
על קדוש השם, (על ידי הצוררים הגרמנים,
ימח שמם וזכרם) בעבור שבלי נדר אתן צדקה
בעד הזכרת נשמותיהם, בגן עדן תהא מנוחתם,
לכן בעל הרחמים יסתירם בסתר כנפיו לעולמים,
ויצרור בצרור החיים את נשמותיהם,
יהוה הוא נחלתם, וינוחו בשלום על משכבותיהם.
ונאמר: אמן
Translation: O God, full of mercy, who dwells on high, establish proper rest upon the wings of the Divine Presence, among the holy and pure ones who shine like the splendor of the firmament, [for] the souls of (all of my male relatives and female relatives, whether from my father's side [or] whether from my mother's side) the holy and pure ones who were killed, and who were exterminated, and who were slaughtered and burned and drowned and asphyxiated for the sanctification of God's name (by the German oppressors, may their names and memory be obliterated), because I will - without making a vow - I will give charity for the memory of their souls, let their rest be in the Garden of Eden. Hence, may the Master of Mercy shelter them in the cover of His wings forever and bind their souls in the bundle of life, God is their inheritance, and may they rest in peace upon their places of repose. And let us say Amen.
On the post-Soviet stone plaque (Ukrainian):
О Боже, сповнений милосердя, пробуваючий у
надхмарній висоті! Хай піднімуться на крилах шхіни у
повнім спокою до небесної височини, в якій пробувають
святі і чисті, сяючі як посвіт блакиті та упокоються душі
людей святих та чистих, які освячуючи імʼя всевишнього,
були умертвлені: жорстоко вбиті, зарізані спалені, утоплені,
задушені німецькими нацистами (хай від них не буде сліду
ні на небі ні на землі), оскільки ми, не звʼязуючи себе
обітницею, дамо пожертву в памʼять їхніх душ, щоб вони
знайшли спокій у раю, постільки милосердний візьме їх під
свій захист і душі їхні пробуватимуть в обителі життя
вічного і знайдуть спочинок у Господі. Нехай пребудуть
вони з миром на ложі своєму!
І скажімо: Амен!
Translation: O God, full of mercy, dwelling in the heights above the clouds! Let their souls rise on the wings of ships in complete peace to the heavenly heights, where the holy and pure dwell, shining like the blue sky. Let the souls of the holy and pure find rest, those who sanctified the name of the Most High and were slain: cruelly killed, stabbed, burned, drowned, and strangled by the German Nazis (may there be no trace of them, neither in the heavens nor on earth). Since we, without binding ourselves by vow, offer a donation in memory of their souls, so that they may find peace in paradise, the merciful One will take them under His protection, and their souls will dwell in the abode of eternal life and find rest in the Lord. Let them rest in peace on their beds! And let us say: Amen!
Commissioned by
Soviet Authority
in the post-Soviet period: to be determined
sub-set tree: 
In 1943, at least seven mass murders of the remaining Jews from Drohobych ghetto and a forced labor camp took place in Bronytskyi lis [Tsal Kaplun Foundation].
In 1965 or 1975, the Soviet authority erected a sculpture near the road, leading to the mass graves, along with a memorial stone featuring a Ukrainian inscription that did not mention the ethnicity of the Victims ["Benket na kostiakh...," "Vony vostannie..."].
On the initiative of the Jewish community and the Holocaust Survivors, the mass graves were marked by the slabs in 1993 ["Benket na kostiakh..."].
In 2005, the monument was repaired with the financial support from the Survivors ["Benket na kostiakh..."].
Between 2013 and 2016, two black stone plaques with texts of a prayer in Ukrainian and Hebrew were attached to the memorial stone in addition to the Soviet plaque [according to photos from these years].
After the fall of the Soviet Union, Jewish community representatives annually visit the graves and commemorate the Victims. On the eve of Victory Day (May 9) the mass graves are cleaned ["Benket na kostiakh..."].
In 2020, roads in the forest around the graves were paved with several layers of crushed stone and gravel, with the top layer being red. Later, the pavement was destroyed by local foresters, who used these roads to transport wood["Vantazhivkamy..."].
As of 2021, the monument has not been included in the State Register of Monuments ["Andrii Kovch..."].
In 2021, Chief Rabbi of Ukraine Moshe Asman, while visiting Drohobych, drew the local authorities' attention to the killing site in Bronytskyi Lis. During the event, Andrii Kovch, Deputy Head of the city of Drohobych, was deeply moved by the city's Holocaust history and visited the mass graves in Bronytskyi Lis ["Andrii Kovch..."]. Following this, on January 27, 2022, Drohobych district authorities attended the commemoration ceremony of the Holocaust Victims for the first time in many years. They lit candles on the graves and placed stones on each one, and the head of the local Jewish community recited a prayer ["Tse ne mertvym potribno..."]. Drohobych district authorities also participated in the commemoration of the Day of mass shootings at Babyn Yar (Kyiv) on September 29, 2022. During the commemoration ceremony, the head of the local Jewish community and a Greek Catholic priest read prayers together near the mass graves ["Spilno, ekumenichno..."]. In 2023 and 2024, the Drohobych city authority joined the district authorities in attending the commemoration ceremony on the International Holocaust Remembrance Day (January 27). They lit candles, laid flowers at the mass graves, and the Jewish community members prayed for the Victims ["Drohobychchyna na memoriali...," "Pomolylysia za dushi"].
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Golberg, Leonid, "Benket na kostiakh, abo kudy znykaiut sorom i pamiat," Maidan Drohobytska internet-hazeta, May 17, 2010, http://maydan.drohobych.net/?p=4374 (accessed August 13, 2023)
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Virtual Shtetl (POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews), https://sztetl.org.pl/pl/miejscowosci/d/814-drohobycz/116-miejsca-martyrologii/45658-las-bronicki-w-drohobyczu.
"Lviv Oblast: Identified Jewish Cemeteries,"
A Guide to Jewish Cemetery Preservation in Western Ukraine (Rohatyn Jewish Heritage), https://jewishheritageguide.net/en/cemeteries/lviv.
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"Pomolylysia za dushi kraian-yevreiv, ubytykh natsystamy," Maidan, January 26, 2024, http://maydan.drohobych.net/?p=144813 (accessed December 29, 2024)
Poretskyi, Marko, "Vantazhivkamy chavlena pamiat," January 24, 2023, http://maydan.drohobych.net/?p=132872 (accessed December 29, 2024)
Vitchenko, Kindrat, "Spilno, ekumenichno v skorbotnomu mistsi: pominalna molytva bilia Memorialu v Bronytskomu lisi Den Trahedii Babynoho Yaru," Maidan, September 29, 2022, http://maydan.drohobych.net/?p=128263 (accessed December 29, 2024)
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