Obj. ID: 47760
Jewish Funerary Art Holocaust memorial in Dyven near Velyki Mezhyrichi, Ukraine, 1992
Memorial name
No official name
Who is Commemorated?
Jewish Victims of the Holocaust from Velyki Mezhyrichi and the vicinity, who were murdered here
Description
The monument is located at the killing site in Dyven village, near Nevirkiv and Velyki Mezhyrichi. It is a black marble headstone with Ukrainian, Hebrew, and Yiddish inscriptions on its front and back sides, as well as on the lying slab, attached to it. The headstone is decorated with two small stars of David on both the front and the back sides. A bigger Magen David is also carved on the lying slab. The site is surrounded by a stone fence with an arched metal gate, decorated by a Magen David. A high metal Menorah stands near the gate. A part of the fence is a memorial wall dedicated to the Jewish soldiers, partisans, and the Righteous among the Nations.
Inscriptions
On the front side of the upright stele (Ukrainian):
На цьому місці від рук нацистських
нелюдів в червні - вересні 1942 року
розстріляно, закопано живими понад
3000 чоловіків, жінок та дітей
єврейської національності - жителів
містечка Межирічі і навколишніх сіл.
Вічна шана їх світлій памʼяті!
Translation: At this place, more than 3,000 men, women and children of Jewish nationality, residents of the shtetl of Mezhyrichi and surrounding villages, were shot, buried alive by the hands of Nazi nonhumans in June – September 1942
On the front side of the upright stele (Hebrew):
פ.נ.
במקום זה עונו, נרצחו, הומתו ונקברו חיים
בחודשים מאי וספטמבר 1942
בידי מרצחים גרמנים נאצים ועוזריהם הנפשעים
שלושת אלפים יהודים אנשים, נשים וטף
בני קהילת מז’יריטש גדול והסביבה
כבוד לזכרם הכדוש
ת.נ.צ.ב.ה [=תהי נשמתם צרורה בצרור החיים]
Translation: At this place, three thousand Jews, men, women and children, members of the Great Mezhyrich community and the vicinity, were tormented, murdered, killed, and buried alive in May and September 1942 by the hands of German Nazi murderers and their criminal assistants. Honor to their holy memory. May their souls be bound in the bundle of life.
On the front side of the upright stele (Yiddish):
אויף דים ארט זענען פערפייניקט געווארן
דערשאסן אדער לעבעדיגערייד בעגראבן
אין מאי און סעפטעמבער חודש 1942
דורך די היטלעריסטישע דייטשישע מערדער
דריי טויזנט יידן מענער פרויען און קינדער
פון שטעטל גרויס מעזשיריטש
און פון די ארומיקע דערפער
אייביקע ערע זייער הייליקן אנדענק
Translation: At this place, three thousand Jews, men, women, and children from the shtetl Great Mezhyrich and from the surrounding villages were tormented, shot down, or buried alive by Hitlerist German murderers in May and September 1942. Eternal honor to their holy memory!
On the back side of the upright stele (Hebrew):
מצבת זכרון
של קהילת מז’יריטש גדול והסביבה
חללי השואה תש”ג 1942
Translation: Memorial monument of Great Mezhyrich community and the vicinity, Shoah Victims 5703 1942
On the lying slab (Ukrainian):
Вічна і світла памʼять
жителям Великих Межиріч
загиблим у 1942 році
Протягом 50 років не стихла біль і скорбота
у серцях членів обʼєднання вихідців
із Великих Межиріч в Ізраїлі та Канаді
що прибули до братської могили у Невіркові
для ушанування світлої памʼяті
батьків, сестер та братів
13 вересня 1992 року
Translation: Eternal and blessed memory to the residents of Velyki Mezhyrichi, perished in 1942. For 50 years, pain and grief did not abate in the hearts of the members of the association of Velyki Mezhyrichi natives in Israel and Canada, who arrived to the mass grave in Nevirkiv to honor the blessed memory of the parents, sisters, and brothers on September 13, 1992
On the lying slab (Hebrew):
Commissioned by
Funded by the Members of the Association of Velyki Mezhyrichi Natives in Israel and Canada and the Regional Organization of the Protection of the History and Culture Monuments.
8 image(s)
sub-set tree:
Ukraine | Rivnenska obl. | Velyki Mezhyrichi (Великі Межирічі)
| Tsehelnia ravine near the village Nevirkiv
During two mass murders on May 22 and September 26, 1942, the Nazis exterminated about 3,000 Jews from Velyki Mezhyrichi and the vicinity in the Tsehelnia ravine near the village of Nevirkiv [Tsal Kaplun Foundation].
In October 1991, Kim Zakaliuk wrote a material about killing site in the newspaper "Dialoh." In particular, he mentioned the abandoned condition of the site and the lack of any memorial sign there, even 50 years after the Tragedy. After the publication, the Regional authority representatives started memorialization process. The article was also spread among the natives of Velyki Mezhyrichi in various countries. The Rivne cooperative "Hama" made the monument [Zakaliuk].
The installation of the monument was funded by the Members of the Association of Velyki Mezhyrichi Natives in Israel and Canada and the Regional Organization of the Protection of the History and Culture Monuments [Zmina]. Apparently they also erected a metal fence, decorated with the stars of David and Menorot around the site [see photos in Zmina].
The unveiling ceremony in September 1992 started from the school, which was a place of gathering Jews for escorting to the killing site. Local residents welcomed Jewish Holocaust Survivors, who arrived from Israel, Canada, the USA, and various places of Ukraine. The local authority representatives, and Righteous among the Nations also took part in the ceremony. In total, a few thousand people joined the event. The participants moved to Nevirkiv to repeat symbolically the last way of the Victims. Six candles were burning near the foot of the monument, as a symbol of six millions Jewish Victims of the Holocaust. The participants lit more candles and mounted a capsule with a parchment containing the names of the Victims on the monument for the eternal preservation. Then, the soil from Israel was brought to the monument and the Israel and Ukrainian national anthems were sounded. Jewish Holocaust Survivors recited memorial prayers [Feishter, Kyrylchuk].
Apparently a stone fence around the killing site and a Menorah near the gate were erected in 2005 together with a monument to the Jewish soldiers and partisans, as well as to the Righteous among the Nations. The monument was unveiled in Summer of 2005, the Natives of Velyki Mezhyrichi from Israel, Canada and the USA, local residents and authority representatives took part in the ceremony. The participants listened to the national anthems of Israel and Ukraine and recited prayers [Safir].
"Execution of Jews from Velyki Mezhyrichi in Dyven,"
The Map of Holocaust by Bullets, Yahad-In Unum, https://www.yahadmap.org/en/#village/dyven-diven-rivne-ukraine.66.
Feishter, D., "Zvidty rozpochavsia shliakh do pekla," Vilne slovo, September 16, 1992, p. 4.
Kyrylchuk, P., "Traurna tseremoniia v Mezhyrichakh," Visti Rivnenshchyny, September 19, 1992, p. 3.
"Miedzyrzecz,"
Untold Stories - Murder Sites of Jews in Occupied Territories of the USSR (Yad Vashem project), https://collections.yadvashem.org/en/untold-stories/community/14622537.
Safir, Yurii, "Khto zhyvyi – pamiataie," Vilne slovo, August 2, 2005, p. 3.
"U sertsia svoia pamiat," Zmina, September 19, 1992, p. 2.
"Velyki Mezhyrichi: Tsegelnia Ravine,"
Shoah Atrocities Map - Ukraine (Tsal Kaplun Foundation), https://shoahatlas.org/u0908.html.
Zakaliuk, K., "Ukrainskyi korovai – synam Izrailiu," Dialoh, no. 38, September 1992, p. 2.