Obj. ID: 40117 Holocaust memorial in Berlinți, Moldova, 1957
Who is Commemorated?
Jews of Berlintsy
Description
A small flat-topped obelisk atop a pedestal and a base are enclosed by a metal rail fence and located just off a dirt road in the midst of fields. The obelisk, pedestal and base all appear to be one piece of concrete that (2003) was painted blue, with inscriptions painted in white letters. A painted metal (?) Magen David is affixed atop the obelisk.
Inscription
The upper part of the obelisk is inscribed in Russian with the names of murdered Jews.
The lower part of the obelisk is inscribed with the sentence in Russian:
Памяти
пропавших
в лагере в
декабре 1941г.
...
Translation: In memory of those, who went missing in the camp in December 1941. The inscription goes on to list the names of those, who went missing.
Commissioned by
Semion Katerberg, a native of Berlintsy
Berlintsy is a small Ukrainian village in Brichany district that is on the Vilia River, not far from Kishinev-Chernovtsy highway, 14 km from Brichany.
On July 7, 1941, Romanians executed all the Jewish population of the village by shooting in a field outside of Berlintsy. After the war in 1945 the grave was excavated and 20 bodies were identified, including the children.
In May 1952, a modest obelisk was erected outside the village, next to the field where the murders took place and near the grave. The inscription commemorates those killed. The memorial was built by Semion Katerberg, a native of Berlintsy, who left the village several days before the execution. He came back in 1948, and learned about the mass murder. His mother and sister were among the murdered Jews. He identified the names of 29 local Jews, who perished during the Holocaust.
After the murder of the town’s Jews, their homes were plundered and houses destroyed. No Jews came back to the village. The obelisk is the only reminder of the Jewish presence in the village.
"Obelisk v pole," JewishMemory. History of the Jews in Moldova, http://jewishmemory.md/ru/obelisk-v-pole/ (accessed February 13, 2022)
Saffer, Stuart. "Berlintsy" in “Survey of Jewish History and Holocaust-Related Sites in Moldova,” Unpublished report, 2003, https://cja.huji.ac.il/external_texts_db/Moldova_Berlintsy.pdf (accessed February 13, 2022)