Obj. ID: 10779 Holocaust memorial at the killing site in Ostroh, Ukraine
Memorial name
Місце розстрілів громадян єврейської національності фашистськими окупантами
Translation: Site of the Killings of the Citizens of Jewish Nationality by fascist occupiers
Who is Commemorated?
Jews who were murdered here
Description
The monument is located at the killing site in Ostroh in Krasnostav Tract. There is a memorial sign with a Ukrainian inscription near the road, leading to the memorial complex. There are 4 mass graves. On one of them, a boulder is located on a base with a plaque attached to it. The plaque on the base bears Yiddish and Ukrainian inscriptions. Another plaque with a Ukrainian inscription, which does not mention the ethnicity of the Victims, is attached to the boulder. A relief sculpture of a man with a Magen David on his breast is located near the boulder. The author of the project also describes a Menorah near the boulder, but it is not visible on the available photos of the monument. The grave is marked by low metal bars. Another three mass graves are located a little further in the forest. There is a monument near them with three black stone plaques with inscriptions.
Inscriptions
On the plaque near the road (Ukrainian):
Люди добрі памʼятайте.
Любили ми життя, і краіну
нашу, і вас дорогі,
ми загинули
в чорні дні лихоліття
хай скорбота і сум
стануть мужністю і силою
вашою,
щоб змогли ви ствердити
навічно мир і спокій на
землі.
Памʼять про вас
збережеться у наших серцях.
Translation: Kind people, remember. We were loving the life, and our country, and you, dears, we perished on the black days of hard times. Let the grief and sadness become bravery and your power, so that you could establish peace and calm on the earth forever. Memory about you will be preserved in our hearts.
On the plaque attached to the stone near the first grave (Ukrainian):
Тут в роки
Великої вітчизняної війни по-
звірячому були розстрілені
німецько-фашистськими
загарбниками
мирні
радянські громадяни
вшануйте памʼять загиблих!
Translation: Here in the years of the Great Patriotic War, peaceful Soviet citizens were brutally shot by the German fascist invaders. Honor the memory of the Victims!
On the plaque attached to the base of the stone near the first grave (Ukrainian):
Тут 4.08.1941 р.
по звірячому стратили
7000 жінок
стариків
та дітей тільки за те,
що вони були євреями
Памʼять про
вас на віки!
Translation: Here on August 4, 1941, 7,000 women, elderly people and children were brutally executed just because they were Jews. Memory about you [will remain] forever!
On the plaque attached to the base of the stone near the first grave (Yiddish):
דא איז דעם 4
אווגוסט 1941 יאר
פארניכטיט גיווארן
7טויזנט יידעשע
פרויען זקנים און
קינדער בלויז דערפאר
וואס זיי זענען יידן דער
ל בטיקער [ליכטיקער] אנדענק פון
די קדושים וועט אין
אונזערע הערצער
בלייבן אייביק תנצכה
Translation: Here on August 4, 1941, 7 thousand Jewish women, elderly people, and children were exterminated only because they were Jews. Blessed memory of the Martyrs will remain forever in our hearts. May their souls be bound in the bundle of life
Commissioned by
To be determined
2 image(s)
The plaque on the base to the right of the stone – black marble;
The man figure – reinforced concrete;
The Menorah – sections of steel pipes.
The Menorah – 1.1 m.
The first mass murder in Ostroh took place in July 1941 in the Jewish cemetery, where the Nazis killed about 300 Jews. On August 4, 1941, approximately 1,000 Jews were killed in Krasnystav Tract. The Nazis carried out several more mass executions of Jews in the Krasnystav Tract in October 1942. In total, approximately 6,400 Jews were killed there [Tsal Kaplun Foundation].
The Soviet authority investigated the killing site in 1944. Four mass graves were discovered [Arkhivne upravlinnia Rivnenskoi raionnoi derzhavnoi administratsii v Ostrozi].
A memorial stone at the killing site was unveiled on August 4, 1991. It bore a Ukrainian inscription, which did not mention the ethnicity of the Victims [Yad Vashem].
The President of Ukraine representative in Rivne Region included the monument on The List of Monuments of History and Monumental Art of Ostroh District by the order no. 477 on January 25, 1993 ["Povnyi perelik..."].
In 1995, Ostroh natives from Israel erected a plaque with Yiddish and Ukrainian inscriptions near the memorial stone [Yad Vashem].
By the 60th anniversary of the mass murder, the monument was renovated again. According to the author of the project, Serhii Chumakov, a relief sculpture of a man with a Magen David and a Menorah were erected near the boulder in 2001 [Chumakov], however, the Menorah is not visible on the available photos of the monument.
Commemoration events have been organized near the monument since 1991. Local residents, authority representatives, and Jews from different countries take part in the ceremonies. Participants light candles and pray [Yad Vashem].
The main commemoration day for this monument is August 4 [Dubovska; Danykiuk; "V Ostrozi vshanuvaly..."], however memorial ceremonies also take place on the International Holocaust Remembrance Day [Urochyshche Krasnostav] and, since 2020, on the Day of mass shootings at Babyn Yar (Kyiv, September, 29) [Klymchuk].
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Danyliuk, M., "Trahediia ostrozkykh yevreiv u roky natsystskoi okupatsii," Derzhavnyi istoryko-kulturnyi zapovidnyk mista Ostroha, August 3, 2018, https://ostrohcastle.com.ua/tragediya-ostrozkyh-yevreyiv-u-roky-natsystskoyi-okupatsiyi/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR0opSkaJ6JGEVGPBcX_zg3tmYYPidtGdQ9uHFfN0_M5abnOcRZ9g9Hw2mU_aem_AUsKTJB83vemomJkB-kaSEENMDPC-rSjDl6sUx5TXjCdXfjra3KP2COCfThK11IX6oO7lnSy7EQX_ (accessed May 2, 2024)
Dubovska, Alina and Valentyna Hordych, "Mynulo 80 rokiv: shcho vidomo pro pershyi masovyi rozstril yevreiv na Rivnenshchyni," Suspilne Rivne, August 4, 2021, https://suspilne.media/rivne/153122-minulo-80-rokiv-so-vidomo-pro-persij-masovij-rozstril-evreiv-na-rivnensini/ (accessed May 2, 2024)
"Execution of Jews in Ostroh,"
The Map of Holocaust by Bullets, Yahad-In Unum, https://www.yahadmap.org/en/#village/ostroh-ostrog-rivne-ukraine.222.
Klymchuk, Tania, "29 veresnia – Den pamiati zhertv Holokostu," Raion in ua, September 29, 2020, https://ostrog.rayon.in.ua/news/300185-29-veresnia-den-pamiati-zhertv-golokostu?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0Pmqcy4f8Sb8O3xcFJ6RQY5Sp2rvUuWireglSDX9Dz4WQ4eqvaoY2_Xuo_aem_AUt8xMeZAZ6NWVcjOL_Wcz08DBQmNxxe8v8XyC31wM9yYbs5EDSjMNhBi2wBl1-FQeJkuvlAyec8XOBF9fDk8S (accessed May 2, 2024)
"Ostrog - Commemoration of Jewish Victims,"
Untold Stories - Murder Sites of Jews in Occupied Territories of the USSR (Yad Vashem project), https://collections.yadvashem.org/en/untold-stories/commemoration/14684601.
"Ostrog: Krasnostav Tract,"
Shoah Atrocities Map - Ukraine (Tsal Kaplun Foundation), https://shoahatlas.org/u0960.html.
"Povnyi perelik pamiatok arkheolohii, istorii ta...," Rivnenska raionna derzhavna administratsiia, https://rrda.rv.gov.ua/storage/app/sites/30/%D1%96%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%87%D0%BD%D1%96%20%D0%BF%D0%B0%D0%BC%CA%BC%D1%8F%D1%82%D0%BA%D0%B8/perelik-pamyatok-rivnenskogo-rayonu.docx (accessed February 17, 2024)
"Pratsivnykamy arkhivnoho viddilu Rivnenskoi raiderzhadministratsii..." Arkhivne upravlinnia Rivnenskoi raionnoi derzhavnoi administratsii v Ostrozi, August 4, 2021, https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0jmjHjXNiWRNJqS5jwydAWnkHJvFocWJehLUF7dnr3bGa37yJJqibKHRPAGxXDKGMl&id=100891874598060 (accessed May 2, 2024)
"Urochyshche Krasnostav: zhadaly pamiat zhertv holokostu," Raion in ua, January 27, 2020, https://ostrog.rayon.in.ua/news/214096-preview?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR19oGqtSr2C93yowsikyne4ItS6h9Hs5xFHBz6Zmt-0FNwD-KTV2FmADsM_aem_AUsW1u5db0JvZXNuhVljNxqnXKNFkvp7K27NGPA-YlIL4pz5KVd5oGGs8sjop5IGPiraW1U_edNpihOryHL-gwsQ (accessed May 2, 2024)
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