Rivne Ghetto

Jewish ghetto in the city of Rivne, created by the Nazis during the occupation of Ukraine. Before the beginning of Occupation 25 thousand Jews lived in Rivne. The city was occupied on 28 July 1941. In July–August 3000 Jews were killed. November 6–7, six kilometers from Rivne, 15-18 thousand Jews were shot in Sosyonki forest. In December 5000 the Jews were gathered and placed in the Rivne ghetto.^[1][2][3][4]

The ghetto was liquidated July 13, 1942. Several Jews managed to escape, and they joined the partisans and later took part in the liberation of Rivne. Rivne was liberated by the Red Army in the Battle of Rovno, in February 1944. The surviving Jews began to gather in the city, and by the end of 1944 1200 Jews lived in Rivne.

Historical background

Rivne city is the center of the Rivne region in Ukraine. June 28, 1941 the city was occupied by German troops. On August 20, 1941, the city was declared the capital of Reichskommissariat Ukraine. At the beginning of the occupation 25 thousand Jews lived in Rivne, which made up half the population of the city.^[5]

When the Nazis occupied the city, they have carried out several executions of the Jewish population/ On 9 and 12 of July 1941 the Sonderkommando 4A ranks have shot 240 Jews (in the official German report, they were called " Bolshevik agents " and " Jewish functionaries" ). On August 6 battalion of security police conducted a campaign in Rivne, in the course of which were shot about 300 Jews. The most bloody shooting took place on 6–7 November, while 15-18 thousand Jews were killed by the Nazis and members of the OUN in the Sosenki forest near Rivne. Jews were shot by the police battalion of the 320th order via Einsatzgruppen 5th Division.

The remaining 5,000 Jews who possessed the necessary for the occupation administration professions, were taken away from their families and placed in the ghetto. The ghetto was created in December 1941.

On July 13, 1942 the ghetto was liquidated and the Jewish prisoners were taken out and shot at Kostopol. On February 2, 1944 Rivne was liberated from German troops by Soviet troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front during the Rovno-Lutsk operation.^[6]

Life in the Ghetto

The ghetto had a Judenrat of 12 people. The head of the Judenrat were appointed Moses and Jacob Bergman ( Leon ) Suharchuk, they committed suicide at the end of 1941 because they did not want to give the Jews by the Nazis demand. The Jews living in the ghetto had to pay levies to the German authorities . In one operation to seize the money, the Jews were required to pay exactly 12 million Rubles. Also any gold, jewelry, furniture and clothing were taken from the Jews. Jews were selling clothes in order to get some food. The most valuable items were sent to Germany, the rest was given or sold at symbolic prices to German soldiers and Ukrainian policemen. In the ghetto numerous restrictions were imposed on the Jews, including the ogligation to wear a distinctive sign.

Liquidation of the Ghetto

Underground organizations operated in the ghetto and accumulated weapons. On the night of July 13, 1942 at 22:00 in the ghetto was carried out "share" division of the SS and Ukrainian police units surrounded the ghetto established around the spotlight and turn them on . Brigade SS and Ukrainian police were divided into small groups, broke into houses and pushed the people out, herded them into a freight train which took them to Kostopol where they were shot to death. 5000 Jews were killed this way.^[7][8]

Altogether during the occupation more than 20 thousand Jews of the city have been shot.

Some fled underground, many killed in the forests by the Germans and Ukrainian nationalists, but some were able to join the great Soviet partisans Dmitry Medvedev, Vladimir Begma and Rovensky guerrilla №1; some of them participated in the battles for the liberation of the city.

In Rivne, as well as in many other cities and towns in Western Ukraine mass shootings of Jews took place thanks to the active assistance of like-minded people from the Ukrainian police, the gendarmerie and the UPA.

References