Since 1968 a memorial at the foot of a chalk mountain on the outskirts of the industrial city of Kramatorsk commemorates the inhabitants of the city and its surroundings who were murdered during German occupation. Many of them were Jews.
The city of Kramatorsk in the northern part of the so-called Donets Basin grew from a settlement by a same-named railway station in 1868. The city evolved into an important industrial centre. Around the turn of the century many Jews moved to Kramatorsk. In 1939, 1,849 citizens out of a total population of 94,114 were Jews.
The German Wehrmacht occupied the city late October 1941. The majority of the Jewish population was able to flee to the interior of the Soviet Union beforehand, only a few hundred Jews remained in the city. On November 1, 1941 the German occupation authorities took 150 Soviet POWs to a newly built camp north-west of the city. In the following months they took Jews, POWs and other citizens whom they suspected to have collaborated with the Soviets to the camp. As part of a »Groß-Aktion« (»major action«) on January 25 and 26, 1942 the Sondereinsatzkommando (special unit) 4b shot 139 Jews along with other prisoners in the nearby clay mining area at the chalk mountain. Further victims were shot near a ravine close to the village of Krasnogorka (today: Yasnohirka). On February 5, 1943 the city was liberated by the Red Army, a few weeks later however, the Wehrmacht occupied it again and held it until September 1943 when the Red Army finally seized control of the city.
The German Wehrmacht occupied the city late October 1941. The majority of the Jewish population was able to flee to the interior of the Soviet Union beforehand, only a few hundred Jews remained in the city. On November 1, 1941 the German occupation authorities took 150 Soviet POWs to a newly built camp north-west of the city. In the following months they took Jews, POWs and other citizens whom they suspected to have collaborated with the Soviets to the camp. As part of a »Groß-Aktion« (»major action«) on January 25 and 26, 1942 the Sondereinsatzkommando (special unit) 4b shot 139 Jews along with other prisoners in the nearby clay mining area at the chalk mountain. Further victims were shot near a ravine close to the village of Krasnogorka (today: Yasnohirka). On February 5, 1943 the city was liberated by the Red Army, a few weeks later however, the Wehrmacht occupied it again and held it until September 1943 when the Red Army finally seized control of the city.
At the pit near the chalk mountain up to 3,500 people were shot, many Jews among them. The exact number of Jews can not be ascertained, the Soviet investigative commission stated the number to be 2,000. Another site of shooting was located in the village of Krasnogorka about five km away.
After the Red Army liberated Kramatorsk the bodies of the murder victims were exhumed and subsequently buried in a mass grave at the chalk mountain. The site today is marked by a memorial bearing the inscription »To the Victims of Fascism: 1941–1943«. It was erected in 1968 without mention of the identity of the victims. Today the population figure is approximately 160,000. The Jewish community has about 2,000 members.
- Name
- Pamjatnik ewrejam ubitih u Kramatorsku
- Address
-
Pereulok Pestelya
84303 Kramatorsk - Open
- The memorial is accessible at all times.