1 Execution site(s)
Stefania M., born in 1930: “A group of Jews were brought here. They were confined in the filvarok.
YIU: What is the filvarok?
W: How can I explain to you. It is a mansion with land that used to belong to a Polish noble. Some buildings remain intact. So, they brought the Jews from the area there. They stayed over the summer, working, and then they were shot.
YIU: Were there women, men and children?
W: Yes, including children. But only the men and women worked.
YIU: What did they do?
W: The women worked in the fields, while the men were forced to make clothes.” (Witness n°YIU/2631, interviewed in Shulhanivka, on July 17, 2019)
“In the village of Shulganovka, two Aktions against Jews took place. The first one took place on June 20, 1943. During this Aktion, 65 Jews were shot. The second one took place in autumn 1943, during this Aktion, 5 Jews were killed. In addition, in 1943, 49 Jews were taken from the camp in Shulganovka to the camp in Travna [?]. In this village, two witnesses were interrogated. The location of the mass graves was identified: there were two, one of which was in the folvarok [mansion] of Shulganovka, and the other was near the forest on the other side of the railroad, 700 meters from the village.” [Summary of the Soviet State Extraordinary Commission; GARF 7021-75-107]
Shulhanivka is a village located 90 km (56mi) south of Ternopil. Little is known about the Jewish community in Shulhanivka. It was rather small compared to the community in the nearby town of Tovste, located 13 km (8mi) south and Chortkiv, located 14 km (8,6mi) northeast. According to the local testimonies collected by Yahad, very few Jews lived in the village. The majority of the population was Ukrainian and Polish. The villagers worked for a rich Pole who owned the land and the filvarok (mansion).
Shulhanivka was occupied by German forces in July 1941. According to witnesses interviewed Yahad, and information found in the archives, a group of Jewish women, men and children were brought to Shulhanivka and detained in the filvarok. The women were used for hard labor in the fields, while men, mainly artisans, made and repaired clothes. Such types of agricultural labor camps were often created in the region as it was rich in taraxacum, a sort of rubber dandelion native to the steppes, cultivated mainly in the USSR.The camp was liquidated in 1943. About 70 Jews were killed in Shulhanivka, 65 on June 20, 1943, and another 5 in October 1943, while about 50 others were transferred to another labor camp, supposedly in Travna. According to an eyewitness of the execution, before being killed the Jews were forced to strip naked and lay down inside the pit facing the ground. The execution was conducted by Germans. Today, there is no marker on the execution sites.
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