1 Killing site(s)
Mykola Y.: "The Jewish community in Sivka was small before the war. I remember four families. The Jewish children went to school with us. There was a Jewish girl in my class, Dvortsia. She spoke perfect Ukrainian, and when Ukrainians were sent to Germany for forced labor, she went too. That is how she survived. When the war started, the local Jews disappeared. People said they had been taken to the ghetto in Kalush." (Testimony N°YIU220U, interviewed in Sivka-kaluska, on August 22, 2005)
" […] In October or November 1942, the liquidation of the ghetto in Kalush was carried out while I was at my workplace. I then tried to hide with a peasant woman, but she refused—it was too dangerous.
In December 1942, I saw no other solution than to go through Ugerstal, where I had acquaintances who were working in the Zwangsarbeitslager (forced labor camp). It was extremely risky, but it was worth trying. I managed to take the place of another detainee and was able to remain in the ZAL until its liquidation.
I was given a white armband and had to wear an “R” on my chest. I was held in the part of the camp fenced with barbed wire, in the former German village of Ugerstal, in the women’s section. I had to carry out various tasks, mainly in the camp kitchens. We were treated relatively well in the camp.
I often saw Rosenmann, who worked with the men at the gas well. We would meet after work to talk. We were guarded by the SS-Werkschütz.
Shortly before the liquidation of the ZAL in Ugerstal, I learned from peasants that a smaller camp in Broshniv had already been liquidated and that no Jew had been spared there.
Then, in May or June 1944, I decided not to return from work but to flee to Voyniliv, where I had lived before. I hid in the forest. […] We were liberated two months after my escape by the Russians […]" [Testimony of Anna REICHBAR, a Jewish survivor, given in Tel Aviv, on November 2, 1954; BARch162-4996]
"[…] Thanks to influence-peddling by my brother, I was later able to join the Zwangsarbeitslager (forced labor camp) in Ugerstal. […] I worked in the administration of the camp.
In May or June 1944, while I was at work, I suddenly saw SS men arrive, armed to the teeth. Knowing “their specialty,” I told myself that this was the end. I fled while the guards were receiving orders from the SS. […]
I managed to hide with a peasant. I stayed with him for about a month, until the Russian troops liberated us […]" [Testimony of Rosa HUBSCHMANN, a Jewish survivor; Given in Tel Aviv, on November 2, 1954; BARch162-4996]
Sivka-Kaluska is a village in the Ivano-Frankivsk Region, located approximately 10 km (6 mi) from Kalush and 40 km (24 mi) from Ivano-Frankivsk. Its existence is documented from the early 16th century. Historically part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the village came under Austro-Hungarian rule after 1772.
In 1782, as part of the Josephine colonization policy, the German Protestant colony of Ugartsthal was established within the village’s boundaries, contributing to Sivka-Kaluska’s multiethnic and multiconfessional character.
Nineteenth-century demographic data indicates the presence of a small but established Jewish population, typical of rural Galician settlements. In 1880, Sivka-Kaluska had 840 inhabitants, including 21 Jews, while Ugartsthal counted 423 residents, among them 12 Jews. Although limited in number, Jews were likely engaged in local trade, crafts, and economic intermediation, maintaining close ties with nearby urban centers such as Kalush. The absence of references to a synagogue or independent communal institutions suggests religious and social dependence on Kalush.
After the First World War, the region became part of interwar Poland. On the eve of the Second World War in 1939, Sivka-Kaluska was home to 1,120 inhabitants, including 20 Jews, while Ugartsthal—renamed Tespowo by Polish authorities that same year—had 530 residents, including 10 Jews. Ukrainian, Polish, and Jewish children attended school together. According to the testimony of Mykola Y., one of his Jewish classmates was a girl named Dvortsia (Dvora).
The Soviet occupation profoundly reshaped the area. In January 1940, the German colonists were deported to the Warthegau, and Ugartsthal was transformed into the first state collective farm (sovkhoz) in the Kalush district. Renamed Ugersthal, it subsequently became an integral part of Sivka-Kaluska.
No information is currently available regarding the evacuation or any organized displacement of the Jewish population on the eve of the Second World War.
Sivka-Kaluska was occupied by German troops in the summer of 1941 and incorporated into the District of Galicia of the General Government. According to available sources, in August 1942 the local Jewish population was transferred to the ghetto in Kalush. This event is recalled by witnesses interviewed by Yahad - In Unum, who stated that one day "the Jews disappeared from the village."
During the German occupation, Sivka-Kaluska (and in particular the forced labor camp established in the former ethnic German colony of Ugartsthal) became a site of concentration and exploitation of Jewish labor. Historical sources and Jewish survivor testimonies indicate that after the liquidation of the Kalush ghetto in October 1942, a number of Jews deemed fit for labor were transferred to the Ugartsthal camp. This camp formed part of a broader network of Jewish forced labor camps linked to the industrial operations of Karpathen-Öl AG in Galicia. Survivors also testified that several Jewish refugees from Kraków, including physicians and other skilled professionals, were held in the camp.
Prisoners were employed primarily in oil drilling and related industrial work. Detainees were marked with the letter "R" on their chests. The camp was guarded by the SS-Werkschutz, with the involvement of German personnel and Ukrainian auxiliary police. Some sources suggest the existence of two adjacent camps, one for men and one for women; however, survivor testimonies indicate that men and women were detained together.
According to converging survivor accounts, despite the coercive and violent nature of detention, living conditions in the camp were relatively better than those in the ghettos. For this reason, some Jews who had previously managed to hide during Aktionen carried out in the surrounding area eventually joined the camp voluntarily, hoping to increase their chances of survival.
Historical sources indicate that the camp was liquidated in the summer of 1943, when approximately 40 to 60 Jews remained in Ugartsthal and were shot in the forest south of the village. Jewish survivor testimonies, by contrast, date this event to the summer of 1944. According to the testimony of Mykola K., born in 1931, a pit had been dug in the forest several days before the shooting. Villagers who went there to pick berries reportedly noticed it but were unaware of its purpose.
The victims were assembled, forced to undress, and led to the pit, where they were shot. The killings reportedly took place at night; Mykola K. recalled hearing gunfire at around 11:00 p.m. While more than 30 people were murdered directly in the
forest, others were shot while attempting to flee into the surrounding fields. Only a small number of detainees managed to escape. According to available sources, the Aktion was overseen by Willy Mauer and carried out with the assistance of German policemen and local auxiliary forces.
The bodies were buried hastily, and the victims’ remains were later burned as part of Operation 1005, in an effort to conceal the crime. Local residents further reported that the pit was reopened after the war, likely by looters. Mykola K. also recalled that he was later requisitioned by village authorities to help refill the pit.
To date, no memorial has been erected at the killing site to commemorate the victims.
For further information on the murder of Jews in Kalush, please refer to the corresponding profile.
Do you have additional information regarding a village that you would like to share with Yahad ?
Please contact us at contact@yahadinunum.org
or by calling Yahad – In Unum at +33 (0) 1 53 20 13 17