• Memorial to the murdered Jews of Khashchuvate
In the village of Khashchuvate (Russian: Khashchevato) several memorials remember the more than 960 Jews who were murdered on February 16, 1942 by German and Ukrainian units. The memorial complex incorporates the sites of the shootings and the Jewish cemetery.
Image: Khashchuvate, undated, Historic view of the settlement, http://khashchevato42.ru
Khashchuvate, undated, Historic view of the settlement, http://khashchevato42.ru

Image: Khashchuvate, 2016, Place in front of the new memorial, Efim Marmer
Khashchuvate, 2016, Place in front of the new memorial, Efim Marmer
The village of Khashchuvate at the banks of the Bug river was founded in the middle of the 14th century. Jews lived there since the late 18th century. In 1897 71% of the inhabitants were Jews, but because of anti-Jewish pogroms in the early 20th century, their number decreased heavily. In the 1930s approximately half of the population was Jewish and most of them worked in kolkhozes.
The German Wehrmacht occupied the village on July 29, 1941. From autumn of 1941 mass shootings of Jews was daily fare in this region, many of them executed by the Einsatzgruppe (mobile killing unit) D. Some Jews from Khashchuvate tried to escape. On February 15, 1942 Ukrainian police and German constabulary rounded up all Jewish inhabitants in the House of Culture under the pretext of registering them. Instead they were incarcerated without food and water. The next day the police ordered twenty Jewish men to remove the snow from a clay pit 300 metres away. Afterwards, the men were shot by the policemen. The other Jews had to undress before they were led to the same shooting site and killed there. The »Aktion« was overseen by Hauptsturmführer (Captain of the SS) Leonid Girman and executed by the district head of police Mykola Doroshev. The Jewish community in Khashchuvate was thereby obliterated.
Image: Khashchuvate, undated, Historic view of the settlement, http://khashchevato42.ru
Khashchuvate, undated, Historic view of the settlement, http://khashchevato42.ru

Image: Khashchuvate, 2016, Place in front of the new memorial, Efim Marmer
Khashchuvate, 2016, Place in front of the new memorial, Efim Marmer
All in all more than 960 Jews were murdered during the »Aktion«, among them 300 children.
Image: Khashchuvate, undated, The survivor Vera Levitskaya at the cemetery, http://khashchevato42.ru
Khashchuvate, undated, The survivor Vera Levitskaya at the cemetery, http://khashchevato42.ru

Image: Khashchuvate, undated, Memorial to the murdered children, http://khashchevato42.ru
Khashchuvate, undated, Memorial to the murdered children, http://khashchevato42.ru
The village was liberated by the Red Army on May 13, 1944. Only two Jews had survived: Vera Levitskaya and Isaak Kriss. Both had been hidden by Ukrainian families. In 1946 22 Ukrainian policemen who participated in the mass shootings in Khashchuvate were sentenced to death in Odessa. The former head of police, Doroshev, was arrested in 1961 and sentenced to death too.
In 1952 a memorial was erected at the site of the mass shootings by descendants of the victims. Several plaques are attached to the memorial. One Russian inscription reads: »962 inhabitants are buried here – Inhabitants of Khashchevato who were murdered by the hands of the Fascists on February 16«. Several years later another two memorials were erected at the same site, one is dedicated to the 300 murdered Jewish children. Since 2010 there is also a memorial plaque remembering the Ukrainians who helped the Jews.
On May 9, 2014 a new memorial complex was inaugurated. It was built with the help of private donations from various countries. One of the initiators is the editor of the newspaper »Ukraina-Tsentr« and a descendant of victims, Efim Marmer. Engraved on the new memorial is the Hebrew letter »H« which symbolically represents the good as well as the first letter of the village's name. The memorial weighing 9.5 tons is made of granite and is positioned on a base accessible by stairs. On a wall the names of victims are engraved. At the foot of the stairs is a circular square on which a Star of David is tiled in black, grey and white granite. The memorial complex includes the mass graves and the Jewish cemetery. A gate with Jewish symbols and a plaque with the inscription »Memorial complex for the Tragedy of Khashchuvate « allows admission to the area. Today virtually no Jews live in the place with a population of 2,600. The synagogue and the old Jewish cemetery are therefore not in use.
Image: Khashchuvate, 2013, Old memorials, http://khashchevato42.ru
Khashchuvate, 2013, Old memorials, http://khashchevato42.ru

Image: Khashchuvate, 2008, Entrance to the memorial complex, Efim Marmer
Khashchuvate, 2008, Entrance to the memorial complex, Efim Marmer
Image: Khashchuvate, 2013, In memory of Ukrainian saviours, http://khashchevato42.ru
Khashchuvate, 2013, In memory of Ukrainian saviours, http://khashchevato42.ru
Image: Khashchuvate, 2015, Old synagogue, Efim Marmer
Khashchuvate, 2015, Old synagogue, Efim Marmer
Image: Khashchuvate, undated, Jewish cemetery, http://khashchevato42.ru
Khashchuvate, undated, Jewish cemetery, http://khashchevato42.ru
Image: Khashchuvate, 2013, View of the memorial complex, http://khashchevato42.ru
Khashchuvate, 2013, View of the memorial complex, http://khashchevato42.ru
Name
Chaschtewatskaja tragedija
Address
Filatova Vulitsa
26331 Chaschtschuwate
Web
http://khashchevato42.ru/
E-Mail
info@khashchevato1942.ru
Open
The memorial complex is accessible at daytime.
Possibilities
Each year on February 16 and May 19 commemorations are held. Tours on request are possible.