• Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Zhytomyr
In July 1941 the German Wehrmacht occupied Zhytomyr. Shortly afterwards German SS and Wehrmacht units started to terrorise and shoot Jews in several »Aktionen«. In 2001 a memorial was dedicated to the murdered Jews of Zhytomyr.
Image: Zhytomyr, undated, Historical view of Zhytomyr, Tomasz Wiśniewski
Zhytomyr, undated, Historical view of Zhytomyr, Tomasz Wiśniewski

Image: Zhytomyr, 2010, Memorial in the woods, Sergey Reent
Zhytomyr, 2010, Memorial in the woods, Sergey Reent
The town of Zhytomyr in northern Ukraine is one of the oldest Slavic settlements and was presumably founded in the 9th century. Jews first settled here in the late 18th century. Prior to World War II Zhytomyr was home to about 30,000 Jews, representing more than one third of the town's total population. Hence Zhytomyr was an important centre of Jewish culture. When on July 9, 1941 the German Wehrmacht invaded Zhytomyr, many Jews had already fled. Along with the Wehrmacht an advance unit of the SS-Sonderkommando 4a arrived at Zhytomyr. The SS unit immediately started shooting Jewish men. In August 1941 the Sonderkommando 4a commanded by Paul Blobel arrested two Jewish court clerks. They were accused of having collaborated with the Soviet NKVD prior to the German occupation and being responsible for the violent death of 1,300 Ukrainians. The SS staged the execution of the two men in the Zhytomyr market square: hundreds of civilians and soldiers of the Wehrmacht watched them being hanged. Later in the day the Sonderkommando 4a shot more Jews outside the town who had also been arrested. The surviving Jews were moved into a ghetto. Since the area around Zhytomyr was scheduled for German settlement, the National Socialist authorities insisted to »cleanse« the area of Jews. On September 19, 1941 the ghetto was dissolved and SS units supported by the Wehrmacht shot more than 3,100 Jews in pits outside of town.
Image: Zhytomyr, undated, Historical view of Zhytomyr, Tomasz Wiśniewski
Zhytomyr, undated, Historical view of Zhytomyr, Tomasz Wiśniewski

Image: Zhytomyr, 2010, Memorial in the woods, Sergey Reent
Zhytomyr, 2010, Memorial in the woods, Sergey Reent
More than 5,000 Jews from Zhytomyr were shot in 1941 by members of SS Einsatzgruppe (mobile killing unit) during various »Aktionen«.
Image: Zhytomyr, August 1941, German soldiers keeping a watch on Jewish men before their execution, Yad Vashem
Zhytomyr, August 1941, German soldiers keeping a watch on Jewish men before their execution, Yad Vashem

Image: Zhytomyr, October 2001, Dedication of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Zhytomyr, Jewish Community of Zhytomyr
Zhytomyr, October 2001, Dedication of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Zhytomyr, Jewish Community of Zhytomyr
After the end of World War II many Jews returned from exile and settled in Zhytomyr again. In 1959 at least 14,000 Jews lived in the Ukrainian city. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, many Zhytomyr Jews immigrated to Israel or Germany. Today, about 5,000 Jews still live there.
Several memorials remember the victims of the 1941 executions. One memorial is located in the Prospekt Mira at the entrance to a forest. Deeper in the woods is a more recent memorial. A further memorial stone was erected by the Jewish community near the memorials in 2001.
Image: Zhytomyr, 2010, Memorial at the entrance to the forest, Sergey Reent
Zhytomyr, 2010, Memorial at the entrance to the forest, Sergey Reent

Image: Zhytomyr, 2010, Memorial in the woods, Sergey Reent
Zhytomyr, 2010, Memorial in the woods, Sergey Reent
Name
Pamjatnyk jewrejam zahyblym u Schytomyri
Open
The memorial is accessible at all times.