Krzemieniec - Commemoration of Jewish Victims

During the Soviet period a fenced-off concrete monument was erected at the former Yakutsk Regiment shooting range. The inscription on the plaque does not mention the identity of the Jewish victims. The Russian text says: "Here are buried thousands of innocent victims who perished at the hands of Fascist occupiers, 1941-1944."

In 1992, after the fall of the Soviet Union and the establishment of an independent Ukrainian state, a new monument was erected near the old one. Jews living in Israel who originated from Krzemieniec funded its construction. The monument, slightly raised on a stone pedestal, is made of stones. There are two parallel marble plaques on the monument. On the left plaque there is an Ukrainian inscription that reads as follows:

"Here in August 1942 were shot to death by the German Fascists 15,000 Jewish civilians [of Krzemieniec], we bow our heads in thought, we will not let this calamity happen again." Beneath this text is engraved a head of an old grieving woman with her hand over her mouth.There is also a Star of David. The Hebrew inscription on the right plaque says:

"Here are buried 15,000 victims – men, women and children who were born and lived [in the town of] Krzemieniec who were killed and slaughtered by the bitter Nazi enemies and their accomplices, may God avenge the blood [of the victims and may their soul be bound up with a bond of life in the State of Israel." Underneath this inscription is a carved Star of David.

In recent years Pastor Alexei Radchuk, together with his students, has been taking care of the two monuments and the path leading to them.

Apparently after the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, a monument was also erected at the foot of what was called Krestovaya Hill, where in July 1941 members of the Jewish, Polish, and Ukrainian intelligentsia of Krzemienic were killed.