Czetwiertnia

In the interwar period several Jewish families lived in the village of Czetwiertnia, Poland. In 1921 23 Jews were living in the village – the majority of them merchants, artisans, or agricultural workers. In September 1939, following the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact Czetwiertnia village and its area became part of the Soviet Ukraine. Under Soviet rule a collective farm (kolkhoz) was established in the village and some Jewish families worked there. The Germans entered the village at the end of June 1941. Within several days the Jewish residents were ordered to wear a Star of David on their clothes. Jewish men were made to perform forced labor. In December 1941 about 100 Jews from the surrounding villages (Susk, Łuków, Hodomicze, Łyszcze, and Sławatucze) were ordered to move into an open ghetto that had been set up in the area of the former kolkhoz. By the end of February or early March 1942 the Jews of Czetwiertnia were ordered to move into the ghetto as well. Mainly Jewish women and young girls worked in the kolkhoz fields and performed other agricultural work under the supervision of Ukrainian auxiliary policemen. Some Jews also worked at the sewing workshop that operated in the village. On October 10, 1942 the Czetwiertnia ghetto was liquidated, with all its residents being shot to death on the outskirts of the village, apparently by a German unit. Czetwiertnia was liberated by the Red Army in February 1944.