Ratno

Jews were first recorded as living in Ratno at the beginning of the 16th century. The Jewish community began to develop in the 19th century. In 1897 it numbered 2,219, comprising 71.8 percent of the total population. In 1920, during the Russian civil war (1918-1922), a gang of Balachovtsy (followers of Balachovets) carried out a pogrom in the town, killing several Jews and imposing a large ransom on its Jewish population. After World War I Ratno was incorporated into the independent Polish State. Different Jewish political parties (e.g., the Bund, HaMizrahi) and especially the Zionist youth movements (Hashomer Hatzair and Hehalutz) became active in the town. A Tarbut Zionist Hebrew -language school also operated during this period. In September 1939, with the arrival of the Red Army in the town following the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, Ratno became part of Soviet Ukraine. Under the Soviets private enterprise was banned and all political organizations, except the Communist Party, were closed down. The Tarbut school was also shut down. The Germans captured Ratno on June 28, 1941. During the first days of July Ukrainians staged two pogroms in Ratno, looting property and killing several Jews. A German unit arrived in the town to "restore order". Local Ukrainians initially mistook the Germans for armed Jews and opened fire. After killing several Ukrainians, the Germans conducted a retaliation operation. Claiming that the Jews had fired on them, the Germans killed 30 Jewish men and 30 Soviet POWs. From July 14 the Jews had to wear a white armband (replaced later by a yellow patch) on their outer clothes - on the back and on the chest. A curfew was imposed from 5 p.m. until 6 a.m. On July 17 the Germans set up a Judenrat (Jewish council), headed by David Aharon Shapiro and a Jewish police force. The German authorities confiscated all the livestock of the Jews and, later, took most of their valuables, furniture, and clothes. The Judenrat mobilized local Jews for different kinds of forced labor. In November 1941 workshops were set up in the town for skilled workers. In June 1942 there was a partisan raid on Ratno in which two German agricultural leaders (Sonderfuhrer) were killed. The SS retaliated by murdering 120 Jews on the outskirts of the town. Apparently in late July or early August, several Jews were murdered near the Cziplik Tract. On August 25 or 26, over 1,000 Jews were shot to death at Prochód Hill outside the town by German units, assisted by Ukrainian auxiliary police. Shortly afterwards, Jews who had been caught in hiding were shot to death at the old cemetery in the town. About several dozen surviving Jewish artisans continued to work for the Germans in workshops. By early 1943, those artisans had been shot to death as well. Ratno was liberated by the Red Army on July 18, 1944.