Chocieszów

In 1926, when the area was under Polish rule, several dozen Jews lived in the town of Chocieszów. During the 1930s several dozen Jewish families lived there, most of them engaged in raising livestock or the lumber trade. In September 1939, with the arrival of the Red Army in the town following the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, Chocieszów became part of Soviet Ukraine. Chocieszów was occupied by the Germans at the end of June, 1941. Shortly afterwards the Jews were ordered to wear white armbands with a blue Star of David (replaced later by yellow patches on their outer clothing). They also had to perform different kinds of forced labor. Apparently in August 1942, the Jews of Chocieszów were shot to death just outside the town. One group was murdered at the animal burial ground and the other at the former brick factory. Chocieszów was liberated by the Red Army in mid-April 1944.