Sumy

Although Sumy lay outside the Pale of Settlement, a few Jewish merchants were permitted to settle and work there. The first Jews moved into the town in the early 19th century, and in 1870 Sumy was home to 111 Jews. By 1939, that number had grown to 1,851 (about 2.3 percent of the total population). German troops occupied Sumy on October 10, 1941. On November 30 that year, the Germans ordered the local Jews to wear a yellow Star of David on their chests, backs, and arms, and Jews were beaten and punished on countless occasions. On December 5, 1941, this order was reiterated, and now even the Jewish toddlers were required to have a Star of David sewn on their blankets. In February 1942, some 1,000 Jews were murdered in Sumy in two large-scale operations. In May-June that year, the Germans and their Hungarian allies killed an additional several dozen Jews, along with thirty Roma. Some 250 Hungarian Jews were also murdered in Sumy during the occupation period. The Red Army liberated Sumy on September 2, 1943.