Shostka

Since the Shostka County had lain in the eastern part of the Pale of Settlement prior to the Russian Revolution, the town was home to relatively few Jews, compared to other parts of the Sumy District. In 1923, there were about 400 Jews in Shostka, out of a total population of approximately 8800. By 1939, the number of local Jews had dropped to about 370, while the overall population of the town had risen to 28,592. German troops occupied Shostka on August 28, 1941. Hot on the heels of the Wehrmacht, the SS and the mobile killing squads also entered the town. On several occasions, in July, November, and December 1942, the SS and local collaborators murdered a total of about 1,198 people in the town. These included Jewish civilians, Jewish POWs, Communists, and non-Jewish civilians suspected of being partisans. The Red Army liberated Shostka on September 3, 1943.