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Murder story of Vyunki Jews in the Vyunki Forest

Murder Site
Vyunki Forest
Ukraine (USSR)
Murder site of the Jews of Vyunki. Contemporary view. Photographer: 	Mikhail Tyaglyy, 2012.
Murder site of the Jews of Vyunki. Contemporary view. Photographer: Mikhail Tyaglyy, 2012.
YVA, Photo Collection, 14615660
In September 1941, the exact date remains unknown, the Jews of Vyunki were collected and taken by cart outside the village on the pretext of being taken to work. Instead, they were brought to a pit that had been dug by POWs. The pit was located in the forest in the vicinity of the road leading to nearby Sheremetyev village. There 27 Jewish women, children, and old people were shot. Several local policemen took part in the murder operation. Some testimonies report that some victims had only been wounded. After the shooting the pit was covered with a thin layer of earth.
Related Resources
Boleslav Sazonskiy, who was born in 1939 in Vyunki, related: Interview by Mikhail Tyaglyy in 2012
Boleslav Sazonskiy. Photographer: 	Mikhail Tyaglyy, 2012.
It was local policemen from Vuinki who shot the Jews. They compiled the lists since they were local residents and knew how many they [the Jews] were. Most of them [the victims] were women, children, and old people since some of the Jews had joined gone the army and others had left the place before [the Germans arrived]. POWs from Dovbysh dug a pit. The Jews were loaded onto carts on the pretext of their being resettled. My sister witnessed this when she was watching our cows grazing. There were three policemen from the village, I know their last names. I do not want to tell you their names since their families are still living here. The locals [Jews] did not know where they were being taken. By evening the local residents knew that they had been shot. They heard the shooting and the children [who were pasturing the cows] explained [what had happened]. …My mother and other adults went to see. They [some of the victims] were still alive. They had been covered with only twenty centimeters of earth. Some of the people who had been wounded were still breathing… This took place one kilometer from the village, 200 meters from the road. After the war no Jews remained in the village.
[calculated]
Boleslav Sazonskiy, who was born in 1939 in Vyunki, related: Interview by Mikhail Tyaglyy in 2012
Boleslav Sazonskiy. Photographer: 	Mikhail Tyaglyy, 2012.
It was local policemen from Vuinki who shot the Jews. They compiled the lists since they were local residents and knew how many they [the Jews] were. Most of them [the victims] were women, children, and old people since some of the Jews had joined gone the army and others had left the place before [the Germans arrived]. POWs from Dovbysh dug a pit. The Jews were loaded onto carts on the pretext of their being resettled. My sister witnessed this when she was watching our cows grazing. There were three policemen from the village, I know their last names. I do not want to tell you their names since their families are still living here. The locals [Jews] did not know where they were being taken. By evening the local residents knew that they had been shot. They heard the shooting and the children [who were pasturing the cows] explained [what had happened]. …My mother and other adults went to see. They [some of the victims] were still alive. They had been covered with only twenty centimeters of earth. Some of the people who had been wounded were still breathing… This took place one kilometer from the village, 200 meters from the road. After the war no Jews remained in the village.
[calculated]
Vyunki Forest
Murder Site
Ukraine (USSR)
50.193;28.083
Murder site of the Jews of Vyunki. Contemporary view. Photographer: 	Mikhail Tyaglyy, 2012.
Murder site of the Jews of Vyunki. Contemporary view. Photographer: Mikhail Tyaglyy, 2012.
YVA, Photo Collection, 14615660