Today is another black date in the history of the Jewish community of the region. Seventy-five years ago, about five hundred local Jews were shot in the pit of an unfinished pillbox north of the Stara Synyava steelworks. Those who managed to escape met their fate on July 23, 1942 in Starokostyantyniv. Once again, in the summer of 1943, a second shooting took place at the site of the first shooting, in which about eighty innocent victims of fascism died. Their memory remains eternally thanks to descendants, such as Borys Shavovich Kaplun, a resident of Khmelnytskyi, with whom we had a conversation that day at the Thiia Community Center.
From historical information it is known that as of 1939, 1237 Jews lived in Staraya Sinyava, which was 21% of the total population. Now there is not a single representative of the community left here, and fascist terror is the main reason for this. However, the descendants of the dead do not forget about their ancestors buried here and take care of their memory.
Boris Shavovich's father was fighting at the front at the time, his mother was in evacuation. This saved them from a terrible death, but the rest of his relatives remained forever in a mass grave. The man said that after the tragedy, a metal memorial sign appeared at the site of the shooting, on which bullet marks were visible. The date indicated there did not correspond to reality: it was written that the murders occurred on August 18, so that there would be nothing to do with a significant Christian holy day later. However, when a new, granite monument was erected, this historical inaccuracy was corrected.
The appearance of the new monument is also a tribute from the descendants to their predecessors. Current residents of Russia, Israel, the United States of America and various parts of Ukraine, whose ancestors lie under Staraya Sinyava, came together, collected funds and independently arranged the burial area. Old trees that could have fallen on the monument at any moment were cut down over time. But the young birch (in the photo on the left), which did not interfere with anything, nevertheless became a victim of unknown vandals. Now the place, like the Jewish cemetery, is looked after by a local resident at the request of the immigrants.
Fifteen years ago, a large requiem rally was held at the site of the shooting, with the participation of descendants of the deceased, representatives of the government, the public, and employees of the Hesed Besht Charitable Foundation and the local press. Today, this place is quiet. Borys Kaplun notes that he was there the day before, mowing grass and weeds before the memorable date. His example and the actions of his like-minded people are worthy of honor and respect, because caring for the memory of innocently deceased ancestors is the sacred duty of every Jew.
In the photos below, you can see a spread of the booklet with the names of the victims for the 60th anniversary of the shooting:
It is worth noting that some surnames are listed incorrectly. The inaccuracies are listed below:
Beselia – Besel
Bishtein – Binshtein
Kateluiskava – Kotelyansky
Kabilunsky – Kobylyansky
Marshalina – Marshalika
Margulila – Margulisa
Rubenstein – Rubenstein
Helugich - Pugach
