The Vinnytsia massacre was the mass execution of between 9,000 and 11,000 people in the Ukrainian town of Vinnytsia by the Soviet secret police NKVD during the Great Purge in 1937–1938, which Nazi Germany discovered during its occupation of Ukraine in 1943.[3] The investigation of the site first conducted by the international Katyn Commission coincided with the discovery of a similar mass murder site of Polish prisoners of war in Katyn. Nazi propaganda invoked mention of the massacre to illustrate communist terror by the Soviet Union.
Most of the victims buried at Vinnytsia were killed using a .22 calibre bullet fired into the back of the neck.[4] Due to the small calibre of the bullet, most victims were shot twice, and at least 78 of them were shot three times; 395 of the victims found there had their skulls broken in addition to traces of gunshot trauma.[4] Almost all men whose remains were excavated had their hands tied. Older women were dressed in some form of clothing, whereas younger victims were buried naked.[4]
The executions were clandestine; the families were not informed of their relatives' fate. Personal belongings, documents and trial documentation were not preserved and instead were buried in a separate pit not far from the mass graves.[4]
The investigation commission
The International commission investigating the mass murder in Vinnytsia, 1943
Mass graves for the victims
The first examinations of the exhumed bodies were made by doctors such as professor Gerhard Schrader of the University of Halle-Wittenberg, docent Doroshenko of Vinnytsia, and professor Malinin of Krasnodar, respectively. The excavations started in May 1943 at three locations: the fruit orchard in the west, the central cemetery, and the People's Park. Most of the bodies were found in the fruit orchard (5,644 bodies). Altogether, 91 mass graves were discovered at the three locations, and 9,432 bodies were exhumed; 149 of them were women. The excavations at the People's Park were not finished, though many more bodies were thought to be buried there.[5]
After a preliminary investigation conducted by Professor Schrader's team, two teams of medical examiners were invited — one international and the other made up of 13 experts from universities in Nazi Germany. An international commission of experts in anatomy and forensic pathology were brought in from 11 countries in Europe, predominantly from Nazi Germany's allied or occupied states. They were:[6][7]
The group visited the mass graves between July 13 and July 15, 1943. The Nazi German commission completed its report on July 29, 1943. Both commissions determined that almost all of the victims were executed by two shots in the back of the head between 1937 and 1938.[9]
468 bodies were identified by people of Vinnytsia and the surroundings; the other 202 were identified on the basis of documents and evidence found in the graves. Most bodies that were identified this way were Ukrainians; there were also 28 bodies that were identified as ethnic Poles.[10]
Later history
Besides the original group of thirteen, several other delegations visited the sites in mid-1943. Among them were politicians and other officials from Kingdom of Bulgaria, Occupied Denmark, Occupied Greece, Republic of Finland, and Kingdom of Sweden.[11] Photos and results of the investigation were published in many countries in Europe, and were used by Nazi Germany in the propaganda war against the Soviet Union.
Most of the bodies were reburied after a burial service led by metropolit Vissarion of Odessa. The service was also attended by many other Orthodox bishops and foreign church officials.[12]
Vinnytsia Memorial
A monument was also erected to the "Victims of Stalinist Terror". Later the Soviet authorities rededicated the monument to the "Victims of Nazi Terror", finally completely removing it and creating an entertainment park in its place. In the last ten years[when?] a new monument has been constructed at the burial site in the park; it only refers to "victims of totalitarianism".[9] During Soviet times, information about the massacre was disseminated and investigated by the Ukrainian diaspora in the West. The mass murder in Vinnytsia returned as a critical topic in Ukraine in 1988.[3]
^ abValery Vasiliev, Yuriy Shapoval, "Stages of «Great Terror»: The Vinnytsia Tragedy", Zerkalo Nedeli, № 31 (406), August 17–23, 2002, (in Russian 2007-11-28 at the Wayback Machine, in Ukrainian 2009-05-18 at the Wayback Machine)
^ abcdJózef Mackiewicz (1997). "Klucz do "Parku Kultury i Odpoczynku"" [Keys to "Park of Culture and Leisure"]. In Jacek Trznadel (ed.). Katyń. Zbrodnia bez sądu i kary [Katyn, Crime without trial nor punishment] (pdf). Zeszyty Katyńskie (in Polish). Vol. II (1 ed.). Warsaw: Antyk. pp. 329–339. ISBN83-86482-32-X. ISSN 1426-4064. Retrieved 2011-10-18.; fragment in question originally published in: Józef Mackiewicz (1951-12-02). "Klucz do "Parku Kultury i Odpoczynku"". Wiadomości (48).
^Amtliches Material zum Massenmord von Winniza, p.83–86, 117. Archiv-Edition 1999 (Faksimile der 1944 erschienenen Ausgabe).
^Amtliches Material zum Massenmord von Winniza, p.103. Archiv-Edition 1999 (Faksimile der 1944 erschienenen Ausgabe).
^"Vinnytsia 1943. From the materials of an international commission of forensic medical experts working on the excavation". memorial.kiev.ua. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
^Toma Roman Jr. (April 3, 2009). "Cum a dus-o masacrul de la Katyn pe Rodica Marta în pușcărie". Jurnalul Național (in Romanian). Retrieved July 29, 2020.
^ ab Ukrainian society of the repressed. Peter Pavlovych
^Amtliches Material zum Massenmord von Winniza, p.124, 215–248. Archiv-Edition 1999 (Faksimile der 1944 erschienenen Ausgabe).
^Amtliches Material zum Massenmord von Winniza, p.6, 206–207. Archiv-Edition 1999 (Faksimile der 1944 erschienenen Ausgabe).
^Amtliches Material zum Massenmord von Winniza, p.124, 208–209. Archiv-Edition 1999 (Faksimile der 1944 erschienenen Ausgabe).
Literature
Media related to Vinnytsia massacre at Wikimedia Commons
Causarano, Pietro (2004). Le XXe siècle des guerres. Editions de l'Atelier. p. 510. ISBN2708237624.
Ihor Kamenetsky. The Tragedy of Vinnytsia: Materials on Stalin's Policy of Extermination in Ukraine/1936-1938, Ukrainian Historical Assn (1991) ISBN978-0-685-37560-0 ()
Sandul, I. I., A. P. Stepovy, S. O. Pidhainy. The Black Deeds Of The Kremlin: A White Book. Ukrainian Association of Victims of Russian Communist Terror. Toronto. 1953
Israel Charny, William S. Parsons, and Samuel Totten. Century of Genocide: Critical Essays and Eyewitness Accounts. Routledge. New York, London. ISBN0-415-94429-5
Dragan, Anthony. Vinnytsia: A Forgotten Holocaust. Jersey City, NJ: Svoboda Press, Ukrainian National Association 1986, octavo, 52 pp. ()
Crime of Moscow in Vynnytsia. Ukrainian Publication of the Ukrainian American Youth Association, Inc. New York. 1951
Вінниця - Злочин Без Кари. Воскресіння. Київ. 1994
Вінницький злочин // Енциклопедія українознавства.: [В 10 т.]. - Перевид. в Україні. - Київ., 1993. - Т.1. - С.282
The Ukrainian Review (1959). The Ukrainian Review. Vol. 7. Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain, Ltd. p. 93.
Paperno, Irina (2001). "Exhuming the Bodies of Soviet Terror". Representations. 75 (1): 89–118. doi:10.1525/rep.2001.75.1.89. JSTOR 10.1525/rep.2001.75.1.89.
January 14, 2023
vinnytsia, massacre, mass, execution, between, people, ukrainian, town, vinnytsia, soviet, secret, police, nkvd, during, great, purge, 1937, 1938, which, nazi, germany, discovered, during, occupation, ukraine, 1943, investigation, site, first, conducted, inter. The Vinnytsia massacre was the mass execution of between 9 000 and 11 000 people in the Ukrainian town of Vinnytsia by the Soviet secret police NKVD during the Great Purge in 1937 1938 which Nazi Germany discovered during its occupation of Ukraine in 1943 3 The investigation of the site first conducted by the international Katyn Commission coincided with the discovery of a similar mass murder site of Polish prisoners of war in Katyn Nazi propaganda invoked mention of the massacre to illustrate communist terror by the Soviet Union Vinnytsia massacrePart of the Great PurgeLocationVinnytsia Ukrainian Soviet Socialist RepublicCoordinates49 08 N 28 17 E 49 14 N 28 29 E 49 14 28 29 Coordinates 49 08 N 28 17 E 49 14 N 28 29 E 49 14 28 29Date1937 1938Targetethnic Ukrainians political prisoners ethnic PolesAttack typeSummary executionsDeaths9 000 1 11 000 2 PerpetratorsNKVD Contents 1 History 1 1 Massacre 1 2 The investigation commission 1 3 Later history 2 See also 3 References 4 LiteratureHistory EditMassacre Edit Most of the victims buried at Vinnytsia were killed using a 22 calibre bullet fired into the back of the neck 4 Due to the small calibre of the bullet most victims were shot twice and at least 78 of them were shot three times 395 of the victims found there had their skulls broken in addition to traces of gunshot trauma 4 Almost all men whose remains were excavated had their hands tied Older women were dressed in some form of clothing whereas younger victims were buried naked 4 The executions were clandestine the families were not informed of their relatives fate Personal belongings documents and trial documentation were not preserved and instead were buried in a separate pit not far from the mass graves 4 The investigation commission Edit The International commission investigating the mass murder in Vinnytsia 1943 Mass graves for the victims The first examinations of the exhumed bodies were made by doctors such as professor Gerhard Schrader of the University of Halle Wittenberg docent Doroshenko of Vinnytsia and professor Malinin of Krasnodar respectively The excavations started in May 1943 at three locations the fruit orchard in the west the central cemetery and the People s Park Most of the bodies were found in the fruit orchard 5 644 bodies Altogether 91 mass graves were discovered at the three locations and 9 432 bodies were exhumed 149 of them were women The excavations at the People s Park were not finished though many more bodies were thought to be buried there 5 After a preliminary investigation conducted by Professor Schrader s team two teams of medical examiners were invited one international and the other made up of 13 experts from universities in Nazi Germany An international commission of experts in anatomy and forensic pathology were brought in from 11 countries in Europe predominantly from Nazi Germany s allied or occupied states They were 6 7 Dr Soenen Ghent University Occupied Belgium Dr Michailov Sofia University Kingdom of Bulgaria Dr Niilo Pesonen fi University of Helsinki Republic of Finland Dr Duvoir University of Paris Occupied France Dr Cazzaniga University of Milan Fascist Italy Dr Ljudevit Jurak University of Zagreb Independent State of Croatia Dr ter Poorten University of Amsterdam The Occupied Netherlands Dr Alexandru Birkle de Institute of Forensic Medicine and Criminology Bucharest Kingdom of Romania 8 Dr Gosta Haggqvist sv Karolinska Institutet Stockholm Kingdom of Sweden Dr Krsek University of Bratislava Slovak Republic Dr Ferenc Orsos hu University of Budapest Kingdom of Hungary The group visited the mass graves between July 13 and July 15 1943 The Nazi German commission completed its report on July 29 1943 Both commissions determined that almost all of the victims were executed by two shots in the back of the head between 1937 and 1938 9 German propaganda poster of c 1943 with text Vinnitsa the NKVD gunman has stereotypically Jewish features in accordance with the Nazi idea of Judeo Bolshevism 468 bodies were identified by people of Vinnytsia and the surroundings the other 202 were identified on the basis of documents and evidence found in the graves Most bodies that were identified this way were Ukrainians there were also 28 bodies that were identified as ethnic Poles 10 Later history Edit Besides the original group of thirteen several other delegations visited the sites in mid 1943 Among them were politicians and other officials from Kingdom of Bulgaria Occupied Denmark Occupied Greece Republic of Finland and Kingdom of Sweden 11 Photos and results of the investigation were published in many countries in Europe and were used by Nazi Germany in the propaganda war against the Soviet Union Most of the bodies were reburied after a burial service led by metropolit Vissarion of Odessa The service was also attended by many other Orthodox bishops and foreign church officials 12 Vinnytsia Memorial A monument was also erected to the Victims of Stalinist Terror Later the Soviet authorities rededicated the monument to the Victims of Nazi Terror finally completely removing it and creating an entertainment park in its place In the last ten years when a new monument has been constructed at the burial site in the park it only refers to victims of totalitarianism 9 During Soviet times information about the massacre was disseminated and investigated by the Ukrainian diaspora in the West The mass murder in Vinnytsia returned as a critical topic in Ukraine in 1988 3 See also EditBykivnia mass grave near Kyiv Dem ianiv Laz massacre near Ivano Frankivsk Fantana Albă massacre Katyn massacre Kurapaty mass grave near Minsk Belarus List of massacres in the Soviet Union Lunca massacre Mass graves in the Soviet Union Sandarmokh Solovki prison camp Svirlag Tatarka common gravesReferences Edit Causarano 2004 p 510 The Ukrainian Review 1959 p 93 a b Valery Vasiliev Yuriy Shapoval Stages of Great Terror The Vinnytsia Tragedy Zerkalo Nedeli 31 406 August 17 23 2002 in Russian Archived 2007 11 28 at the Wayback Machine in Ukrainian Archived 2009 05 18 at the Wayback Machine a b c d Jozef Mackiewicz 1997 Klucz do Parku Kultury i Odpoczynku Keys to Park of Culture and Leisure In Jacek Trznadel ed Katyn Zbrodnia bez sadu i kary Katyn Crime without trial nor punishment pdf Zeszyty Katynskie in Polish Vol II 1 ed Warsaw Antyk pp 329 339 ISBN 83 86482 32 X ISSN 1426 4064 Retrieved 2011 10 18 fragment in question originally published in Jozef Mackiewicz 1951 12 02 Klucz do Parku Kultury i Odpoczynku Wiadomosci 48 Amtliches Material zum Massenmord von Winniza p 83 86 117 Archiv Edition 1999 Faksimile der 1944 erschienenen Ausgabe Amtliches Material zum Massenmord von Winniza p 103 Archiv Edition 1999 Faksimile der 1944 erschienenen Ausgabe Vinnytsia 1943 From the materials of an international commission of forensic medical experts working on the excavation memorial kiev ua Retrieved February 1 2021 Toma Roman Jr April 3 2009 Cum a dus o masacrul de la Katyn pe Rodica Marta in pușcărie Jurnalul Național in Romanian Retrieved July 29 2020 a b About Crime in Vinnytsia Ukrainian society of the repressed Peter Pavlovych Amtliches Material zum Massenmord von Winniza p 124 215 248 Archiv Edition 1999 Faksimile der 1944 erschienenen Ausgabe Amtliches Material zum Massenmord von Winniza p 6 206 207 Archiv Edition 1999 Faksimile der 1944 erschienenen Ausgabe Amtliches Material zum Massenmord von Winniza p 124 208 209 Archiv Edition 1999 Faksimile der 1944 erschienenen Ausgabe Literature Edit Media related to Vinnytsia massacre at Wikimedia Commons Causarano Pietro 2004 Le XXe siecle des guerres Editions de l Atelier p 510 ISBN 2708237624 Ihor Kamenetsky The Tragedy of Vinnytsia Materials on Stalin s Policy of Extermination in Ukraine 1936 1938 Ukrainian Historical Assn 1991 ISBN 978 0 685 37560 0 available on line in pdf format Sandul I I A P Stepovy S O Pidhainy The Black Deeds Of The Kremlin A White Book Ukrainian Association of Victims of Russian Communist Terror Toronto 1953 Israel Charny William S Parsons and Samuel Totten Century of Genocide Critical Essays and Eyewitness Accounts Routledge New York London ISBN 0 415 94429 5 Dragan Anthony Vinnytsia A Forgotten Holocaust Jersey City NJ Svoboda Press Ukrainian National Association 1986 octavo 52 pp available on line in pdf format Crime of Moscow in Vynnytsia Ukrainian Publication of the Ukrainian American Youth Association Inc New York 1951 Vinnicya Zlochin Bez Kari Voskresinnya Kiyiv 1994 Vinnickij zlochin Enciklopediya ukrayinoznavstva V 10 t Perevid v Ukrayini Kiyiv 1993 T 1 S 282 Weiner Amir 2001 Making sense of war the Second World War and the fate of the Bolshevik Revolution Princeton N J Princeton University Press ISBN 0 691 05702 8 The Ukrainian Review 1959 The Ukrainian Review Vol 7 Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain Ltd p 93 Paperno Irina 2001 Exhuming the Bodies of Soviet Terror Representations 75 1 89 118 doi 10 1525 rep 2001 75 1 89 JSTOR 10 1525 rep 2001 75 1 89 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Vinnytsia massacre amp oldid 1130184135, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
