Terrible Condition Of Mass Graves Of Murdered Jews In Striy
While researching another issue, I came across a disturbing website that showed the condition of mass graves in the Ukrainian city of Striy, located near Lviv. I e-mailed the contact person and was informed that Rabbi Naftali Besser of the Yeshiva of Flatbush was working to correct this situation. When I asked how it was possible that after 60 years the skulls and bones were still on top of the ground instead of being buried by earth, the contact person replied that the location of the mass graves was on the site of a brick factory and that once the brick factory began to use the soil in the area, the top layer thinned out and revealed the remains of the Jews who were murdered there during the Holocaust.
5 Comments:
How terribly sad. These bodies deserve far more respect than to be left like this.
Unbelievable.
But there is green growth there, which means it hasn't been dug for a while. Maybe the brick factory did the world a favor and revealed this mass grave. How do we know if some of the bones went into those bricks. Good grief!
So, why don't they pay the men at the brick factory to gather the bones together so someone can bury them? Can't they get a group of men to come and gather the bones for burial. If they know all this, the next step is to DO SOMETHING!
So sorry, all those bones - just dreadful.
From
http://www.jewishgen.org/cemetery/e-europe/ukra-go.html
The cemetary you mention is in Golobutov. The present population is given at less than 1000, with no Jews currently living there. Here's some more info from the site, which lists Jewish cemetaries all over the world with notes about their towns' histories and the current state of the burial grounds:
"The earliest mention of Jewish community in the town is 1563. 1935 Jewish population was 10,568. Effecting Jewish community was privileges granted in 1576; building of a synagogue in 1660 and 1817, and fire in 1886. Yakob from Lishnya, author of Galakhik works died here in 1832. The cemetery is unlocked with no caretaker. The pit was dug in Spring 1943 for Orthodox Jews. (8km away) Striy, (19 km away), Lisyatychy, (18km away) Morshin, and (13km away) Bratkovtsy also were murdered at this unlandmarked site. Near Golobutov. Jews from Striy and other local towns and villages were killed. Guilty for this action are Fon Devits, Ebenkhert, Klyarman, Iozef Gabriel, Vasilii Lekh, and Kuziv Onufrii. See SALR, Fond 5001, inventory 6, sheets 10, 26, 30, 31) The road to the quarry, then walking to desolate quarry reaches the isolated wooded plain with no sign or the marker. From Railov, walk to the quarry. No wall, fence, or gate surrounds the cemetery. Now, site contains six 6x12m pits with no gravestones or markers. Present owner is unknown. The property used only as Jewish cemetery. The cemetery borders industrial and commercial area. The cemetery boundaries are larger than in 1939. The cemetery is visited rarely by private visitors. The cemetery was vandalized during last 10 years and between 1945 and 1981. Very serious threat: vegetation overgrowth. The mass burial site shows evidences of digging in the pits and marauding. After war years, a part of the site was destroyed by Railov brick factory. The mass burial site has been covered with vegetation; shrubs that prevent access.
Iosif Gelston, Lvov 290049, PO Box 10569, tel./fax: (0322) 227490 completed survey 10.11.1998. Gelston visited the site on 28.10.1998. Person interviewed was Fedunishin Petro Vasilievich, citizen of Golobutov with house near the church in Golobutov. Documentation: SALR, Fond 5001, inv. 6, 39 Points of Safe, sheet 9,10,26,30,31; A. Prochazka Historja m. Stryja, Lwow, 1926, St. 129 (in Polish); Jewish Encyclopedia, B.14, p. 583, St. Petersburg, 1912; Slownik Geogr. Krol. Pols, T.11, St. 429, Warszawa, 1880 (in Polish). Other documents exist, but were too general."
TNZBH.
Judi: Thank you for the background information. Do you also share roots in Ukraine?
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