1944 Witnesses from Shumsk
KDRG-YVA 0113, Yad Vashem Item ID
5731175, Record Group M.33 (Records of the Extraordinary State
Commission to Investigate German-Fascist Crimes Committed on Soviet
Territory), File No. JM/19987, created October 12, 1944; Russian, 2
pages
Translated by Judith Springer;
edited by Ellen Garshick of the Kremenets District Research Group,
October 2020
Created by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II to
document German crimes during the occupation, the Soviet Extraordinary
State Commission compiled testimonial information gathered from the
evidence of neighbors, eyewitnesses, and survivors. Regional
commissions contributed their reports to a centralized commission in
Moscow. These reports were microfilmed in Moscow by Yad Vashem in 1990.
For more information on the Commission, see https://www.jewishgen.org/InfoFiles/Extraordinary.htm.
Act
Shumsk, October 12, 1944
The Facilitation Commission of Shumsk District, Tarnopol Region,
concerning the determination and investigation of the crimes by the
German-Fascist invaders and their accomplices, composed of: Comrade
Vasiliy Semenovitsh ANTONOV, chairman-secretary of the Shumsk District
Committee of the Communist Party of Bolsheviks; Comrade Aleksandr
Fomitsh KOSTYUK, deputy chairman of the District Executive Committee;
Doctor Aleksandr Antonov TUMINSKIY, head of the district hospital; O.
Ioann Timotiyevitsh, archpriest; Comrade Nikolay Vasilyevitsh
AVERYANOV, senior tax inspector of the District Financial Department;
and Comrade Ivan Petrovich FIRSYUK, builder-technician of communal
services, formed the following action:
During the period from October 10 to 12 of this year inclusive, the
commission conducted an inspection of the crimes by the German-Fascist
invaders. An examination established that, at the distance of 1 km from
Shumsk, in the southwestern direction, in a hollow, near the Viliya
River, three graves located next to each other were discovered; one of
them—the main one—35 meters long, 7.30 meters wide, and 3.30 meters
deep, as well as two additional, each 10 meters long, 8.50 meters wide,
and 3.30 meters deep. After their excavations, 2,047 corpses were
discovered in the main grave, in one of the additional—203, and in
another, 182—a total of 2,432 corpses. The discovered corpses of men,
women, and children were mixed among them and disposed in the main
grave—in 7 parallel rows, one under the other, and in additional rows
in this order—4 rows.
In most cases, the corpses in these graves are without clothes and
underwear, being in the state of a total posthumous decomposition. In
the area of the back, they have traces of bullet injuries. Furthermore,
some corpses have a number of additional bone injuries in the form of
fractures of ribs, bone fissures of the cranium, and fractures of bone
extremities. In the opinion of the forensic medical examination, the
injuries were caused by the automatic-type firearms. These corpses, in
which other bone damage was noticed, were subject to a violent
premortal assault. Several children’s corpses, where evident injuries
were not detected, were also found in one of the graves.
Medical evidence in court finds that they died from suffocation while
alive.
Owing to the fact that it was not possible to identify all the corpses
described above, all of them were examined in the presence of
commission members. This was concluded by the expert medical testimony
in court, which is attached to this document.
Testimonies of witnesses: 1. Sobishkoda Vladislav Vikentyevich, 2.
Burshteyn Mariya Mikhaylovna, 3. Sikorskaya Konstantsiya Grigoryevna,
4. Shrayer Shlema Davidevich, 5. Burshteyn Yakov Mikhaylovich, 6.
Shishkovskiy Ilya Filipovich, residing in the small town of Shumsk, as
well as 7. Rencha Valeriya Rafalevicha, 8. Shevchuka Vasiliya
Mianevicha, 9. Bandarchuka Vasitsiya Stepanevicha, 10. Letetskaya
Mariya Fedorovna, 11. Letetskiy Sider Polikarpovich residing in
Lepesovka village, where from August 12 through 20, 1942, mass
executions of peaceful Soviet citizens were carried out. The executions
were carried out by the German gendarmerie: PICH/ German/—gendarmerie
commander, BLESK /German/—gendarme, and other persons: OBERHAUSER
/German/—farmer, GEKKER Alfred /German/—farmer, TOTSKIY /Leonid/
/Ukrainian/ --district chief, DOBROVOLSKIY Genrikh
/Ukrainian/—policeman, and KRAVCHUK/ Ukrainian/ Gestapo employee.
The district commission, on the basis of testimonies, considers the
abovementioned persons—who participated in the mass executions of
peaceful citizens—responsible for the crimes on peaceful Soviet
citizens.
Appendix: 1. Act of forensic
medical examination
2. Testimonies
of witnesses
3. Plan of the
locality where executions took place
COMMISSION CHAIRMAN:
[signature] ANTONOV
COMMISSION MEMBERS:
[signature] KOSTYUK
[signature] TUMINSKIY
[signature] TIMOTIYEVICH
[signature] AVERYANOV
[signature] FIRSYUK
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