Memorial to the Martyrs of Holobotow

Introduction and Background

During the Holocaust, several thousand Jews from Stryj and surrounding areas were executed in Holobotow (Holobut) forest, just outside Stryj. Other than a small sign, no memorial has ever been placed at the site where so many lost their lives.

In July 2000, I received the following e-mail message from Prof. Adam Zielinski:

Dear Sir, 
                                
I found your e-mail address on the Internet. I courteously
inform you that on June 10th there was a solemn, symbolic 
installation of a memorial on the place in Holobut
(5 km from Stryj) where victims were lost, which was covered in
depth in the Polish, Ukrainian and Austrian media. Articles for
the Jewish media are also in preparation. Those articles should
appear in the near future.  
  
Erection of the stone took place in the presence of Rabbi of
Lwow, many children of Jews from near Lwow, many important
politicians from Poland, Ukraine and Austria (where I now live)
as well as the only surviving Jew still living in Stryj, Jozef
Feuer.     
 
I am an author. In 1998 I published a literary book entitled
"Holobutow" in Polish and German from the Educational
Publishing House of Krakow ISBN # 83-86949-10-4. This book sold
out to the last copy, even though it appeared in sizable numbers.

Since then, I organized the erection of the stone in Holobut,
which I visited several times. My father is buried there, who
was shot during the first action in Stryj, on 1-9-1941. 

Everything that occurred in Holobut on 10-6-2001 (June 10, 2001)
resulted from my own initiatives, with the great and full
dedicated help of Mark Maldis of Polish Television,
who also reported very objectively about
Holobut. 
 
Please read the text about Holobut by opening the "Home-Page":
www.adamzielinski.com 
  
Of the stone's dedication in Holobut, please read at home-page:
www.trybuna.com.pl from July 1, 2001 - "Magazyn Trybuny" The
title of the article: "Stone from the Heart".

I am the son of the lawyer Dr. Karl Rosenberg, who had a
lawyer's office at Krasinski St. 2, where our family also lived.
 
I hope that this information will please you and others from
Stryj, if such are still alive, but I don't know of any. In any
case, my book "Holobut" and the stone erected June 10, 2001 are
the only memorials to the Jews murdered there, of whom the
number is estimated to have been between 14,000 and 17,000
(Probably Jews are also buried there from Zydaczowa, Morszyna,
Bolechowa, Skolego and other small villages around Stryj)
 
Heartfelt greetings   
Adam Zielinski  


I replied to Prof. Zielinski, indicating that there would be a great deal of interest in the Holobotow memorial, and requested further information. Prof. Zielinski replied to my message, referring me to the Trybuna article in Polish. I have since had the article translated into English, and have received permission from the Trybuna to post it on the Stryy ShtetLinks site.

I would like to thank the following people who made the publication of the English version possible: Another article about the monument, titled "Pamieci stryjenskich Zydow" ("Memories of the Jews of Stryj") has been published in the Polish periodical "Midrasz" Nr. 7-8 (51-52). According to Prof. Zielinski, additional articles on the monument will be forthcoming in other Polish publications, including "Slowo Zydowskie" and "Jidishe stimme".

Mike Kalt
August, 2001

Update: In September, 2006, I received the following message from Dr. Zielinski:

"I have rebuilt the grave in Holobutow and I am sending you the new pictures. Would you please add it to the web site."

The updated pictures are included in the page "Color images of the Monument".

Links to Trybuna Article and Related Pages

Trybuna article in English

Trybuna article in Polish (requires Pan-European character support for your browser)

Pictures from the Trybuna article

Color images of the monument

Excerpt from "Holobutow", a story by Adam Zielinski (in English)

Adam Zielinski's web site



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Last updated 25 June 2011