Kholmech
Dear Leonid!
Excuse me for my late answer. In 1997 Leonid Ivanovich Vashchilo, a former resident of Cholmech, contacted the Club of Jewish Culture "AMI" with the request at least to rebuild the monument at the place where 57 Jews, who where residents of this village, were shot and burried. We started [a very difficult campaign]. We contacted the local administrative authorities, but we only received refusals which were justified with the difficult financial situation. We tried to collect money from the Jews who live in our town but there are only few of them left so there wouldn't be enough money, neither for a monument nor for a memorial tablet. Then we contacted Alexander Leontyevich Rudenko, the manager of Cholmech's sovchos (union of farmers). To our surprise he answered our request but he also couldn't pay all the costs of the monument. A.L. Rudenko told us that, when the Jewish cementary was plowed in order to build buildings and to found kitchen gardens, he and Pavel Pavlovich Efremenko, the chairman of the village board, could save a part of a monument which was located at that cementary: a little trunk with cut off knots .We discussed the issue and made the decision to found a temporary monument. It has a pedestal with the trunk on it and a little memorial tablet with: "57 residents of Cholmech were shot and buried at this place in August of 1941". In a corner there is the Jewish star.
On the 23rd of July residents of Retchitsa and Cholmech, former partisans and representatives of the local administration joined the opening of the monument and the mourning meeting. L.I.Vashchilo and L.G. Motorniy, the eyewitnesses of the shooting, told about their experiences.
They were children and when they saw that Jews (old people, children and women) were brought away, they followed them. The Jews were brought to the steep right bank of Dnepr and the shooting started. A young man jumped into the river and tried to escape but a fascist's bullet killed him there. (can not read this part) [...] The third and the sixth one on the left side are the eyewitnesses of the shooting. Maybe I haven't written about the issues you are interested in. Write me, I'll try to describe them more detailed. We hope that somebody will help us to rebuild the monument as soon as possible.
Sincerly yours, Alla Shkop (Retshitsa) \ Autobiography Vashchilo Leonid Ivanovich Vashchilo, nationality: Belarussian, was born 1926 in Cholmech, Retshitsa county, district of Gomel.
Before the Second World War I went to the Cholmech high school.During the occupation of our county by the fascists, which began in August 1941, I joined the underground "Komsomol (union of young people in the USSR) group Cholmech-Zaushel" until April 1943, then I became partisan in the detachment "Mstytel" (one who takes revenge) . After the liberation of our county from the German occupants I worked in the ammunition factory of the town Zlatoust. In March 16, 1945 I was drafted by the Army. In the last stage of the war I took part in the fighting against the imperialistic Japan as a soldier in the "Zabaykalski front" (a military detachment)
After the war I accomplished the military academy of Saratov. After that I resumed the duty in different districts of our country. In 1970, I retired as major. Now doing nonprofit work in Cholmech, I'm decorated with 17 marks of distinction (I didn't translate the listed ones)
I. L. Vashchilo Cholmech letter, Nov. 8, 1997To: A.Yu. SpevakChairman of the Association of the veterans of the WW 2.
As everybody knows, before the WW 2 started, in Cholmech, Retchitsa county, lived many Jews. During the occupation of our county the fascist occupators shot 17 families in Cholmech. 57 persons, adults and children, are buried in a mass grave at the place of the shooting. But there is no monument for the dead Jews. The Jewish club "AMI" needs money for maintaining the memory. I made a list of the shot Jews for the "Book of Memory" which was published in Retchitsa county.November 8, 1997. L.I. Vashchilo, former partisan in the underground group "Cholmech-Zaushel" 1941-43 Cholmech, Aviv, 6 1999At the place of the shooting there is a monument Retchitsa. Long before the arranged time people came to the House of Culture. There were old men who walked in their youth the roads of the horrible war. They came alone and with their families. They came to honor the memory of the innocent people who were shot by fascist beasts just because they were born as Jews.
In 1998 our Club of Jewish Culture has been contacted by L.I. Voshchilo, a former resident of Cholmech and eyewitness of the shooting. He told us that in August of 1941 Germans and militians put together all Jews and brought them somewhere. He was a boy at that time. Together with his friend Lyonya Motorniy he followed: they wanted to know what would happen. There were more than fifty Jews - the biggest part of them were children, women and old people. They were brought to the steep bank of Dniepr. Everything became clear...L.I.'s story moved everybody who was in the Club deeply. We made the decision to contact the the administration on the next local session with the request to put a monument to the place of the shooting. We made a committee. At first we haven't been supported by the administration which was justified with the lack of money. Then we contacted the manager of the sovchos "Iskr'e1" (Cholmech) A. Rudenko and the chairman of the village board P. Efimenko. They listened to us with attention, told us that they have saved a part of the former monument from the Jewish cementary, which doesn't exist anymore, a trunk with cut off knots. A. Rudenko told us that he will take part in the financing of the monument.
Together with the sovchos manager, the chairman of the village board and the eyewitnesses, we visited the place of the shooting. Represantatives of the local government promised to put there a temporary monument and they kept their word.
To the meeting came: representatives of the administration, journalist P. Rabenok, the author of the "Book of Memory", V. Bokun, a documentary film maker from Minsk, Dide Frenkel with a friend - guests from France and several residents of Retchitsa and Cholmech.
At first we came together at the monument for the Soviet soldiers-liberators. The meeting has been started by P. Efimenko. B. Grubman, a war vetaran, read his poetry. A wreath was laid at the monument. After that everybody climbed up to the place of the shooting. In front of the temporary monument several persons made a speech: L. Motorniy and L. Voshchilo, the eyewitnesses, N. Mikhalevskaya, the chairperson of the local department of culture, A. Spevak, the chairman of the veteran group of the Club of Jewish culture and others.
Yura Ruzin (Tsylia's son) read poetry by Mark Chagall. In the end, the oldest resident of Retchitsa and war veteran Z.Gurevitch spoke a memorial prayer.
Everybody - Belarussian and Jewish people - who joined the meeting felt that they have performed their duty. Now there is a memorial tablet at the place of another mass grave.
A. Shkop, chairperson of the Club of Jewish culture. A. Spevak, chairman of the veteran group
The authors of this article have put into the envelope the local newspaper "Dnjeprovets" with the report "Another monument". The report tells that the idea of erecting the monument has found recognition in the local administration, in the board of the Members of Parliament and especially from I.F. Tochikin, the chairman of the administration, T.I. Litvinova, chairperson of the board of Members of Parliament and G.P. Shilenka, the chairman of the local veteran organization.
One more important detail is told in this report: L.I Vashchenko made a list of the victims of the fascist genocide from the Shtetl Cholmech which was published in the "Book of Memory" - historical-documentarial chronicles of the Retchitsa county.