• Leova Port Map (1932): Description | 1932 Port Map (1.3 MB) - Special thanks to Mrs. Yocheved Klausner for her assistance in translating this document.
• Leova City Map (1935) (304 KB) 
• Leova City Map (June 6, 1941) (3.2 MB) - This map was drafted by Otto Volf, a German Jew from Leova. In 1940 Otto and his family joined an estimated 93,000 German colonists who were evacuated from Bessarabia to repatriation camps in German held territory. Shortly after the Wolff family arrived at the repatriation camp in Reid im Innkreis, Austria, Otto was taken away from his family and forced to draw this map. Hear the whole story from Otto's son
• Leova City Map (November 20, 1941) (4.6 MB) - Professionally drawn map of Leova from the Moldovan State Archives.
• Leova City Map (1965) (1.2 MB) - This map shows some of the Soviet street names that were used between the end of WWII and 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed and Moldova declared independence.
• Leova City Map (2004) (163 KB) -This map shows the street names that have been used from 1991 to present.  Though the names are again Romanian, only a few streets  were reassigned their pre WWII names.
• Aerial Photo comparison - Leova 1944 and 2009 (1.4 MB)
• List property in Leova owned by Jews (with street addresses) : Original Romanian (1.0 MB) | English Translation (29 KB) - About one year after the Germans and Romanians invaded Russia, the Romanian administration that governed the town of Leova, put together the following report of how they were exploiting the real estate properties owned by citizens collectively defined as "evacuated". The term "evacuated" refers not only to Jews who either fled or were victims of the Holocaust, but also to Leova residents of German heritage who were voluntarily evacuated between September and November of 1940, and to those who were deported to Siberia and Central Asia by the Soviet authorities in 1940-1941. This report, dated July 31, 1942, lists the name of the former owners of the each real estate property, the street address, the name of the new tenant and the annual rent the new tenant was paying.

• Leova Synagogues & Religious Life 
• Leova Port 
• Leova Town Photos 

Yevdokiya Savelievna Lipovich (AKA Shifra Barash) was nine years old when she and her younger sister Mina were interned in the Cahul Transit Camp. Of the approximately 525 Jews held in the camp, Shifra and Mina are the only two known survivors. Their survival was made possible when two local women, Vera Fedorovna Visokos and Lidiya Fedorovna Babienko, rescued the sisters and concealed their Jewish identities. Lipovich’s testimony recounts the family’s life in Leova, their capture and deportation, the horrific conditions in Cahul and during the subsequent forced march to Transnistria, and the events that led to the sisters’ rescue.

Original Russian (3.0 MB)

English Translation (1.4 MB)

Zelig Leshem (AKA Zelig Ungar) recalls his childhood and family life in Leova and the extraordinary journey that enabled him and his family to survive the Holocaust as refugees in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. His testimony documents the route they took from Leova to Tashkent, the places they passed through, and the experiences of the family along the way. It therefore provides valuable personal context for the broader record of Leova Jews who fled eastward ahead of the advancing German and Romanian armies.

Zelig Leshem (01:08:32)

Zilja Feldhammer née Schaffer, born in Leova in 1910, describes her life before the Holocaust and the persecution that followed the German-Romanian invasion. Her testimony traces her experiences in the Kopaigorod ghetto and in the Mogilev-Podolsky and Ediniti camps, including forced marches and imprisonment, until liberation by Soviet forces.

Zilja Feldhammer - Part 1 of 8 (00:28:07) Zilja Feldhammer - Part 3 of 8 (00:27:19) Zilja Feldhammer - Part 5 of 8 (00:29:09) Zilja Feldhammer - Part 7 of 8 (00:29:00)

Zilja Feldhammer - Part 2 of 8 (00:31:45) Zilja Feldhammer - Part 4 of 8 (00:27:46) Zilja Feldhammer - Part 6 of 8 (00:29:01) Zilja Feldhammer - Part 8 of 8 (00:15:19)

Pavel Volf belonged to one of Leova's small ethnic-German families, but, as he explains in his testimony, his family was Jewish. His account provides a distinctive perspective on the wartime upheaval in Bessarabia: the evacuation of the ethnic-German population in 1940, the difficult conditions encountered during resettlement, and the family's experiences in repatriation camps in German- and Austrian-controlled territory.

Pavel Volf - Part 1 of 3 (00:52:56) Pavel Volf - Part 3 of 3 (01:14:09)

Pavel Volf - Part 2 of 3 (00:24:15)

Aron Aronovich was born in Leova in 1932 and was still a child when the Holocaust reached his hometown. His testimony recounts persecution, forced marches, hiding, and his experiences in the Mogilev-Podolsky ghetto, where he was ultimately liberated by Soviet forces. His recollections provide the perspective of a child who survived the destruction of Leova's Jewish community.

Aron Aronovich - Part 1 of 2 (00:27:56)

Aron Aronovich - Part 2 of 2 (00:24:32)

Gheorghe Ghenea a resident of the nearby village of Cazangic, witnessed the persecution and murder of Jews during the Romanian occupation in 1941. He recalls the removal of a Jewish family from the village, the killing of members of the family in nearby Sărăteni, and other acts of violence and dispossession. His testimony also describes how local people responded to these crimes and what happened to Jewish property left behind.

Gheorghe Ghenea (00:31:45)

Alexandra Sestovskaia, from the nearby village of Sărăteni, recalls events she experienced during the Second World War. Her testimony contributes the perspective of a local civilian witness to the persecution of Jews in the Leova region and helps document events that might otherwise have remained known only through survivor accounts.

Alexandra Sestovskaia (00:20:54)

Victims of Soviet Deportation, 1940-1941

The List of People from Leova Persecuted by the Soviet Regime:  Original Romanian (3.4 MB) | English Translation (27 KB)

Between June 1940 and June 1941, Leova was under Soviet rule following the annexation of Bessarabia by the USSR. During this period, Soviet authorities arrested, deported, or otherwise persecuted residents regarded as political, social, or economic threats to the new regime.

This list records Leova residents persecuted during the Soviet occupation, including both Jews and non-Jews. It is an important reminder that the wartime history of Leova did not begin with the German invasion in June 1941; the community had already experienced a year of Soviet repression, deportation, and upheaval.

Flight East, 1941

Jews from Leova registered as refugees in Russia and Central Asia

When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, thousands of people from Bessarabia fled eastward ahead of the advancing German and Romanian armies. Among them were hundreds of Jews from Leova who reached destinations in Russia and Central Asia.

This database identifies more than 450 Jews from Leova who were registered as refugees or evacuees in locations across the Soviet Union. The records include names, father's names, birth years, gender, and places of evacuation. Many of these people endured severe shortages, difficult working conditions, and displacement, but their flight east placed them beyond German control and, for many, meant the difference between survival and death.

The Leova list was reconstructed from records in the Yad Vashem Shoah Victims' Names Database. It is particularly valuable when cross-referenced with the military, Holocaust, and genealogical records elsewhere on this site.

Soviet Military Service, 1941-1945

Leova Residents Who Served in the Soviet Military

Not all Jews from Leova remained in the town when the German invasion began. Some fled eastward, while many young men were already serving in, or subsequently entered, the Soviet armed forces. These records provide another important wartime path taken by Leova residents.

The database contains 429 records of men and women born in Leova who served in the Soviet military during World War II, including both Jews and non-Jews. The records can provide information about military units, ranks, dates of service, awards, wounds, deaths, and other aspects of an individual's wartime experience.


Citizens of Leova that died during WWII while fighting Fascism

This memorial, erected in the center of Leova in 1970, commemorates residents of the town who died during World War II while serving in the Soviet military. The names provide an important local counterpart to the individual Soviet military records on this website.

Cross-referencing the memorial with the Pamyat-Naroda records can sometimes reveal additional information about a person's military unit, rank, service, or circumstances of death.


Lists of conscription-aged Jewish men from Leova

These two lists were compiled by the Romanian authorities during the occupation and identify Jewish men of conscription age who appear to have been born around 1919 and 1922 respectively. The Romanian authorities recorded some men as "Disappeared." This designation does not necessarily mean that the person was dead; it indicates that the local authorities did not know his whereabouts.

When compared with the Soviet military and refugee records on this website, several of these men can be traced to service in the Soviet armed forces or evacuation to the Soviet interior. The list therefore provides an excellent starting point for reconstructing what happened to Leova's young men after the outbreak of war.

• Class of 1941: The men on this list appear to have been born around 1919. 
• Class of 1944: The men on this list appear to have been born around 1922. 

The Holocaust in Leova, 1941

The List of Jews from Leova Interned in Cahul Camp Original Romanian (7.5 MB) | English Translation (289 KB)

Following the German and Romanian invasion of Bessarabia in June 1941, Jews who remained in Leova were subjected to mass persecution, murder, deportation, and forced marches. Many women, children, and elderly people were gathered into columns and transferred to Romanian-controlled transit camps.

This list identifies 389 Jews, most from Leova and nearby communities, who were interned in the Cahul Transit Camp. The document provides names that can be cross-referenced with survivor testimonies, refugee records, military records, and other sources on this site.

The list should not be interpreted as a complete list of Leova Holocaust victims; rather, it documents those who appear in this particular camp record.

The Testimony of Yevdokiya Savelievna Lipovich above provides a compelling account of Cahul Camp.


Soviet Extraordinary State Commission (SESC) Report Concerning the Massacres of the Jewish population of Leova Region by the Fascists

After the Red Army returned to the region, the Soviet government established the Extraordinary State Commission to investigate crimes committed during the German occupation. Investigators gathered testimony from survivors, witnesses, and local residents concerning the persecution and murder of Jews in the Leova region.

This report is therefore both a historical source and a postwar record of survivor and witness testimony. It provides evidence concerning the destruction of the Jewish population, but—as with many wartime investigations—it should not be assumed to constitute a complete list of victims.

• Original SESC Summary Report: Original Russian (370 KB) | English Translation (32 KB) 
• Abridged report with additional analysis: Original Russian (146 KB) | English Translation (12 KB) 
• The List of Jews Persecuted from Leova in 1941: Original Russian (7.5 MB) | English Translation (101 KB) 

The Forced Confession of Paulina (Perla) Merer, January 24, 1942 - Original Romanian (1 MB) | English Translation (0.1MB)

This document is a coerced statement made by Paulina (Perla) Merer during the Romanian occupation. It should not be read as a voluntary confession or treated as an objective account of events. Its historical importance lies partly in what it reveals about the methods used by the occupying authorities and the circumstances under which Jewish residents were compelled to provide statements.

The document should therefore be read critically, with particular attention to the circumstances in which it was produced.

Ethnic German Evacuation, 1940

The Ethnic German Community in Leova

The Jewish history of Leova intersected in an unexpected way with the history of Bessarabia's ethnic German population. Following the 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, Germany and the Soviet Union agreed to transfer ethnic Germans from Soviet-controlled Bessarabia to German-controlled territory. In late 1940, most of Bessarabia's approximately 93,000 ethnic Germans were evacuated.

Leova was home to approximately twenty ethnic German families. The story of the Volf family is particularly unusual: although the family was classified as ethnically German, Pavel Volf later explained that his family was actually Jewish. His testimony describes the evacuation from Leova and the difficult conditions encountered in the German and Austrian repatriation camps.

This story illustrates how categories such as "Jewish," "German," "Romanian," and "Soviet" could become extraordinarily complicated during the upheavals of 1940–1945.