The Holocaust period
World War 2 broke out on September 1, 1939, when Nazi Germany invaded and occupied Poland. On June 21,1941, Germany attacked the USSR and opened a thrust to the east. Yampol was taken on July 18 by the German forces, assisted by forces of Romania, then an ally of Germany. Many Jews evacuated the town together with the retreating Red Army.
After the occupation of Yampol most of the Jews of Yampol were murdered by the Germans. The remaining few hundred Jews lived in poverty in their homes in a quarter at the town’s centre.
Yampol was part of Transnistria , a region in western Ukraine which Germany allotted to Romania as a reward for her help in the offensive against the USSR. When Romania was later invaded by Germany, and Jews from Romania were deported to Transnistria , Yampol served as a transit point. 350 of the Romanian deportees, who were skilled in trades and professions needed by the authorities, were allowed to stay in Yampol and they were accommodated by the local Jews. After a short time a few streets were isolated to form a ghetto. Most of the houses in the ghetto were ruined and damaged from the days of the fighting over the town. The Jews were ordered to wear a yellow Star of David on their clothes, for recognition, and they were permitted to leave the ghetto once a day, to fetch water and buy food. Those employed outside the ghetto were provided with special exist permits.
The first commanders of the ghetto treated the Jews decently and life in the ghetto was bearable. But when a martial law was imposed, with Major Dionisie Fotino in command, the attitude to the Jews became drastically worse. Gendarmes used to enter the ghetto, conduct sudden counts and beat Jews. Jews were executed for all sorts of charges. In November 1942 many Jews were expelled from the ghetto and in January 1943 72 Jews were murdered by Fotino. A committee of Jews appointed by the authorities had to supply men and women for any task required. Jews worked in a workshop of the authorities, in garages, in the airfield, etc. for a daily wage and food. With the help of funds that the Jewish relief committee in Bucharest provided, a soup kitchen was set up which supplied meals to Jews not remunerated for their work and also to Jewish prisoners in the local jail. The commander of the German labour union Todt also employed Jews, but he treated them fairly and paid them a wage. But the Ukrainian police which employed Jews, mainly women and children over the age of 14, in public works (sweeping streets, etc.) paid them nothing.
One small synagogue in the ghetto was in use on Sabbath days and the Jewish festivals for public prayers. In addition, a number of minians were held in private homes.
In 1943 there were in Yampol some 500 Jewish deportees, in addition to a few hundred local Jews. The Romanians evacuated the town in the first half of March 1944 and Yampol was liberated on the 14th of march by the partisans. But the town continued to be bombarded by the Germans with heavy damage. The Soviet forces entered the town on the 17th of March and Jews were mobilized to repair the bridges on the Dniester. A month later the deportees from Romania crossed the river back to Romania.
After the war in 1945, Major Fotino was brought to trial for killing Jews and sentenced to death. However his death penalty was commuted to hard labour for life.
No information is available as to the number of Jews in Yampol after the war.
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