1 Execution site(s)
Olga B., born in 1926: "YIU: Did these refugees work in the kolkhoz [collective farm]? W: No, they didn’t. They arrived just after the war broke out.
YIU: Do you know if these refugees were Jews? W: Yes, they were Jews. I didn’t see it by myself, but I was told that about 30 Jews were murdered in Nizhnaya Cherni. They were shot by Germans." (Witness n°621R, interviewed in Nizhniye Cherni, November 23, 2015)
Nizhniye Cherni is a Russian village located 172km (106mi) southwest of Volgograd. It was founded as a khutor [settlement] in the early 19th century. In 1897, 452 people lived there. By 1915, the population decreased to 406 people. The village’s local population was mainly involved in agriculture. There is no information regarding the Jews who lived in Nizhniye Cherni before the war. The village was home to Russians and Ukrainians. When WWII broke out, dozens of Jewish refugees passed by the village from German-occupied territories.
Nizhniye Cherni was occupied by the Germans in early August 1942. According to the local residents interviewed by Yahad, about 30 Jewish refugees, including women, children, and elderly people, were arrested in their homes after the occupation began. They were then taken to be shot in a ravine located outside of the village. Today, there is no memorial at the site.
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