Vinnytsia massacre

The Vinnytsia massacre (German: Massaker von Winnyzja) was a mass execution of between 9,000 and 11,000 political prisoners in the Ukrainian town of Vinnytsia by the Soviet secret police (NKVD) during the Great Purge in 1937–1938.

History

The evidence of communist terror was used to unmask the the bloody regime of the Soviet Union internationally. The mass murder in Vinnytsia returned as a critical topic in Ukraine in 1988. A monument was also erected to the "Victims of Stalinist Terror".

Mass graves in Vinnytsia were discovered during National Socialist Germany's occupation of Ukraine in 1943. The investigation of the site first conducted by the international Katyn Commission coincided with the investigation of the Katyn Massacre site. The excavations started in May 1943 at three locations: the fruit orchard in the west, the central cemetery, and the People's Park. Most of the bodies were found in the fruit orchard (5,644 bodies). Altogether, 91 mass graves were discovered at the three locations, and 9,432 bodies were exhumed; 149 of them were women. The excavations at the People's Park were not finished, though many more bodies were thought to be buried there. 468 bodies were identified by people of Vinnytsia and the surroundings; the other 202 were identified on the basis of documents and evidence found in the graves. Most bodies that were identified this way were Ukrainians; there were also 28 bodies that were identified as ethnic Poles.

International commission

An international commission of experts in anatomy and forensic pathology was convened from 11 countries in Europe. They were:

• Dr. Soenen, Ghent University, Belgium
• Dr. Michailov, Sofia University, Kingdom of Bulgaria
• Dr. Niilo Pesonen, University of Helsinki, Republic of Finland
• Dr. Duvoir, University of Paris, France
• Dr. Cazzaniga, University of Milan, Italy
• Dr. Ljudevit Jurak, University of Zagreb, Independent State of Croatia
• Dr. ter Poorten, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Dr. Alexandru Birkle, Institute of Forensic Medicine and Criminology, Bucharest, Kingdom of Romania
• Dr. Gösta Häggqvist, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Kingdom of Sweden
• Dr. Krsek, University of Bratislava, Slovak Republic
• Dr. Ferenc Orsós, University of Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary

The reports of the committee describe that most of the victims were murdered by shots into the back of neck or head. After WWII, a US congressional committee investigated the mass murders at Vinnytsia. Charles Kersten led the committee investigation and published the findings in the 83rd Congress, Second Session, Special Report No. 4. The report fully confirms the results of the committee and proves Soviet responsibility for the massacre. The opening of the Soviet archives also proves the results of the congressional committee.

Gallery

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See also

• Katyn massacre

Further reading

• Lewis Brandon: The Crime of Moscow in Vynnytsia – A Review, 1980
• M. Seleshko: Vinnytsia – The Katyn of Ukraine. A Report by an Eyewitness, 1980
• William Pierce: The Genocide at Vinnitsa, July 1998