The jews of bessarabia the holocaust period

 

 

Many Jews in Bessarabia felt hurt and disappointed by the new regime when it came to 

cultural life, education and religion.  Others among the Jews –especially the young and 

those who were assimilated- did not feel deprived as a people.  They did not believe 

that they should be given special consideration.  They were attracted to the equality of 

rights and personal advancement now open to them. They were truly immersed in the 

new ways.  Here and there, there were some groups of Zionist youth- some of it in 

secret.  Gordonya and Hashomer Hatzair amalgamated for a short period of time.  

However, all these activities paled in comparison with the dynamic Sovietisation.  The 

Zionist youth were few in number and had to function in secret and the general public 

was not really interested in them.  Except for a few branches of Hashomer Hatzair, the 

secret groups functioned mainly with the purpose of getting their members out of the 

country and on their way to Eretz Israel.  Soon, most of their leaders were arrested and 

deported and the others were dispersed. 

When the Soviet regime fell as the German-Romanian armies entered the Soviet Union, 

the Jews of Bessarabia were left leaderless, lacking confidence and lost. 

THE REFUGEES UNDER THE SOVIETS 

On June 22, 1941 the German forces surprised the Soviet Union with an attack along 

the German-Soviet border.  Their Romanian collaborators joined them along the Prut 

River.  The surprise attack and the sense of helplessness within the Soviet command 

that followed it caused the defense to be quite slim along the border.  Some units of 

the Red Army and border patrol tried valiantly to repel the attackers to the other side 

of the Prut, but they were not successful.  Soon many villages and towns saw the 

German-Romanian armies advancing towards them.  They were heavily bombarded, 

especially Kishinev, the capital. On July 3 the village of Storojineti was conquered.  On 

July 5 Noua Sulitsa and Edinets fell.  July 6 saw the conquest of Khotin and July 9 –Balti.  

On July 16 the Red Army retreated even from Kishinev.  Within a few days, i.e., 4 weeks 

after the war broke out, the German-Romanian armies had complete control of 

Bessarabia.  They still continued pursuing the retreating Red Army east to the Dniester.  

At first the local military and civil authorities tried to overcome the difficulties.  They 

organized a civil defence.  This was in addition to the draft of all those born in 1905-

1918 (also in Odessa and Moldova).  Special course in first aid were also opened.  

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These were mainly filled by women.  Soon an engineering battalion was announced and 

thousands of men began to build defences, to dig anti-tank trenches, etc.  There were 

also some strike forces formed by those loyal to the regime and active in the party.  

They were to fight diversions and sabotage.  The government institutions conducted a 

constant publicity campaign urging the residents of Moldova to fight for their 

homeland together with their Soviet counterparts.  There were orders from Moscow to 

prepare partisan activities and to evacuate the families of the thousands of clerks and 

army personnel from Bessarabia to the east.  On July 4 and 6 official instructions about 

evacuation were published by the government and the Communist party. 

From that point on the mass escape of the Jewish residents began.  They ran away, 

fearing the conquerors, east of the Dniester.  They followed the Red Army in its retreat. 

The sudden beginning of the war found the Jewish population of Bessarabia still in 

despair and fear from the revolutionary conquest in the previous year.  They were still 

reeling from the mass arrests and deportations that had taken place.  They were left 

without any leaders.  They had also heard the threatening declarations on radio 

Bucharest about a “holy war against Jews and Bolsheviks”. The Jews who lived in the 

villages of the western banks of the Prut, especially in northern Bessarabia, were 

among the first to be confronted by the new reality.  In Khotin district the conquerors 

moved very quickly.  The Jews discovered that the Red Army was unable to stop the 

invaders.  The Khotin district (especially the village of Bricheni) was quickly isolated 

from the rest of Bessarabia.  The retreat routes of the army and the civilians were 

blocked.  Some were able to escape in time even though the authorities tried to calm 

the population and to stop panic from setting in.  However, the authorities were 

making plans to save themselves at the same time.  In Edinets some local residents 

approached the Party headquarters to obtain permits to cross the Dniester.  They were 

refused with the excuse that the Red Army would soon liberate the town.  On all, by 

July 13, only 15 Jewish families were able to leave.  Some had been drafted earlier by 

the army and they were able to return after the war. 

 

 

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JEWISH SETTLEMENTS IN BESSARABIA 

 

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DEPORTATION LOCATIONS IN TRANSNISTRIA OF THE JEWS OF BESSARABIA AND 

BUCOVINA 

 

 

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This same supposed feeling of calm existed in other towns, as well.  While the 

authorities actively planned the evacuation of Soviet clerks, their families, army 

personnel and local party activists.  It was only two weeks after the war broke out that 

the authorities permitted the population to go east and even opened bridges over the 

Dniester.  By then, a large part of Bessarabia had been conquered by the enemy.  Most 

of the Jews of Bessarabia – mainly the  residents of larger towns such as Kishinev, 

Tighina, Orgeyev, Kalarash, Soroka and others –were still in their homes.  Even now, 

when it was obvious the Germans and Romanians were closing in, many people could 

not leave their homes and go to an unknown place.  Among them were many elderly, 

disabled and sick people and families with young children.  Many people closed their 

eyes to the future and hoped nothing bad would come to them. 

This was true of a small portion of the Jewish public.  In most communities the 

decision makers were able to convince the others.  They organized methods of travel 

and went on their way with their belongings.  Those who could not find wagons went 

on foot. 

The road was not easy for the escapees.  In some places they were heavily bombed by 

the Germans and were killed.  In other places Jews were killed by local peasants when 

they came to a village looking for lodging,  Those who reached the Dniester and 

managed to cross to the other side were helped by the Soviet authorities who gave 

them trains cars and transported them east. 

The number of Jews who managed to escape in time to parts of the Soviet Union is 

estimated to be about a third of the population in Bessarabia at that time.  They were 

able to save themselves from the Holocaust that came to the rest of the Jewish 

population of Bessarabia. 

FIRST PART OF THE WAR 

There were several causes for the onslaught of the Holocaust on the Jews of 

Bessarabia.  One was the attitude of the German commanders who under the influence 

of  Nazi propaganda were convinced Germany`s purpose, in addition to conquering 

the world, was the destruction of the Jews wherever they resided. The second cause 

was the discriminatory laws in Romania, influenced by the Germans.  These laws had 

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