UKRAINIANS ASSISTING JEWS DURING THE HOLOCAUSTexcerpt from the Interview with ANNA BURIJ

ANNA BURIJ

Date of birth – 8 Мay, 1925

Place of birth – Zarichchia village, Lviv oblast, Ukraine

Place of interview – Toronto, Ontario

Date of interview - 26 February, 1992

Audio interview (hard copy transcript available)

Language – Ukrainian

(Excerpt):

Interviewer - Since we are already talking about these events and the German occupation of Ukraine, there is another serious topic - the Jewish situation. Were there Jews in your village?

AB - In our village no, but in Deliatyn there were.

Interviewer - And do you know anything?

AB - Тhe Germans destroyed them all.

Interviewer - Do you know where any Jews hid, maybe some Ukrainians that hid Jews?

AB - Yes, they [Ukrainians] hid them...up to a certain time they hid them.

Interviewer - Maybe you know of concrete examples of people who hid Jews?

АB - Yes I know.

Interviewer - Please, you were talking about hiding Jews, so you know of instances where this happened?

AB - Yes, I know that my aunt who lived beside us, she hid one or two people.

Interviewer - Where? Do you know how?

AB - In the barn.

Interviewer - And later what happened to them?

AB - Fairly long. Throughout all of winter she hid them. Later, I think they had to leave because they started talking.

Interviewer - The people [started talking].

AB - Yes people were talking.

Interviewer - What were their names do you know?

AB - No.

Interviewer - You don't know. What was their fate do you know?

AB - No, I don't know, unfortunately.

Interviewer - What was the general attitude of the people toward this Jewish extermination?

AB - It was unpleasant. It was an unpleasant experience. It was sad to see that they [the Germans] executed people in the masses. Every evening we could hear gunshots. We even heard screams because this happened not too far from us. Just across [the river] Prut. Verhivec it was called. They said they brought them [the Jews] there. There was this ravine between two hills, and above this ravine is where they shot them. We knew of this. People sympathized. They thought differently. There was this saying: They [the Germans] use them [the Jews] to make the dough, and then they will use us [Ukrainians] to  knead  this dough. That was the іmpression people had.