US Commission No. UA23080501
Alternate name: Bilozir'ye (Ukraine). Belozirye is located in Cherkasskaya at 49º14 31º52, 18 km from Cherkassy and 9 km from Smela. The mass grave is located at S in the forest. Present town population is 1,000-5,000 with no Jews.
- Town: Village Soviet of Chairman-Kovtun Stanislav Ivanovich [ph: (0472) 471546]. Society of the Monuments Preservation of Jewish Community.
The earliest known Jewish community was 1860. Effecting community were 1768 Koliyvshchina, 1919-1920 pogroms. The unlandmarked Jewish mass grave was dug in 1941. The last known Jewish burial was 1942. Cherkassy (18km away) and Smela (18km away) Jews were murdered at this mass grave. The wooded hillside, part of a municipal cemetery, has signs or plaques in local language mentioning the Holocaust. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all. No wall, gate, or fence surrounds the mass grave. 1-20 common tombstones, in original location with none toppled, removed or broken, date from 1985. The mass grave contains marked mass graves. The municipality owns the property only used for mass burial site. Adjacent properties are forest. Occasionally, private Jewish or non-Jewish visitors and local residents visit. This mass grave was not vandalized. Local/municipal authorities erected stone in 1985. Now, there is occasional clearing or cleaning by individuals. Within the limits of the mass grave are no structures. No threats.
Turman Bella Samuilovna of Chercass, Homenko St., 16, apt.66 [ph: (0472) 631272] visited site on 1/25/95. No interviews were conducted. She completed survey on 01/25/1995.
