GERASIMOVKA: US Commission No. UA18060501
The town is located at 33º28 50º_, 100 km from Sumy, 56 km from Konotop and 1 km from Romny. The mass grave is on the northern outskirts, near the road to Sumy. Present town population is 1,000-5,000 with no Jews.
- Town officials: Village Soviet - Chairman of Executive Committee-Turchenko Mikhail Grigorievich [Phone: (05448)45142].
- Regional officials: Regional State Department - Chairman-Bilovol [Phone: (05448) 22480]. State Department of Sumskaya Oblast - Chairman Epifanov.
- Jewish Community of Sumy - Chairman-Lishchinsky [Phone: 05422) 251432].
- Others: Vos'mirova L.V. [Phone: 05422) 222537].
The earliest known Jewish community was 19th century. Effected Jewish Community: 1881, 1905 pogroms and the Civil War. The last known Hasidic (Khabad) Jewish burial was in 1943. No other towns or villages used this unlandmarked mass grave. The rural (agricultural) hillside mass grave, part of a municipal cemetery, has signs or plaques in Ukrainian mentioning the Holocaust. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all. No wall, fence or gate surrounds the mass grave. 1 to 20 common tombstones, all in original location, date from the 20th century. No stones were removed. The mass grave has no special sections. The site contains marked mass graves. Municipality owns the site now used for mixed burials, mainly Jewish. Adjacent properties are agricultural. The mass grave boundaries is larger now than 1939. Organized individual tours, Jewish or non-Jewish private visitors and local residents visit rarely. This mass grave never was vandalized. Local/municipal authorities cleaned stones and cleared vegetation annually from 1961 to 1996. Now, authorities clear or clean occasionally. Within the limits of the mass grave are no structures. Moderate threat: uncontrolled access, vegetation and vandalism. Vegetation overgrowth is a seasonal problem, preventing access. Slight threat: weather erosion and pollution. No threat: existing nearby development and proposed nearby development.
Khodorkovsky Yuri Isaakovich of Apt. 23, 37A, Vozduhoflotsky Prospect, Kiev [Phone: (044) 2769505] visited site on 15/10/96. Interviewed were Litvinenko Yury Anatolievich [Phone: (05448) 22029] on 15/10/96. He completed survey on 22/10/96.
