Alternate names: Kiselin (Yiddish), Kisielin (German) and Kiselin (English). The town is located at 50º52 24º41, 70 km from Lutsk and 107 km from Rovno. The mass grave is located at northwest outskirts of the village. Present town population is under 1,000 with no Jews.
- Town officials: village Executive Soviet of Kiselin, 264132, Lokachinskiy rayon, Volinskaya of oblast, Sorokaletiya Pobedi Street, N13, [Phone: (03374) 25831], Vice-chairman Vlasuk Anna Grigoriyevna.
- Regional: Monument Preservation Department of Vohlynian Museum of Region Study, 263000, Lutsk, Galana Street, N2, Chemeris Ye.V., [Phone: (03322)42253]. State Archives of Volinskaya oblast, 263024, Lutsk, Veteranov Street, N21, [Phone: (03322) 57533]
- Jewish Community of Vohlinskaya Oblast, 263000, Lutsk, Vinnichenko Street, of N49, apt.6., Dolinskiy S.P. [Phone: (03322)40045]. Israel, Yad Vashem.
Kirzhner Moisey Davidovich of 263005 Lutsk, Grushevskogo Street 18, Apt. 38 [Phone: (03322) 34775] visited site and completed survey on 01/11/1996. Interviewed was Kushniruk Nataliya Panasovna of Kiselin, sorokaletya Pobedi Street, N10-12 on 01/11/1996. Documentation: The Holocaust of Vohlynian Jews. Yad Vashem/Federation of Vohlynian Jews, Jerusalem, Shmuel Spector. Other documentation exists but was inaccessible.
KISELIN II: US Commission No. UA02270501
The mass grave is located at eastern outskirts of the village near destroyed church (about 100m). The Karlin-Stolinskaya Hasidic mass grave was dug in 19.07.1941. No Jews from other towns or villages were murdered here. The unlandmarked suburban crown of a hill between fields and woods, part of a municipal cemetery, has signs or plaques in local language and Ukrainian mentioning Jews, the Holocaust and Ukrainian. Reached by "other," access is open to all. A broken fence with non-locking gate surrounds site. The approximate size of mass grave is now 0.02 hectares. 1 to 20 stones exist with no stones removed and no structures. The municipality owns the property used for recreational use (park, playground, and sports). Adjacent properties are agricultural and residential. Rarely, Jewish or non-Jewish visitors and local residents visit site. The mass grave was vandalized frequently in the last ten years. Local/municipal authorities erected stones. Restoration was done in 1993. Now, authorities occasionally clean or clear site. Moderate threat: vandalism. Slight threat: uncontrolled access, pollution and vegetation. No threat: weather erosion, existing nearby development and proposed nearby development.
Kirzhner Moisey Davidovich of 263005 Lutsk, Grushevskogo Street 18, Apt. 38 [Phone: (03322) 34775] visited site and completed survey on 31/10/1996. Interviewed was Tomchuk Nikolay Nazarovich, The director of the school [Phone: (03374) 25840] on 31/10/1996. Documentation: Shmuel Spector.The Holocaust of Vohlynian Jews, 1941-45; Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, Federation of Vohlynian Jews. Other documentation exists but was inaccessible.
KISELIN III: US Commission No. UA02270101
The cemetery is located at Kholopchinskaya Street opposite the house at N6. The last known Jewish burial was in 1942. The Jewish community was Karlin-Stolinskaya Hasids, Orthodox (Sephardic), Conservative, Progressive/Reform and Neolog. No other towns or villages used this unlandmarked cemetery. The isolated suburban flat land has no sign or marker. Reached by road to Ozutichi, access is open to all. No wall, fence, or gate surrounds site. The approximate size of cemetery before WWII and now is 0.55 hectares. No stones are visible. Location of any removed tombstones is unknown. The cemetery contains no known mass graves. The municipality owns the site used for waste dumping. Adjacent properties are residential, forest, and road. The cemetery boundaries are unchanged since 1939. Rarely, Jews or non-Jews visit. The cemetery was not vandalized in the last ten years. There is no maintenance. There are too many trees that need felling. Within the limits of the cemetery are no structures. Very serious threat: vegetation Vegetation overgrowth is a seasonal problem, preventing access and disturbing graves). Serious threat: pollution. Moderate threat: uncontrolled access and vandalism. No threat: weather erosion, existing nearby development and proposed nearby development.
Tomchuk Nikolay Nazarovich of The director of the school in Kiselin was interviewed on 31/10/1996. Kirzhner completed survey on 01/11/1996. Documentation: Jewish Encyclopedia; The Holocaust of Vohlynian Jewish 1941-45, Shmuel Spector, Jerusalem, 1990.
UPDATE: The cemetery..no stones..overgrown..obviously used as a trash dump..impenetrable. The condition generously could only be called atrocious. Actually Ukrainian citizens had replaced the formerly Polish majority (c1920). The cemetery condition (an atrocity) could have been by design or neglect (or both) of German, Pole or Ukraine. Source: Sam Stulberg, Stafford, Virginia; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
UPDATE: About 1 kilometer west of Kisielin was another Jewish cemetery. I have pictures of that cemetery taken in probably 1930's that show monuments amid other stones. That cemetery is now mostly a potato field with no stones, markers or fence. The Ukrainian lady who lived nearby pointed this out almost spitefully. I have a photo of the field also That small village is Ozutichi (various spellings). Source: Sam Stulberg, Stafford, Virginia: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. [April 2004]