BORZNA
Pre-1941: Borzna, town and raion center, Chernigov oblast’, Ukraine; 1941–1943: Rear Area, Army Group South (rückwärtiges Heeresgruppe Süd); 1943: Chernigov oblast’; post-1991: Chernihiv oblast’, Ukraine
Borzna is located 85 kilometers (53 miles) southeast of Chernigov. In 1939, a total of 326 Jews were registered in the town (3.1 percent of the total population).
On September 11, 1941, about 10 weeks after the start of the German invasion of the Soviet Union, German troops occupied Borzna. By this date, two thirds of the Jewish population had escaped to the east. All the available men of military age were drafted into or voluntarily joined the Red Army. Only about one third of the pre-war Jewish population remained in the town.
During the entire period of German occupation between September 11, 1941, and September 8, 1943, the local German military commandant (Ortskommandantur) was in charge of the town of Borzna. The German military administration established a local administration for the Borzna Rayon and an auxiliary police force recruited from local inhabitants.
A short time after the occupation of the town, the German military commandant responsible for the Borzna Rayon ordered the registration of the Jews. They were also obliged to wear distinguishing marks in the form of armbands on their sleeves. In addition, the Jewish population was forced to carry out hard physical work of various kinds. In November 1941, all the Jews of the town were settled into a “Jewish residential area” or open ghetto. The ghetto area consisted of one street. In February 1942, German forces liquidated the ghetto and shot its residents. The shooting Aktion was carried out close to the village of Shapovalovka, and all the Jews of the ghetto, a total of 108 persons, were murdered there.1 Throughout the entire German occupation of Borzna, according to Soviet sources, altogether 126 civilians were murdered.2 Therefore, the Jewish population formed 85.7 percent of the civilian victims in the town. [End Page 1764]
SOURCES
Documents on the persecution and murder of the Jewish population of Borzna can be found in the following archives: DACgO and GARF (7021-78-34).
