At the beginning of 1944 many people understood that the end of the fascists was coming and that there was very little time left before liberation. But it was still necessary to survive until that time. At the end of February and the beginning of March, you could already hear artillery shells bursting and the Romanian gendarmes were no longer so cruel to the Jews. And so the long-awaited day of freedom came, when the soldiers of the Red Army entered Kopaigorod. Tears of happiness flowed in rivers. My parents said that they immediately could not believe that they had survived. And the main thing is that this hell, these torments and this moral humiliation, when you are not considered a person, all this has remained in the past. Kopaigorod was liberated on March 22, 1944, but the Radio Information Bureau reported it on March 21. This was probably because the day before the arrival of the Red Army units, partisans of Y. Melnyk's unit entered the town.

On the night before the entry of the Red Army soldiers into Kopaigorod, Ya. Shteinman printed postcards and the children handed each Red Army soldier a greeting postcard with the inscription “Welcome!” and the Anthem of the Soviet Union. Even if the poems in these postcards were not professional in terms of poetry, they had so much devotion and love for the liberating Red Army! These poems were written by Orenstein, a doctor from the city of Chernivtsi who lived in the ghetto. Think about the simple words of this verse: “Welcome to us, red fighters! Welcome, fearless sons. We have been waiting for you, as a dear mother can wait for beloved children. We have been waiting for you for a long time and painfully. Our dreams were running towards you alone.” In his conclusion, the author expressed his confidence that “we will destroy the vile fascism, which drowned the world in blood, and the bloody, villainous court was created over us.” (Information from the ghetto prisoner, M. Shteinman). Yosyp Shteiman also discussed the liberation of Kopaigorod:

I remember how the Romanians were preparing to retreat in the early spring of 1944. They were singing songs as they left. We stood and watched. No one was in power for several days. The Romanians left, and the police did not know what was happening. Then a group of Germans passed through the town. After some time, a horseman appeared in an unclear uniform without identification marks. It turned out to be a Soviet soldier. Everyone rushed to him, shouted “Hurrah”, and the men lifted him up with the horse for joy. He said that in ten minutes our troops would arrive. And indeed, horsemen with a commander soon appeared. Someone from the ghetto recognized the guide of the Soviet detachment as a former policeman. The commander was informed and the man was captured, taken to the field and shot. A Soviet military administration was established in Kopaigorod and an army unit with headquarters was stationed in the city. They helped to establish civil leadership in the life of the city.

In the spring of 1944, the partisans from Y. Melnyk's unit were the first to enter Kopaigorod. Some of the ghetto prisoners who were in the village of Primoschanytsia at this time went to Kopay Station to see if the Soviet troops were arriving. And one day they saw a train in which Soviet soldiers were traveling. Thus, came the liberation.

Within three days after the liberation, a field district military committee was organized, and approximately 800 men were called to the front from Kopaigorod. My father was not drafted because he was still ill with typhus. But as he was a specialist in postal communication, he took up the organization of communication work in the town on behalf of the military administration, which was there after the liberation.

In Appendix 2 there are lists of the names of Jews, residents of Kopaigorod at that time, who died on the war fronts.

The echoes of that war can be heard even now. So, in September 2020, local residents of Kopaigorod found nine wartime hand grenades in the forest, which were destroyed by a special emergency rescue squad in the Vinnytsia region.

There are two large mass graves in the Jewish cemetery, in which Jewish civilians, Jews from Bukovina and Romania who were tortured in the ghetto during the occupation, and those Jews who died of diseases, physical exhaustion or while trying to escape, are buried. In the winter of 1942, whole families of Jews were taken to the cemetery and died en masse. It was not possible to find out the number and names of all those buried. These two large pits in the Jewish cemetery were dug at the beginning of the occupation by the fascists.

One of the mass graves of Jews who were killed during the war

A memorial sign at the Jewish cemetery in honor of those who were murdered. It is located in the direction of Jerusalem, to the east. In fact, this monument was erected in 2002 by Chaim Green, the son of Elka Hai Green from Romania, who died in the ghetto after he came to Kopaigorod.

The last witnesses of Nazi crimes are quietly leaving this world. In the cities and towns of Ukraine, there are monuments to the victims of fascism, erected by prisoners of ghettos and camps and their relatives. Many many nameless graves remain in such towns as Sataniv, Kopaigorod, where our grandfathers and great-grandfathers lived. Vasyl Grossman wrote in the article, Ukraine without Jews, it was here that “so much Jewish sweat and tears were shed that, perhaps, no one would think of considering a Jew a guest on a foreign land.” Did the ghetto prisoners who died tragically during the punitive actions of 1941-1942 deserve to have their names forgotten? This is not only Jewish history, it is also Ukrainian history.

To the executive committee of Kirov Town council of the deputies of Fergana region. From Saul Abramovich Kanterman who lives in Kopaigorod Vinnitsa region of Ukrainian SSR, now living in Kirov district Fergana region in hostel #84 Statement. I ask you to take into consideration the damage which was caused to me by German-fascist occupants. Upon evacuating, I left the flat to Rempovich and she claimed that Romanians stole the following: 1. Clothes. Sheepskin coat 2 items   Shroud 2   Men's winter coat 1   Woman's coat 1   Summer coat 1   New men's suits 3   New women's suits 1   New children's suits 2   Sweaters 6   Warm sweatshirts 3 2. Boots Men's boots 2   Shoes 3   Women's shoes 2   Valenki 2   Galoshy 6   Children's shoes 3 3. Linens Sheets 10   Men's underwear 12   Lady's underwear 16   Children's underwear 10   Blankets 6   Bedspread 2

Page 2   Fabrics 2.5 meters   Haberdashery 30   Cloths 10   Oil cloth 10 m   Feather pillows 10 4. Furniture Tables 2   New wardrobe 1   New sofa 1   Chairs 12   Desk 1   Bed 1   Child bed 1   Shelf 1 5. Dishes Copper samovar 1   Copper pans 6   Enamel pans 2   Primus stove 2   Sets 2   Cutlery 30 6. Library Books 50 7. Other items Carpets 6   Clock 1   Table clocks 10   Mats 2   Mirrors 2   Violin, guitar 2   Ink set 1   Gramophone with 300 records   Fur hats 2   Children's toys   8. Provisions Wheat 2 puds   Flour 5 puds   Potatoes 10 puds   Sugar 20 kg   Cereal 20 kg   Jam 15 kg 9. Orchard - Kitchen garden Potato field 0.15 hect 10. Salary for 3 years 400 rubles a month Total 140,800 rubles Signature October 20, 1944

Page 1 To the executive committee of Kirov Town council of the deputies of Fergana region. From Goltser Berta Grigoryevna who lives in Kopaigorod Vinnitsa region of Ukrainian SSR, now living in Kirov district Fergana region in a hostel. Statement: I ask you to take into consideration the damage which was caused to me by German-fascist occupants. When evacuating I left the flat to Kostiuk and she claimed that Romanians stole the following: 1. Clothes Dresses 3 2. Boots Women's shoes 2 3. Linens Women's silky underwear 10   Pillows, mattresses 4   Silky blanket 1 4. Furniture Tables 6   Wardrobe 1   Chairs 5   Bed 1   Shelf 2 5. Dishes Enamel pan 5   Other items 5 6. Library Big Medical Encyclopedia 20 volumes   Various books 100 7. Misc. items Velvet carpets 2   Clock 1   Watches 1   Mirrors 2   Guitar 1   Ink set 1   Gramophone with records

Page 2 Statements by the Jews of Kopaigorod to the executive authorities, about the damages they endured during the Romanian occupation of 1941–1944   Curtains 20 meters   Blinds 20 m   Mirror 1   Flower pots with ficus 2 8. Orchard Potato sowing 0.15 hect Total 455,700 rubles Signature

A C T #1 October 20. 1944. We further signed the chairman of Kirov town council Ubaydulayev, secretary Nazarov in the presence of the residents of Morgulis, A. Kirov and Sergeiva Grach, made the following act. By the German-fascist occupants and their accomplices, the following damage has been caused to Saul Abramovich Kanterman and his family, who live in Kirovo, Fergana region (Uzbekistan) Grain 0.52 worth 4,600 rubles Flour 0.80 worth 8,000 rubles Potatoes and other vegetables 1.60 worth 800 rubles Books 500 worth 5,000 rubles Furniture worth 10,800 rubles Clothes, boots and other items worth 12,500 rubles Total 126,400 rubles The goods were left in Kopaigorod and stolen by Romanians during the occupation

An act confirming the damages caused by the occupiers to Kopaigorod resident S. Kanterman and his family

His amount of damage is 140,800 rubles

After the liberation of the Kopaigorod district, relevant acts were drawn up relating to the destruction of the school system and religious institutions by the fascists during the occupation. The Popovtsy secondary school suffered the most damage, amounting to 124,440 rubles. In total, the district education department lost 1.3 million rubles.

General information about the period of occupation of the villages of the Kopaigorod district from the data of the district executive committee, 1946. Descriptive reference of the towns and railway stations of Kopaigorod district, Vinnitsa region.

Town	Occupation Start	Occupation End	transfer of population to different authorities
Sukovka	July 19, 1941	March 22, 1944	were not transferred
Barok	July 19, 1941	March 22, 1944	were not transferred
Lesovyie	July 20, 1941	March 22, 1944	were not transferred
Polevyie	July 19, 1941	March 22, 1944	were not transferred
Volodiyevtsy	July 20, 1941	March 22, 1944	were not transferred
Maryanoivka	July 19, 1941	March 22, 1944	were not transferred
Kopaigorod	July 20, 1941	March 22, 1944	were not transferred
Shypinki	July 20, 1941	March 22, 1944	were not transferred
Kosharintsy	July 20, 1941	March 22, 1944	were not transferred
Popovtsy	July 20, 1941	March 22, 1944	were not transferred
Chervone	July 20, 1941	March 22, 1944	were not transferred
Shevchenkovo	July 20, 1941	March 22, 1944	were not transferred
Karyshkov	July 20, 1941	March 22, 1944	were not transferred
Ukrainskoye	July 20, 1941	March 22, 1944	were not transferred
Petrovka	July 20, 1941	March 22, 1944	were not transferred
Perepechintsy	July 20, 1941	March 22, 1944	were not transferred
Ploskoye	July 20, 1941	March 22, 1944	were not transferred
Mlinovka	July 20, 1941	March 22, 1944	were not transferred
Nemerchi	July 20, 1941	March 22, 1944	were not transferred
Vinozh	July 20, 1941	March 22, 1944	were not transferred
Lysinchik	July 20, 1941	March 22, 1944	were not transferred
Luchinets	July 20, 1941	March 22, 1944	were not transferred
Gromovka	July 20, 1941	March 22, 1944	were not transferred
Yudino	July 20, 1941	March 22, 1944	were not transferred
Goray	July 20, 1941	March 22, 1944	were not transferred
Stepanki	July 20, 1941	March 22, 1944	were not transferred
Khrenovka	July 20, 1941	March 22, 1944	were not transferred
Obukhov	July 20, 1941	March 22, 1944	were not transferred
Railway stations	July 20, 1941	March 22, 1944	were not transferred
Kopay	July 20, 1941	March 22, 1944	were not transferred
Nemrchi	July 20, 1941	March 22, 1944	were not transferred
Kotiuzhany	July 20, 1941	March 22, 1944	were not transferred
			Total 132

A segment of the general register based on acts on the damage inflicted by the fascists on the schools of the Kopaigorod district during the war. Registration of the acts of Kopaigorod educational department.

Town	Registration Date	Register #	Amount of damage in rubles
Yuzino	11/8	59	12.000
Chervone	11/8	60	54.000
Perepilchentsi	27/7	42	17.290
Ukrayinske	1/8	47	17.274
Kosharyntsi	7/8	52	49.515
Kopaigorod	11/8	61	80.000
Obukhiv	11/8	62	35.000
Karshykiv	11/8	63	62.800
Gromovka	11/8	64	22.000
Volodiyevtsi	11/8	65	49.409
Vinozh	11/8	66	43.000
Luchinets	11/8	67	70.000
Stepanki	11/8	68	37.200
Shypinki	11/8	69	65.485
Barok	11/8	70	37.860
Luchinchik	11/8	71	57.400
Popovtsi	11/8	72	129.440

A detachment named after Khrushchev under the command of Kravchenko was sent to carry out an operation in the district center of Kopaigorod on the night of February 15, 1944. On February 17, Ya. Melnyk wrote that the Khrushchev detachment had returned and the commander reported that around 200 Romanians with artillery had arrived in Kopaigorod. Therefore they did not conduct an operation to liberate the town. Subsequently a decision was made to send a detachment named after Lenin, to Kopaigorod, under the leadership of M. Volodymyr. However, he did not advance on Kopaigorod, considering the large Romanian garrison there. All of the units in the formation decided to fight together in the area of Malchovets and St. Mytky, where two companies of Germans were defeated and many weapons were captured. In this way, a part of the enemy's troops were drawn back. Later, on March 9, 1944, the partisans occupied the village of Stepanky, 9 km southeast of Kopaigorod, and began shelling the village Khrenivka with cannons.

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