Eighty years after the Holocaust, Russian authorities have uncovered a mass grave in the Ukrainian city of Henichesk, within the Kherson district, which has been under Russian occupation since 2022. The grave contains the remains of 61 bodies, including 11 children.
According to a representative of Russia's Investigative Committee, the mass grave was originally an anti-tank trench dug at the onset of World War II for defense against the Germans. However, when the Germans approached from the opposite side of Henichesk, the trench became an execution site for many, most of whom were Jews.
The discovery is part of a broader genocide investigation led by the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation. Russian television channel Vesti Crimea reported that the remains are being carefully exhumed for genetic testing, with footage showing workers meticulously removing human bones from the site.
"Nearly two meters of soil were removed here with an excavator. The rest is done manually, removing about a meter of soil, clay, and decayed matter before using brushes for finer work," explained Yevgeny Lemiakin, a student volunteer assisting with the excavation.
Archival records suggest that this burial site may contain up to a thousand bodies. In 1939, Henichesk had a Jewish population of 947, down from 4,786 in 1910, due to various factors including the arrival of Jewish refugees during World War I.
Social activist Alex Tanzer, the son of Holocaust survivors, noted that approximately 300 Jews from Henichesk were murdered during the Holocaust, though the number fluctuated due to the movement of refugees and the forced transfer of Jews by the Germans.
* Ynet contributed to this article.