In July 1941, a short time after Gnivan was occupied by the Germans, Ukrainian auxiliary policemen took a group of Jewish men (according to documents of the Soviet Extraordinary Commission, the group included people of both sexes and various ages) to the building of the prewar rural council, locked them into the building, and forced them to dance and beat one another, after which they took them to the forest close to the town and shot them dead. On June 6 (July 15 or 16, according to some of the reports of the Soviet Extraordinary Commission), 1942 about 90 Jews of Gnivan of all ages and both sexes were driven out of their homes, gathered in one place in the town, and then taken to the same forest. They were forced to dig their own grave and then to enter it. They were shot, together with Jews taken from the villages of Sutiski, Mikhailovka, and Brailovka. Most of the children were thrown alive into the grave. The total number of victims of this massacre was about 300. The perpetrators of this massacre were: [members of the] German Security Police unit responsible for the construction site of Highway IV connecting Lvov and Taganrog, German rural policemen, and Ukrainian and Lithuanian auxiliary policemen.

More information: Yad Vashem