The 4/4-B mine, which lay near the Kalinovka neighborhood in Stalino, became a large murder site – apparently, of both Jews and non-Jews. Some groups of Jews were either shot or killed in gas vans, and their bodies would then be thrown down the mine shaft, while some other groups of Jewish victims were thrown down the shaft alive. The Jews appear to have been liquidated in several murder operations on various scales, which began in November 1941 and lasted into the winter and early spring of 1942. The final liquidation of the Stalino Ghetto is dated to April 6, 1942, when several hundred Jews were gassed, although there are sources that refer to Jews being thrown down the mine shaft later, in July 1942. When describing the mass murder operations at the 4/4-B mine, the ChGK reports usually avoid mentioning the Jewish origin of the victims. The exact number of Jews killed in Stalino remains unknown, since it was difficult to identify all the victims thrown down the mine shaft. By some estimates, about 3,000 Jews from Stalino and nearby settlements were liquidated, most of them apparently at this site, while the ChGK documents speak of 75,000 people murdered at the site, without specifying their ethnicity.

More information: Yad Vashem