October 5, 1941: The Berdychiv Massacre

Residents of the Jewish ghetto in Berdychiv, before the massacre

October 5, 1941: Nazi Germany's Gestapo conducts a massacre of Jews in the Ukrainian city of Berdychiv. It is yet another horrible page in the story of the Holocaust.

The city already had a history of strife. It was destroyed by Crimean Tatars in 1483, plundered by Cossacks in 1647, and defended from Russians by Kazimierz Pulaski (later "the Father of the American Cavalry") in 1764. It became part of the Russian Empire following the First Partition of Poland in 1772, and suffered greatly under the Stalin-induced famine of 1932-33.

Most civilians from areas near the border did not have a chance to evacuate when the Nazis began their invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941. Berdychiv was occupied by the Wehrmacht on July 7. An "extermination" German SS unit was established in early July, and a Jewish ghetto was set up.

It was stated in one of the Einsatzgruppen reports that on "Sept. 1, and 2, 1941, leaflets and inflammatory pamphlets were distributed by Jews in Berdychiv. As the perpetrators could not be found, 1,303 Jews, among them 875 Jewesses over 12 years, were executed by a unit of the Higher SS and Police Leaders."

In response to this, the ghetto was liquidated on October 5, when all the inhabitants were murdered. Eyewitnesses stated that Ukrainian auxiliary police aided the 25-member shooting squad in corralling Jews into the ghetto, policing it, and killing those who attempted to escape. One witness to a mass killing of Jews in Berdychiv said, "They had to wear their festivity-dresses. Then their clothes and valuables were taken. The pits were dug and filled in by war prisoners who were executed shortly after."

Most estimates put the death toll between 20,000 and 30,000. A 1973 article about the history of the city stated, "The Gestaopo killed 38,536 people."

The Red Army took Berdychiv back on January 5, 1944. In 1991, it became part of independent Ukraine. A few of its buildings have been destroyed in the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Its population is believed to be around 90,000 -- perhaps 1,000 of them Jewish.

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October 5, 1941 was a Sunday. It was the day of Game 4 of the World Series, what became known as The Mickey Owen Game. Owen's passed ball on what would have been a game-ending strikeout of Tommy Henrich by Hugh Casey gave the New York Yankees another chance, and they came from behind to beat the Brooklyn Dodgers, 7-4 at Ebbets Field. I have a separate entry for that event. The Yankees clinched the Series the next day.

There were also NFL games on this day.

* The football version of the New York Giants beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 37-10 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.

* The football version of the Brooklyn Dodgers lost to the Washington Redskins, 3-0 at Griffith Stadium in Washington.

* The Chicago Bears beat the Cleveland Rams, 48-21 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. (The Rams moved to Los Angeles in 1946.)

* The Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Cardinals, 14-13 at the Dairy Bowl in the Milwaukee suburb of West Allis, Wisconsin. The Dairy Bowl was a football stadium built in the infield of a speedway, now known as the Milwaukee Mile, at the Wisconsin State Fair Park.

* And the Philadelphia Eagles and the Detroit Lions had the week off.