Object numberM1996/033:033
DescriptionCollection of identification labels for items tagged by the Soviet team at Serniki, Ukraine, 1990. This tag refers to packet numbers containing various types of evidence such as buttons, ammunition cartridges or coins. The tags have signatures of two witnesses and a judge: B.A. Pamsuik, G.E. Poluhovich and Judge V.D. Melneshen.
Part of a larger collection of material evidence uncovered during the excavation of three mass graves in Ukraine. In 1990 and 1991 in the wake of the Australian Nazi war crimes investigations, three sites at Serniki, Ustinovka and Gnivan were excavated in order to find the archaeological and forensic evidence of the heinous crimes perpetrated. The excavations were undertaken by a team from the Special Investigations Unit, headed by Professor Richard Wright, and assisted by Ukrainian officials and soldiers. At the time, no other mass grave from the Holocaust had been excavated for evidentiary purposes.
The Jews of Serniki were murdered in one day in early September 1942, presumably on the eve of Rosh Hashanah. The German execution squad arrived shortly before lunch and left in the late afternoon. With the help of local collaborators, the Jews were rounded up and brought to a pit 40 metres long and 5 metres wide on the outskirts of the village. The victims were forced to lie face down on the floor of the pit, while marksmen at the edge of the pit targeted the heads of the victims. Other victims were clubbed to death. Corpses were stacked on top of each other in layers. A considerable number of Jews did escape the slaughter by fleeing into the forests. Those who were later found were shot. Altogether, about 850 men, women and children were massacred.
Australia's first and only Nazi war crimes trial centred on the mass killings at Serniki. The accused - the Ukrainian-born Ivan Polyukhovic, stood before the court in Adelaide. In 1990 the former forest warden was charged with having participated in the slaughter of the Serniki Jews as well as with having hunted down Jewish escapees in the surrounding forests. After the Supreme Court Judge had disallowed much of the prosecution's evidence, the jury took less than one hour to agree on a verdict of not guilty.
Part of a larger collection of material evidence uncovered during the excavation of three mass graves in Ukraine. In 1990 and 1991 in the wake of the Australian Nazi war crimes investigations, three sites at Serniki, Ustinovka and Gnivan were excavated in order to find the archaeological and forensic evidence of the heinous crimes perpetrated. The excavations were undertaken by a team from the Special Investigations Unit, headed by Professor Richard Wright, and assisted by Ukrainian officials and soldiers. At the time, no other mass grave from the Holocaust had been excavated for evidentiary purposes.
The Jews of Serniki were murdered in one day in early September 1942, presumably on the eve of Rosh Hashanah. The German execution squad arrived shortly before lunch and left in the late afternoon. With the help of local collaborators, the Jews were rounded up and brought to a pit 40 metres long and 5 metres wide on the outskirts of the village. The victims were forced to lie face down on the floor of the pit, while marksmen at the edge of the pit targeted the heads of the victims. Other victims were clubbed to death. Corpses were stacked on top of each other in layers. A considerable number of Jews did escape the slaughter by fleeing into the forests. Those who were later found were shot. Altogether, about 850 men, women and children were massacred.
Australia's first and only Nazi war crimes trial centred on the mass killings at Serniki. The accused - the Ukrainian-born Ivan Polyukhovic, stood before the court in Adelaide. In 1990 the former forest warden was charged with having participated in the slaughter of the Serniki Jews as well as with having hunted down Jewish escapees in the surrounding forests. After the Supreme Court Judge had disallowed much of the prosecution's evidence, the jury took less than one hour to agree on a verdict of not guilty.
Production placeSerniki, Ukraine
Subjectwar crimes, pit killings, genocide, archaeology, mass graves, archaeology
Object namelabels
Materialpaper
Dimensions
- width: 55.00 mm
height: 110.00 mm
Language
- Russian Translated by Lana Voznesenskaya, September 2016
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by the War Crimes Investigation Unit