Following the Path of Great War

To the day of liberation of Ukraine from fascist invaders on the initiative of the Student Government Council of Faculty of Agronomy was organized a trip to the  places of hostilities of our native land. Students were aimed to explore the history of  native land and to pay tribute to those who fallen on the battlefield and died in fascist concentration camps during World War II.

About the imprisoned Soviet soldiers of surrounded grouping of 6th and 12th Armies, which were sent to the concentration camp known as “Uman pit”  told Nataliya Mykhaylova, Leading Librarian of Research Library of Uman NUH.

“Uman pit” was located on the territory of quarry of the former brick factory. Nataliya Vasylivna told that the pit was over 7 meters deep, 300 meters wide and about one kilometer in length. In the pit were trapped more than 70,000 imprisoned soldiers, sergeants and officers (under normal conditions, this camp could accommodate 6 - 7 thousand prisoners). People were starved, drank water from puddles , hungry people ate clay. Then this clay shrinked  in the stomach and people died in great agony. Fascists  drew out on the edge of the pit dead people every morning and trained to shoot with rifles. Every day, about 60-70 prisoners died and more than 200-300 were shooted. Some of them were doused with gasoline and burned. Germans took on the machines several groups of people, and then it turned out that these machines were machines of  “death”. They had covered car bodies, to which were carried out exhaust pipes. And while the prisoners were brought to the “dump”, they were suffocated  with gas.

On the way to Uman we visited the museum-farmstead of Gen. I.D. Chernyakhovskyy, which is located in the village Oksanyno where about his life and history of the village told very interesting information Museum Director O.O. Neuman.

542 inhabitants of the village fought, 244 - died in the battle, 124 were awarded with orders and medals, two of them became Heroes of the Soviet Union: Army General, twice Hero of the Soviet Union Ivan Danylovych Chernyakhovskyy and Hero of the Soviet Union Tymophiy Loboda.

Students of the Faculty of Agronomy laid wreaths and flowers at the monuments to the fallen soldiers and to the Mass Graves in the villages Pidvysoke and Oksanyno and commemorated the memory with a minute of silence.

Students of the Faculty of Agronomy are very grateful to the administration of Uman NUH for assistance in traveling to places of hostilities and studying local history and to Leading Librarian of Research Library N.V. Mykhaylova and to the Head of Museum of I.D. Chernyakhovskyy O.O. Neuman for interesting and informative excursions.

Vice Dean for Educational Work

of The Faculty of Agronomy O. Cherno

Head of Student Government Council Yu. Titova

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