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THE LAST “FORGIVE ME”

Maria Kovaleva, ghetto prisoner, and Isaak Golynkin’s wife Ludmila.
Next to memorial to ghetto prisoners of Shumilino.

At the beginning of August 1941 the German authorities established a Jewish ghetto in Shumilino. The ghetto consisted of ten houses and was located in the center of the settlement. The place was surrounded with barbed wire and guarded. On November 19th 1941 all the ghetto prisoners were taken to a local warehouse. At the end of that day all of them were taken to the western part of Shumilino. They were made to dig a pit and then shot. On that day 1376 Jews were killed…

Isaak Davidovich Golynkin heard about that tragic day from his parents. His family evacuated from Shumilino on the first days of the war. They were thus saved. Later his father set up a memorial on the mass grave. Maria Alekseyevna Kovaleva, whose parents were also killed in the ghetto, also participated in erection of the memorial.

Today a new memorial has been set up next to the old one as a symbol of memory and hope that nothing like this will ever happen again.

One of the witnesses of that execution, Tamara Koshtanova, born in 1926, remembered: “I remember that day very well. In spring of that year I asked my father to buy me sandals for the summer. A few days later he gave me money and told me: “This is for your new shoes. You need to pick them up at the shop. Make sure you try them on and see that they fit you.” And so I ran to the shop. The shop assistant took out my new sandals, smiling, and told me to try them on. They fit so perfectly well and I felt so happy that I took them and forgot even to thank the man and give him the money. I only remembered what I did next to my house and felt really upset. My mother said: “Don’t worry! I will pay the shoemaker tomorrow.” I was later thinking why the shoemaker did not remind me of the money. He was probably so glad to see me happy that he decided not to say anything… He was a nice man.”

And now I saw him walking in the column together with other Jews. He was walking with his head down. I really wanted to say sorry to him, to apologize for my forgetfulness. So I ran out of the crown and shouted: “I forgot to pay you for the sandals! Please, forgive me.” He just smiled sadly. Then all the people in the column were shot…”

Anton Paraskevin
Shumilino

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