Transnistria, the Hell

Overview

From 1941-1944, 300,000 Jews were killed at the hands of Rumanian officials in Transnistria, an area of southern Ukraine bordering Rumania. Dubbed the "land of exile" by the Rumanian Jews herded there, hundreds of ghettos and concentration camps dotted the landscape. Unlike the "killing industry" of Auschwitz, Rumanian death camps used the "old methods" of "long drawn-out deaths": shooting, starvation, freezing, and illness. Of those who survived, only the children are left. Now adults living in Israel, these orphans of Transnistria give testimony with their memories, paintings, letters, and photographs. Scholars, including Dalia Ofer, Leon Wallovitz, and Shmuel Ben-Tzion, discuss the history of Transnistria and probe the reasons why this area has become known as the "Forgotten Cemetery."