Prerequisites and Course of Nazi Occupation Policy Toward Jews in the Zhytomyr Region

Abstract

The article aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of Nazi occupation policy toward the Jewish population of the Zhytomyr region during the Second World War and to identify the preconditions, forms, and consequences of the Holocaust in this area. The study emphasizes the local dimension of genocide, which makes it possible to trace the specific ways in which general Nazi strategies of the “Final Solution of the Jewish Question” were implemented in interaction with the particular historical, social, and cultural circumstances of Jewish communities in the Zhytomyr region.

The research employs both general scholarly and specialized historical methods. The principles of historicism and systemic analysis are applied in combination with an interdisciplinary approach. The source base consists of archival documents, materials of local Soviet authorities, German orders and reports, as well as oral testimonies of eyewitnesses. Alongside classical historiographical works, the study draws on contemporary Holocaust historiography and memory studies, allowing the local experience of Zhytomyr region to be integrated into a broader European and Ukrainian context. Quantitative methods are used to reconstruct demographic changes and assess the scale of the victims, while a comparative approach enables the specificity of the Zhytomyr region to be contrasted with other territories of Ukraine.

It is established that the Holocaust in the Zhytomyr region was neither accidental nor spontaneous but resulted from a deliberate and ideologically driven policy of the Nazi regime. The study demonstrates that mass shootings of the Jewish population in Zhytomyr, Berdychiv, Korosten, Novohrad-Volynskyi, and other towns took place already in the first weeks of occupation and were carried out by Einsatzgruppen in cooperation with local collaborators. The policy of extermination combined physical annihilation with economic exploitation through the establishment of ghettos and forced labor camps and the confiscation of property. The research identifies the deeper preconditions of the tragedy, including the significant share of Jews in urban communities, their economic role in trade and crafts, and their cultural and religious distinctiveness, which were exploited by the Nazis to intensify the “us versus them” dichotomy. Particular attention is paid to the role of antisemitic propaganda, especially the concept of “Judeo-Bolshevism,” in facilitating the involvement of parts of the local population in acts of violence.

Conclusions. The Holocaust in the Zhytomyr region represents an example of the rapid and brutal implementation of genocide in which ideological, political, and economic factors were closely intertwined. The destruction of the Jewish community led to catastrophic transformations in the social, cultural, and economic structure of the region, the consequences of which remain perceptible today. The study demonstrates the importance of local-level analysis for understanding broader European processes and for shaping collective memory of the Holocaust.

Scientific novelty. The scientific novelty of the study lies in its comprehensive analysis of Nazi occupation policy toward the Jewish population of the Zhytomyr region as a regional case study of the Holocaust, integrating military-administrative, socio-economic, and ideological dimensions. The research traces the interaction between general Nazi strategies of genocide and local characteristics of demographic structure, economic roles, and cultural-religious distinctiveness of Jewish communities in the Zhytomyr region, and highlights the significance of antisemitic propaganda in mobilizing sections of the local population to participate in violence.