Glossary

Policeman / local police
In the Soviet system, there was no 'local police'. Denunciation to the local administration was the rule. The creation of a local police was the only administrative reform by the Germans in the occupied Soviet territories. This police, which received no training, often had the appearance of a militia.

Kolkhoz - Sovkhoz
In the USSR, a kolkhoz was a collective agricultural farm that grouped together the land, livestock, tools and manpower of one or several villages in a cooperative framework. All production was delivered to the state. Sovkhozs were state-owned farms where employees were paid a wage. The Russian presence can be explained by the colonial movement of immense agricultural areas like in Ukraine.

Jewish colony
After the October 1917 revolution, the new regime began to favor the economic and social integration of the most disadvantaged Jews, who until then had no rights. Moscow therefore encouraged the creation of agricultural 'Jewish' colonies with the help of American and European philanthropic associations.

The Jews from western Ukraine
After the German invasion of the USSR, a large number of Jews from western Ukraine fled east to find refuge.