Eighty-three years ago, on March 1, 2, and 9, 1943, in the settlement of Koriukivka in the Chernihiv region, the Nazis committed a horrific atrocity — the mass murder of civilians.

Within just a few days, at least 6,700 residents of the village were brutally exterminated, making it one of the most horrific mass executions on the Eastern Front of World War II.

Innocent women, children, and the elderly were shot with machine guns in their own homes. The bodies and buildings were set on fire. Many were burned alive. In a matter of days, the Ukrainian village was completely destroyed under the pretext that local residents had supported Soviet partisans.

This crime was documented in the materials of the Nuremberg Tribunal as one of the most horrific cases of mass murder of civilians. At the same time, it was suppressed for many years, including by the Soviet regime.

The Koriukivka massacre exposes a number of facts that must be voiced in the name of historical justice and in memory of the victims of this crime.

Numerous Soviet partisan units were stationed near the village and observed the massacre but did not intervene. This happened primarily due to relevant orders from Moscow, which were aimed not at saving lives but at recording and subsequently using the facts of Nazi atrocities for propaganda purposes — even at the cost of mass killings. Such decisions became one of the manifestations of the inhumane policy of the totalitarian USSR, which led to millions of victims.

The perpetrators of the criminal order were servicemen of the Hungarian 105th Light Division of the Eastern Occupying Forces, who acted under the instructions of the group’s commander, Lieutenant General Zoltán Jóhann Aldea-Pap. The order to punish Koriukivka was issued by the Chief of Staff of the 399th Main Field Commandant’s Office, Bruno Franz Bayer. The 399th Field Gendarmerie also directly participated in the punitive operation.

Koriukivka has become a tragic symbol of the suffering of the Ukrainian people as a result of the crimes of totalitarian regimes and their accomplices during World War II.

In the context of responsibility and honoring the memory of the victims of the Koriukivka massacre, Ukraine is grateful to the Federal President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who visited Koriukivka in 2022 and paid tribute to the victims. This symbolic gesture demonstrated that the German government and society have made efforts to come to terms with the past. We are convinced that, in the context of addressing the dark pages of history, steps to honor the memory of the victims of the Koriukivka massacre would also be appropriate on the part of official Budapest.

We call on the international community to honor together with Ukraine those who perished as a result of this terrible crime, to promote the study and dissemination of truthful historical facts, and to preserve the memory of the atrocities of World War II.

Eternal memory to the victims of the Koriukivka massacre.