The city of Sarny, then part of Poland between 1919 and 1939, was captured by Nazi Germany on July 8, 1941, following the German attack on the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941.
Ukrainian nationalists did not retreat with the Soviet forces, but instead saw an opportunity to support the independence of Ukraine through alliances with the Nazis.
[7] Similarly, on August 26, 1942, the entire Jewish population of nearby Rokitno was ordered into the market square, where people were systematically shot or herded into waiting rail cars, destined for Sarny.
[4] The executions were carried out by German troops and the Ukrainian Auxiliary Police, assisted by some 200 members of Organization Todt.
[10][11][failed verification] Some escaped the massacre by running into the nearby forests after some of the prisoners set fire to huts in the camp and urged people to flee.
The remnants of the Sarny community fenced in the local Jewish cemetery and restored the tombstones that had previously been used as pavement stones.