war, many officials from the Polish government and military travelled through Zalishchyky en route to Romania, whose borders still remain within a considerably short distance from the modern town. In early July 1941, on a date not certainly known, the Soviets drowned close to a thousand civilians in the Dniester in what became the Zalishchyky tragedy. On 8 July 1941, German forces entered Zalishchyky and immediately began persecuting the town's Jews – more than 3,700 civilians from Zalishchyky and the surrounding locales were murdered. Many were sent to be slave labor in Nazi-controlled Zhvanets in the fall. On 14 November, several Jews were deported to work camps, 200 to Kamianka-Buzka, and 40 to numerous smaller locales, such as Kutno. Shortly after, 800 Jews were forced to the outskirts of Zalishchyky, where they were murdered. In 2011, a monument was erected near the execution site (now a sports stadium). The proper site of the execution was developed with residential houses and garages after the end of the Second World War. Much of the town died of hunger and typhoid in the winter of 1941, and Jews were moved to neighboring ghettos, mainly to Tłuste, beginning on 20 September 1942. From Tłuste, most of them were shipped to Bełżec extermination camp, others died during deportations. Only a few dozen survived. Some were able to escape to areas such as Tashkent thanks to Soviet evacuations and deportations during the war. In March 1944, the region was liberated by the Russians, before briefly returning to German control, during which many Jews were murdered by the panicking Nazis. After being liberated a second time by the 1st Ukrainian Front on 24 March, survivors and some of those deported returned to Zalishchyky. While the Nazi forces had been defeated, conditions hardly improved. While Moscow lauded the liberation of the city, even naming a battle division after the city, Communist control soon proved to be worse than Nazi occupation in many ways. Starting less than a day after liberation, denizens of Zalishchyky were arrested by SMERSH and presumably murdered by operatives of the NKVD. In October, more than 800 citizens from Zalishchyky were forcibly drafted by the Soviets to so called penal military units (, Shtrafbaty) to fight in the Baltic Offensive, less than 20 survived. After the war, the town was largely repaired, as industrial plants, buildings, and roads were rebuilt and recommissioned. In addition, canneries