Preserved data from the 1939 census, according to which 46.9 thousand Jews lived in the Poltava region, and 2.8 thousand in Lubny, which made up about 5.9% of the region's Jews. In the urban population of Lubny, Jews constituted 10% of the townspeople.

It is known that on the eve of the occupation, part of the Lubny Jews managed to evacuate. The Nazis took over the city in September 1941. They conducted a registration of the Jewish population, which showed that there were 1.5 thousand Jews left in Lubny. Researchers assume that the figure was higher, and some of the Jews simply hid and did not show up for registration.

Already on October 10, 1941, the occupation authorities issued an order, according to which the Jews of the city and the surrounding area were to appear on October 16, 1941 at 9:00 for resettlement. The gathering was scheduled at Kirova Square. The order prescribed to take warm clothes and food with them for three days. For failure to comply, they were supposed to be shot.

On the appointed day, the Jews gathered in the city center. They were lined up in columns and led towards the village of Zasulie. According to the recollections of eyewitnesses, who walked on the far right and left, their hands were tied so that no one had the opportunity to leave the column. The convoy was carried out by the soldiers of Sonderkommando 4a.

The Nazis carried out an aktion of liquidation in Zasulsky Yar. According to the act of the regional state commission on the investigation of the atrocities of the occupiers, the Jews were stripped down to their underwear and driven by 35-40 people in the direction of the anti-tank ditch. They were forced to take off their underwear and shot several people. No bullets were spent on children. They were given candy with poison.

According to eyewitnesses, for several days after the tragedy, the ground in the area of ​​the Zasulsky Yar was moving. Obviously, the Nazis did not bother to finish off all the victims, and some were buried alive.

After the execution on October 16, 1941, the Germans confiscated the property that remained in the houses of the executed Lubny Jews.

According to various sources, from 1.5 to 1.9 thousand people were shot in Zasulsky Yar. In 2001, a memorial was erected at the site of the tragedy.

The matter was not limited to the execution in the Zasulsky Yar. According to historians, in November 1941 a wave of denunciations swept through Lubny. Local residents informed the invaders about those Jews who managed to escape and those who were in mixed marriages. The Nazis promised a reward for the information. According to various sources, about 70 more Jews were caught and shot.