According to the 1939 census, 12.2 thousand Jews lived in Chernigov. They accounted for 17.7% of the townspeople. In August 1941, during the German offensive, the city was evacuated.

It is known that before the railroad service was cut off, four trains with residents left the city. Then there was an attempt to evacuate the local population by water transport up the Desna. However, the advancing German troops quickly blocked this transport artery. Finally, until the end of August, the townspeople tried to get out of Chernigov on their own on foot or by horse-drawn transport. It is not known exactly how many Jews were among the refugees.

On September 9, 1941, Einsatzgruppe 7b arrived in the city along with the occupation troops and shot 19 Jews.

On September 29, 1941, the occupation authorities issued an order on the registration of citizens. It demanded registration for men from 16 to 45 years old, and all Jews, regardless of gender and age. From the end of October 1941, systematic executions began. It is known that on October 10, 116 Jews were shot, on October 24 - 144, on October 28 - 30.

The Nazis carried out another aktion in November 1941. According to the recollections of eyewitnesses, an order was issued according to which the Jews were to appear with their belongings to one of the central squares for resettlement. On the appointed day, the Jews gathered at the indicated place were surrounded by the Nazis, took away their things, loaded them into cars and sent them to the place of execution.

It is known about several places of executions of Chernigov Jews:

• Quarry of brick factory # 2.
• Birch ditch tract near the village of Koty.
• Raevshchina.
• Second Kholodnyi Yar.

Another place of extermination was the city prison of Chernigov. Here the occupants divided the prisoners into several categories. A separate, second category was identified for the Jews. Prisoners who were classified in this category were held without food or water in overcrowded cells. The Nazis did not keep a detailed record of prisoners. The Jews who ended up in the Chernigov prison were killed with the help of "gas chambers" or shot. Researchers managed to recover the names of only 36 Jews who died in the city prison.

Already on April 1, 1942, the occupation authorities reported that not a single Jew remained in the city. In October 1943, after the de-occupation of the city, it turned out that 27 Jews could survive. Members of five families of residents of Chernigov who participated in the rescue of Jews were included in the list of the righteous, created by the Jewish Council of Ukraine.