According to the 1939 census, 24.9 thousand Jews lived in the city. The Nazis occupied the settlement only at the end of October 1941. Therefore, the Jews had time to evacuate. According to researchers, at the time of the capture of the city, no more than 25% of the pre-war Jewish population remained in it.

There is information that refugees from Mariupol arrived in Donetsk and talked about the persecution of Jews. Nevertheless, not everyone believed them, relying on the experience of 1918 and the stereotype of the Germans as a cultural nation.

After the occupation in October 1941, the Nazis renamed the city from Stalino to Yuzovka. To resolve the Jewish question, Sonderkommandos 4b and 10a, as well as operative command 6, arrived in the settlement. Historians believe that, under pressure from the military, the extermination of Jews was postponed until complete control of the region was established and the front stabilized.

Jews were forbidden to appear on the streets without distinctive signs. In December 1941, a decree of the commandant appeared on the imposition of indemnity on the Jewish community for robbery and sabotage. Anti-Semitic propaganda was actively working to create an image of the enemy among the non-Jewish population of the city.

From February 1942, the occupants began to create a ghetto on the outskirts of the city, used to be known as the White Quarry. The local population was evicted from there; the territory was surrounded by barbed wire. In March 1942, the chiefs of police and burgomasters of the districts were ordered to relocate the entire population to the ghetto. The Jews were ordered to take valuables, things and food for five to six days. The keys to the apartments were ordered to be handed over to the police officers who carried out the eviction. By the time the operation was carried out, the police officers had lists of Jews.

In the ghetto, the prisoners were not provided with food, and soon there began a famine. Every day, police officers took from 10 to 100 people to work, of whom not all returned in the evening.

Before the destruction of the ghetto, the Nazis carried out single and group executions since February 1942 in various parts of the city. At the beginning of March, dushegubka, gas vans, arrived in the city. In early April, the Nazis conducted a test of technology, killing 50 people. It showed that the victims died a terrible death. Therefore, the machines were used only a few times. The Nazi leadership of the city considered that the shootings are more humane.

On April 30, 1942, the ghetto prisoners were notified that they must take valuables and food for three days and be ready for resettlement. The next day, trucks transported the Jews to the mine, where the extermination aktion took place. According to Nazi sources, 3,000 people were killed. Local historians say the number is up to 7 thousand people.

In 2006, a memorial was erected at the site of the death of Jews.