According to 1939 data, 3.8 thousand Jews lived in Bar. With the outbreak of hostilities, the number of the Jewish population increased at the expense of refugees, since the authorities assured that the enemy would not reach Bar and would be stopped at the “old border” in the Proskurov area (now Khmelnitsky).

Representatives of the Soviet government left the city on July 15, 1941. The next day the invaders occupied the city. The Bar district was divided between the Romanian and German occupation zones. The border of the Romanian zone ran a few kilometers from Bar.

After capturing the city, the Nazis introduced restrictive measures against the Jewish population. Anyone who had a Jewish grandfather or grandmother was considered a Jew, as well as all those who professed Judaism. They were forbidden to buy and sell property, communicate with the local population, visit public places (shops and markets), use the services of non-Jewish doctors. On the street, Jews could only appear with identification marks.

Until mid-December 1941, Jews lived in their own homes. The decree establishing the ghetto was issued on December 15, 1941. According to the document, from December 20, all Jews had to move to the ghetto. Three of them were created in the city in places of compact residence of Jews. The non-Jewish population was evicted from areas where ghettos were created.

The ghettos were located: on Sholem Aleichem Street, on 8 Marta, Komsomolskaya and Kooperativnaya streets, as well as in the area from 8 Marta Street to the stadium. In the latter, only artisans were settled according to the lists of the Judenrat.

The Nazis used ghetto prisoners for road and agricultural work. The prisoners were destroyed as a result of two actions. In mid-August 1942, a Sonderkommando from Kamenets-Podolsk arrived in the city. According to the testimony of the survivors, the police warned the residents of the ghetto about the impending aktion and some of them tried to leave for the Romanian occupation zone.

On the morning of August 19, 1942, the Nazis drove the Jews to the stadium, where there were Jews from the surrounding villages and arranged a selection, taking away the old, sick, women and children. Some of the Jews were returned to the closed ghetto. About 3 thousand people were taken to the area of ​​the village of Garmaki, where five pits were prepared and 40-50 people were shot.

On August 20-21, the Nazis burned down a Jewish hospital with patients and doctors. 100 people were killed.

In mid-October 1942, the remaining Jews were expelled from their homes, ordered to take warm clothes to be sent to the Kherson region for agricultural work. On the way to the place of execution, 30-40 teenagers managed to escape. The Nazis did not pursue them.

In total, about 4.8 thousand Jews were killed in Bar.