Alternate names: Cepeleuţi [Mold Чепелеуць, Rom], Chepeleutsy [Rus], Chepeleuts', Chepeliutsy Russian: Чепелиуцы. 48°18' N, 27°18' E in NW Moldova, 9 miles N of Edineţ (Yedinets), 11 miles ESE of Briceni (Britshan), and 18 miles from Lipcani.
- Encyclopedia of Jewish Life (2001), p. 237: "Cepeleuti".
- Pinkas HaKehilot, Romania, Vol. 2 (1980), p. 394: "Cepeleuti".
- JewishGen Bessarabia SIG
Jewish population: 163 in 1897 and 1930 - about 200 craftsmen and merchants. Rabbi Yona Forman lived there. Iron Guard was in charge during the anti-Semitic reign of Goga-Kuza.
MASS GRAVE:
When the war broke out, Soviet forces retreated from the village. A gang of local criminals, four Ukrainians including the secretary of the municipal council Nikolai Dabija, got arms from the Romanian army and took over and attacked Jews, stealing everything from the homes, door to door. Later, their belongings were divided among the villagers. They then took all of the Jews of Cepeleuţi about one kilometer outside the village and forced them to dig a large pit. EVERY Jew in the village was shot. The murderes tossed baby hand to hand and then shot them. One Jewish girl was forced to dance naked in front of the pit before her murder. Two young girls away from the village that day survived. A young boy hidden by a Christian neighbor survived. After the war, the three returned to the village for a short time. One former resident, who had moved away before the war, came back after liberation paid for a fence around the burial pit, but no marker was placed. Source [July 2012]