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This article focuses on the violence perpetuated against Jews in western Ukraine at the beginning of the German invasion and seeks to determine the reasons and triggering factors behind these attacks. These mass killings were perpetrated by three types of murderers: members of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN); Soviets, who chose to kill their prisoners before fleeing ahead of the German advance; and the Germans themselves, especially the men of the “Wiking” division. However, it has been shown that another group shares responsibility for these acts. Because the local population participated in these assassinations, they were long thought of as pogroms and the result of spontaneous eruptions of violence among the native population. This understanding is significantly challenged through case studies focusing on three cities in the northern part of Eastern Europe, namely Žovkva, Kamionka Strumilova, and Busk.