Holocaust in Belorussia
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Author's note: Baranovichi – regional capital city in the Brest area; railway connections to Brest, Volkovysk, Lida, Minsk, Slutsk and Luninets, located 206 km from Brest; originally settled in Minsk province, in 1871, as station on the Moscow-Brest Railway, 1897 (8,500 inhabitants), in 1912 about 30,000 inhabitants, in 1914, General Headquarters of Russian army; in 1921-1939 part of Poland, since 1939 in BSSR, seat of Baranovichi region, before WWI 7,796 Jews lived here; occupied by German armies from June 27, 1941 to July 8, 1944, during which time127,500 people were killed in the city and surrounding area, and also within the Gai forest boundaries, three thousand Jews from Czechoslovakia; in summer of 1994 a monument to victims of the ghetto, made in Israel, opened due to activity of former residents.
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The Berestovitsa Area Extraordinary Commission determined that (document of October 30, 1944), the principal war criminals were: Commandant Golinski of the Knobil garrison and his assistants Gavar, Schmidt, Gershan, and also the policemen Semenyako and Ledich, the German soldiers Linderman, Kiskel', and Kriger. In the list of names of those executed, Soviet citizens from the Berestovitse area who were tortured and hung numbered 87 Jewish families (Original source held at GARF (State Archive of the Russian Federation in Moscow), fond 7021, opis 86, delo 35, listy 1-16; copies Yad Vashem, (Jerusalem), Ì-33/703).
Author's note: Bol'shaya Berestovitsa – a settlement, in the center of the Grodno area, is located on the Berestovitsa Road 63 km from Grodno; it's mentioned for the first time in the 16th century, after annexation to the Russian empire (1795) - a town in the Grodno district; in 1900 - 1786 people. 1921-1939 part of Poland, since 1939 in the BSSR Krynkovichi district: 720 Jewish residents before WWII; occupied by German armies from June 1941 to July 17, 1944. 634 people were killed in the settlement and surrounding area.
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The Germans appointed Khatskel Baranski (age 50), formerly a worker at the city forestry exchange and tree nursery combine called “Komintern” to keep internal order in the ghetto. Prisoners were ordered to forced hard labor: sweeping and cleaning streets and latrines, road construction, unloading goods. Early in October 1941, in a northern city suburb, near an air field, prisoners of war dug two big and deep holes in a ravine. In celebration, a banquet in honor of the German army was arranged to be held in a dining room on the market square on October 19. When Obersturmfuehrer Kraffe arrived, the burgomaster of Borisov , Stanislav Stankevich declared, that in some hours “the major Aktion” will begin. In the morning on October 20, 1941 Jews were collected and began to be transported in trucks and pedestrian columns to the holes. They were collected in a ravine 50 meters from the mass graves. Before execution, they were forced to undress, and, to quote Stankevich, forced to lie face downward in the holes “like sardines” to save space. The supply manager of the police substation Joseph Majtak brought vodka. The policemen drank and started “work”. Many of the wounded were buried alive. The holes were covered with a thin layer of the soil through which blood filtered. If it reached the streams, it could flow to the Berezina River. Then the tomb was covered with unslaked lime and an additional layer of sand. In two days, October 20 and 21, 1941, 7245 Jews were executed. However, with inclusion of other isolated actions the number of victims in Borisov reached 9,000. In 1943 a squad of prisoners of war was forced by the Germans to exhume the mass graves and burn the bodies on large fires. The participants in this operation were shot on completion of the work.
In 1947 relatives of the victims erected on a modest monument at the execution site, but there's no mention that Jews are buried there. The inscription represented a state cliche whose use was required by the authorities. Only in 1995 did the image of a menorah appear (Source: Alexander Rosenbloom “Pamyat na Krovi” [“Memories Preserved in Blood”] Petach Tikva, 1998), pp. 59-63.
Author's note: Borisov - city, district center in the Minsk region, located 71 km from Minsk, station on the Minsk-Orsha Railway Line, a crossroads on the Minsk-Moscow highway; it was founded in 1102 year by the Grand Duke of Polotsk, Boris Vseslavich, although according to other data, it was founded in 1032 by the Grand Duck of Kiev Jaroslav Mudry; during the Polish era, the seat of Troky wojewodztwo of Orsha powiat, since 1795 district city of Minsk Guberniya. Jewish history: in the 16th century, Borisov kahal was one of the best known in Belarus and Lithuania; in 1766, 249 Jews lived there; in 1861 – 2,851 Jews; in 1897 – 7,722 (out of 15,063 inhabitants), in 1910 – 10,617, in 1926 – 8,355, in 1939 – 10,011 Jews (out of 49,108 inhabitants). It was occupied by German armies from July 2, 1941 to July 1, 1944. There were 6 death camps in which more than 33,000 perished, in the city's vicinity. (National Archive of Belarus Republic, fond 861, opis 1, delo 8, listy 66-69; State Archive of Minsk Oblast, fond 635, opis 1, delo 4, list 1)
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The following were named as chief organizers and executors of the mass murders: the chief of gendarmerie Schultz, officers Ganoftol', Khil'kin, Brovzer, Grikhe, the deputy chief of gendarmerie Veber, the chief of the SD Tubis, gendarmes Enkel', Shmek, Izberg, the director of the sawmill Vunderlikh and his assistant Lyass, Mikhelos Otto, Oberleutenant Koch, Stabsfeldwebel Alfred Rozubavts and security guards of the ghetto. (Original sources at Gosudarstvenny arkhiv Rossiiskoy Federatsii (GARF) in Moscow, fond 7021, opis 81, delo 102, listy 1-39; Copies are at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, M-33/1159).
Author's note: Byten - village in Ivatsevichi district (rayon) (since 1965) of Brest area (oblast), the center of the Village Soviet, located 27 km from Ivatsevichi; first mentioned in the 16th century as a place in Slonim powiat of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, in the Russian empire since 1795 – mestechko (shtetl) in Slonim district of Grodno guberniya; in 1766 - 273 Jews, 1847 - 573, in 1897 – 1,614 (of 2,682 inhabitants in all); in 1921-1939 part of Poland, and since 1939 - in BSSR, before WWII 739 Jews lived there; occupied by German armies from June 26, 1941 to July 9, 1944.
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The Belarussian police, headed by commander Yezhevsky, and aided by Tubilevich, Vitold Schmigger and Nikolai Zhurun -- who distinguished themselves with particular cruelty - provided significant aid to the Nazis. The Aid Commission of the [acronym for a State Committee] of the USSR of the Vasilishki Region put together a list of 616 families from the peaceful population who were victims. The majority were Jews. (The original of the source is kept in the State Archive of the Russian Federation, Fond 7021, Inventory 86, File 36, Lists 2-49; National Archive of the Republic of Belarus, Fond 845, Inventory 1, File 8, List 52; the State Archive of the Grodno Oblast, Fond 1029, Inventory 1, File 75, Lists 27-28; a copy is at the Yad Vashem archive, M-33/702). [Note: the US Holocaust Memorial Museum has a microfilm copy. The list has been transcribed by the Lida District Researchers & is available on the Lida District ShtetLink].
Author's notes: Vasilishki - a village in the Shuchin region or the Grodno oblast, located in the region of Lebed, 27 kilometers from Shuchin; it was first mentioned in the first half of the 15th century, from 1486= a town, in 1706 there was a residence of the Polish king Stanislav Leshinski. It was part of Russian from 1795, a town in the Lida district of the Vilna guberniya; in 1847 - 719 Jews, in 1897 - 2,081 (out of a toatl population of 2,781 residents); in 1921-39 it was part of Poland, and the center of the province of Vilna; from 1939 it was part of the Belarus SSR. In the pre-war period there were 1,223 Jews; it was occupied by the German forces from June 1941 until July 1944. In 1967 an obelisk to “Soviet citizens” was erected to those killed by the Fascists.
On July 12, 1941 the German authorities declared through burgomaster Sapeshko that Jewish men aged 15 to 60 years were to gather at 10 o'clock in the morning in a synagogue on School Lane. A soldier stood at the door, beating those entering the synagogue with wooden sticks. The Jews had been ordered to bring their valuables like money, gold, and watches, as well as documents of ownership of houses. When they had handed over everything, they were ordered into a line, experts were separated out, and the rest taken near the villages Stavki and Mal'uty where they were shot. Data on the number of victims differ. Anastasia Podberezskaja named 300 people, Vera Kazanovich and Nina Alfer -250, Mark Yastsholib - 150, Joseph Shmukler - 140 Jews and 15 non-Jews. Lev Belyavsky talked about the murder of 150 men in a wood behind the wooden bridge to Vileika in Stavki village, emphasizing that the Gestapo hunted Jews in particular. On April 16, 1945 the Vileika Extraordinary Commission opened 5 mass graves at Stavki village, which contained 250 corpses, however the exact time of burial in each of the graves was not established. The commission ascertained only that all of them dated to the summer of 1941.
The ghetto was established in the former vocational school (FZO) [1] on Stakhanov Street. The number of prisoners varied, as Jews from neighboring places - Kurenca, Kobyl'nikov, etc. - were taken there. Nutrition was very poor, usually 200 gr. bread made with bran and other impurities during the day (note: that's 6 or 7 slices of bread) and soup - swill. Jews did various jobs, cleared away ruins, built roads, unloaded transports, etc. By the autumn of 1942 the majority of them had become so weak, they could not work well.
Another group of Jews (up to 350 people) was executed at the boundary of Lipniki, a suburb of Vileika (the document does not give a date - L.S.). In August 1941, SS staff arrived in the city and many people were sent away (the actual number is not given - L.S.). Jewish women with children were also taken away in an unknown direction. Nina Alfer (born 1888) recalled she saw that a truck with a covered bed approached. Soldiers with the skull and crossbones emblem caught Jews in the street and locked them in the truck. An old man who could not run quickly to the truck was beaten. The officer threw a 3-year-old girl onto the truck so hard, that she flew through the group already on the truck and out the other side onto the sidewalk. She was loaded back on the truck half dead. When the truck was filled, the people were taken away in an unknown direction. No one ever saw them again.
A new Aktion occurred on March 2 and 3, 1942. Under various pretexts three hundred Jews were collected, 23 experts selected from them, and the others shot outside the city prison. The prison was a known execution site. People were placed against one of the walls and shot with a pistol, children's spines broken, but they were still alive. After that a combustible liquid was poured over everyone and set fire. Just in the prison courtyard and near its northern edge about 700 people were killed. During the excavation of mass graves in 1945, a dense ash, light gray in color was found. It is the result of the action of the caustic soda with which the bodies were covered.
The Vileika ghetto was liquidated on November 7, 1942. Forces surrounded the FZO school building. Jews were ordered to leave all their belongings and property on the street and to sit down in trucks. The chairman of the Judenrat called prisoners according to a list and they sat down in the transports. When the list has approached to the end, the last members of the Judenrat sat down. The machines, three covered lorries and one automobile, proceeded to Michael Lavrinovich's manor. At a bend in the road, one person jumped out of a vehicle and started running. He was shot with an automatic and his body thrown back into the truck. The Jews were forced into the manor. The guards watched closely, to make sure none of the local residents appeared on the street, and the house was set on fire. After that policemen came to the ghetto, divided things and exchanged them for moonshine with passers-by. Witness N.I.Alfer went to the manor after the Germans left. In one part there were men, in another women who sat, having embraced. The corpses were charred, but were distinct. Some people had children in their arms. The victims were not buried for a long time. Dogs and birds carried off parts and scattered them. Only after about a month and a half did the Germans send 10 Jews from another ghetto to bury the remains in a hole by the site of the big fire. Witness I.R.Turetski asserted that the corpses were not interred until spring of 1943 , and were not buried together with their neighbors.
The number of victims of November, 7, 1942 has not been established. I.A.Shmukler thought that 110 Jews have been killed and burnt: “ Germans from SD under Commander Grave have placed guards with machine guns and set fire to the house “. Nadezhda Ermakov (born 1903) spoke of about 400 Jews. The Extraordinary Commission drew up a document stating that on April, 20, 1945, on Partisan Street, 300 old men, women and children were collected, taken away and burned. The ethnicity of the victims was not discussed in the document. The last Aktion took place in spring of 1943. The pogrom was conducted at night, and in the morning, there were pools of blood on the street. During the years of occupation, 7250 people were murdered in Vileika. (827 women and 118 children), 300 were burnt, another 400 tortured, and 3 prisoners of war hung. 37 people were sent to Germany for forced labor. The commission did not specify the nationality of the victims. Organizers of the genocide were: the chief of the Vileika concentration camp Sheleng, the assistant to the chief of the concentration camp Yuzef Moskot, and both SD chief Grave and his assistant Tsifle. (Original sources at GARF (State Archive of the Russian Federation), fond 7021, opis 89, delo 3, lists 106-109; copies at Yad Vashem M-33/1135).
Footnote
1. FZO – fabrichno-zavodskoe obuchenie (plant-industry educational courses for young worgkers) ReturnAuthor's note: Vileika - The city, the district (rayon) center, of Minsk region (oblast), is located on the river Viliya 103 km from Minsk, a stop on the roads to Molodechno, Smorgon', M'adel', Dokshicy, and Pleschenicy; known since 1599 as a town, center of Vileika starostva of Oshmiany povet, it became part of Russia in 1793, the district city of Vilna Guberniya; in 1797 (of 1270 inhabitants), there were 957 Jews; in 1803 - 1006 Jews (1387), in 1897 - 1328 (3560); in 1921-1939 part of Poland, as powiat center of Vilna wojewodztwo, since 1939 in BSSR, before WWII, 710 Jews lived there; occupied by German armies since June 26, 1941. On July 2, 1944, Aktionen to murder the Jewish population were carried out on July 12, 1941, on July 30, 1941 and on September, 6, 1942. During the entire occupation, 6972 people were murdered, and the city was almost completely destroyed.
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Author's note: Vitebsk,- city, the center of Vitebsk region (oblast), is located on the Zapadnaya Dvina River, 300 km from Minsk, on the railway routes to Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Orsha, Polotsk, and the port on the Zapadnaya Dvina; the center of the Vitebsk principality, founded by princess Olga in 974, from 1101 part of Grand Duchy of Lithuania, in the beginning of 16th century the center of Vitebsk wojewodztwo of the Rzecz Pospolita; annexed by Russia in 1772 - a country town in Pskov Guberniya, in 1777 moved to Polotsk Guberniya, per 1796 the center Belarus Guberniya, renamed Vitebsk Guberniya; the first data on Jews are from1551, in 1897 - 3440 Jews (52,4 % of all inhabitants), in 1910 – 43,616 Jews, in 1923 – 39,714, in 1939 – 37,095 Jews (among 167,299 inhabitants); occupied by German armies from July 11, 1941 to June 26, 1944. 62,000 inhabitants were murdered in the city and surrounding area, including over 20,000 Jews, and also 76,000 Soviet prisoners of war; a memorial marker was placed on the site of mass execution of Jews in Ilovski (Tulovski) in 1995.
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Author's note: Vishnevo - village in Volozhin district (rayon) of Minsk region (oblast), is located on the Ol'shanka River 23 km from Volozhin; during the 14th century in Krev region of a princedom, per 1583 a village, during the Rzecz Pospolita the volost center in Oshmiany powiat Vilna wojewodztwo, since 1793 part of Russia; in 1847, 336 Jews lived there; 1897 - 1463 (out of 2.650 inhabitants); in 1919-1920 and 1921-1939 part of Poland, the center gminy in Volozhin powiat of Novogrudok wojewodztwo, since 1939 in BSSR, before WWII - 571 Jews lived there; it was occupied by German armies from June 1941 to July 6, 1944 during which 2060 inhabitants were killed, among whom were no less than 1500 Jews; in 1980 the monument to victims of fascism is erected, there is no mention of a genocide of Jews.
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In the Soviet State Extraordinary Commission report on the Volkovysk area, dated March 18, 1945 it says, “fascist animals destroyed the Jewish population entirely “. In 1942 (month is not specified - L. S.) Jews were collected in the city center and “were methodically killed”. The first executions were carried out in woods to the west of Volkovysk. Among the victims were 27 doctors, 50 teachers, 5 engineers, 6 technicians, 5 lawyers, 6 clergymen. By interrogating the residents, the commission created a list containing 3021 surnames of prisoners in the ghetto. In all, during the occupation, 8233 people were murdered in the town, and in the surrounding area - 9328, including 3110 women and 1554 children. [Original source at GARF (State Archive of the Russian Federation), fond 7021, opis 86, delo 37, lists 1-16; NARB, fond 861, opis 1, delo 7, lists 63, 67, 89; fond 845, opis 1, delo 8, list 35; copies at Yad Vashem, M-33/ 701].
Author's note: Volkovysk, town, the center of Grodno district (rayon), is located on the Ros' River, 98 km from Grodno, stop on the railway lines to Baranovichi, Most', Slonim, Ruzhany and Berestovitsy; the first settlements date to the 10th century, mentioned in annals in 1252, in the 13th century , the center of Volkovysk principality is mentioned for the first time, in 1386 grand duke Jagajlo has accepted the Polish crown here, since 15th century the starost center, and since 16th century - a powiat in Novogrudok wojewodztwo, since 1796 the district city of Slonim, and later of the Lithuanian provinces; Jews first mentioned in1577, in 1766 - 1282 Jews, in 1797 - 1477 Jews and Karaites, 1821 Christians, in 1847 - 1429 Jews, in 1897 - 5528 (out of 10,323 inhabitants); in 1921-1939 part of Poland, a powiat center in Bialistok wojewodztwo, since 1939 in BSSR, before WWII, 5130 Jews lived here; occupied by German armies from June 28, 1941 to July 14, 1944, during which time more than 29 thousand people were murdered, including 20 thousand prisoners of war; there is a communal grave for Soviet soldiers and partisans, a grave for victims of fascism; the obelisk was erected in 1966.
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The German officers Blum and Blesh supervised the executions, and were helped by local policemen. Daniel Nehai hid a radio receiver in his shed. Later "the Jewish hostel" (so in the document – L.S.) for 20 people was here. Nehai himself had to move to the more spacious house of Shakhno Paretski. He wrote twice to the Gestapo on Minsk, informing them that there were many Communists among the Jews of Volozhin. When there was no answer, Nehai, under the pretext of visiting an oculist, went to Minsk (summer of 1943). A few days later, a group of 35 Gestapo men arrived in Volozhin from Vileika, surrounded the “Jewish hostel”, and Nehai had reported the hidden receiver. It served as a pretext for executing the last Jews. They were collected on Dubinskaya Street, in the big shed, and led out from there in lots of 50-100 people to be shot in the Jewish cemetery. Many were killed where they were hidden. 600 Jews were burned alive in the house of former Polish gendarme Bunov. Only Girsh Skl'ut escaped, by striking a policeman and fleeing. After the murders, Nehai, Zhurkevich and Kashkevich harnessed horses and told the police they would remove the bodies. Actually they plundered Jewish property. They entered houses, searched victims' bodies, broke out dental crowns of gold and platinum, searched for valuables, money and watches. They left with footwear and clothes belonging to the victims, and took them home. It was accepted that the most active participants in the murders of Jews were the commandant of town police Yankovsky (former commissioner of the Ministry of Agriculture BSSR in Volozhin), Volozhin residents Tavten', Zen'ko, the peasant Botjan, the brothers Stankevich from Filippin'aty village. They were particularly cruel to Jews, favored and "pushed for prompt destruction". The Commission ChGK created a list of 136 surnames of Volozhin Jews, with their ages, sex, profession, and last employer before the war. (Original sources at GARF, f. 7021, op. 89, d. 4, ll. 11-69; NARB, f. 845, op. 1, d. 63, l. 20; f. 4., op. 29, d.112, ll. 459-460; copies at Yad Vashem Archives, M-33/1136).
Author's note: Volozhin - town, district (rayon) center in Minsk region (oblast) is located on the Volozhinka River 75 km from Minsk; first mentioned in 14th century , in 1507 startostvo center in Novogrudok wojewodztwo, since 1551 town in Oshm'any powiat of Vilna wojewodztwo; in 1793 annexed by Russian empire, in 1766 - 383 Jews, in 1847. - 590, in 1897 - 2452 (out of 4534 inhabitants); in 1806-1892 the yeshiva "Ets Chaim " was open, which was considered one of the chief among Russian Jewish from the 1820s; 1921-1939 part of Poland, since 1939 in BSSR, before WWII 1434 Jews lived there; from June 25, 1941 to July 5, 1944 it was occupied by German armies, who murdered 2000 Jews, among them the last 64 students of Volozhin yeshiva; there is a communal grave of Soviet soldiers and partisans, a tomb of victims of fascism.
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Author's note: Vorobevichi – village in Slonim district (rayon) of Grodno region (oblast); became part of Slonim distict (uezd) of Grodno province (guberniya), 1921-1939 part of Poland, since 1939 in BSSR; from June 1941 to July 1944, occupied by German armies, after the liberation, the republic cleaned up a communal grave and fenced it. At its base a monument was erected, on which there is no mention of Jews.
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They were kept in the local clubhouse and they remained there for a week. They were subjected to beatings and derision. Heart-rending cries and moaning and groaning could be heard from the clubhouse. Prior to the action, the Germans had ordered them to prepare a meal for themselves and to bring along some vodka. On Saturday November 14, 1941, the prisoners began their “work”. Some 600 meters between the town and the railroad bed, there was a ditch to which they led Jews in groups of twenty, divided into groups of men, women & children. They shot them, and they put a new group on top of the dead, and then shot them. They shot women before the eyes of their husbands, and children before the eyes of the mothers. They did not spare the wounded, burying them alive.
Some 268 Jews died on that day, and were buried in two graves at the Voronovo Station.
The second pogrom took place on May 11, 1942. “The Germans saw no limt to their rage and cruelly oturned on the peaceful population (from a document of the Aid Commission of the State Committee of the USSR of the Voronovo Region, February 28, 1945)”. People undressed and were killed mercilessly. On that day, 1,291 Jews died, and all of them were buried in the mass grave near the Voronovo-Lida highway. The total number of people shot in the Voronovo region was 1,604, including 492 women and 299 children. The Commission could only ascertain the names of 1,387 Voronovo Jews and refugees in Voronovo.
The organizers and active participants in these crimes were the official of gendarmie of Voronovo, Sergeant-Major Raymond, Police Commander Shefransky, Regional Economic Affairs Commander Belyakh, and they were assisted by Belarussian police. (The original of the source is kep in the State Archive of the Russian Federation, Fond 7021, Inventory 86, File 38, Lists 1-67; a copy is at the Yad Vashem archive, M-33/706).
Author's notes: Voronovo - an urban settlement, the center of the Voronovo region of the Grodno oblast, located 133 kilometers from Grodno; first mentioned in the 16th century as a small town in the Lida district of the Vilna gubernia. In 1847 there were 199 Jews, and in 1897 1,432 (out of a total population of 1,574). In 1921-39 it was part of Poland, and since 1939, a part of Belarus. From June 23, 1941 to Jun 11, 1944, it was occupied by German forces who killed more than 2,600 people. There is a mass grave of Soviet soldiers and partisans - it is a grave of the victims of fascism. In 1964 an obelisk was erected, but no mention of Jews was made on it.
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The Soviet State Extraordinary Commission found some mass burial places (report, dated April 20, 1945). One in woods near the boundary with Pogoreltsy, two along the Gorodishche- Baranovichi Road, 200 meters from the left side of the highway, "a mass of Jews and Poles" (in the document - L.S.) was executed. Another grave was exhumed, 300 metres from the orthodox church. Jews, partisans and Soviet prisoners of war had been buried in it. In addition, there are many single graves of civilians who were murdered by the fascists around Gorodishche. The majority of the corpses exhumed showed traces of torture like having their hands fastened before them with barbed wire. The chief organizers of the Aktionen were: Commander of the 57th “punitive” Schutzbattalion Vikling, Ortskommandant of Gorodishche, the Wehrmacht Leutenant Platz (Original sources at GARF, f. 7021, op. 81, d. 102, ll. 1-52; copies at Yad Vashem Archives, M-33/1159).
Author's note: Gorodishche - town in Baranovichi district (rayon) of Brest region (oblast) is located at the head of the Servach River, 25 km from Baranovichi; in the middle of 13th century part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, in 2-nd part of the 15th century was known as a grand-ducal palace, during the Rzecz Pospolita, it was in Novogrudok wojewodztwo, part of the Russian empire since 1795; in 1766 there were 422 Jews in the kahal, in 1897 – a total of 5023 inhabitants; since 1924 the center of Gorodok district (rayon), 760 Jews lived here before WWII; it was occupied by German armies from July 10, 1941 to December 24, 1943; there were 68 Jews in the ghetto along Slonim Lane; they were executed in Mikhnovshchina Wood; in the years of occupation, more than 5084 people were killed in Gorodishche and surrounding area; there is a memorial complex at a military cemetery; in 1994 the memorial plaque for Holocaust victims was erected.
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Author's note: Gordeya - town in Nesvizh district (rayon) of Grodno region (oblast); formerly a village in Novogrudok district of Minsk province, it is located on the river Gorodejka 14 km from Nesvizh; in 1897 - 688 Jews (out of 754 inhabitants); in 1921-1939 part of Poland, since 1939 - in BSSR, before WWII 796 Jews lived here; it was occupied by German troops from the end of June 1941 to July 4, 1944, there is a communal grave for Soviet soldiers and partisans, the grave of victims of fascism, at which Jews are not mentioned.
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Author's note: Grodno - city, a district (rayon) and regional (oblast) capital, is located on the Neman River, 300 km from Minsk, station for railways to Vilnius, Most', Bialystok, river and air ports; arose at the end of 10th century; first mentioned in 1127; center of Grodno principality from the 12th century, from the 13th century part of Grand Duchy of Lithuania, since 1801 the center Grodno guberniya; during the Rzecz Pospolita - the center of Troki wojewodztwo; Jews appeared for the first time at the end of 12th century, since the 17th century one of the three main centers of Jewry of Lithuania and Belarus (along with Pinsk and Brest), Jews in Grodno in 1816 - 85 % of the total population, in 1887 - 68,7 %, in the beginning of 20th century - 60 %; In 1790 and 1816 Jews experienced "blood libels (accusation, totally false, that Jews kidnap Christian children to use their blood in religious rituals); one of the centers of Eastern European Jewish spiritual life, site of the first Jewish printing house in Russia; in 1921 - 1939 part of Poland, in 1921 - 53,9% were Jews in Grodno, in 1931 – 18,697 Jews (42,6 % of the city's total population), since 1939 in BSSR; it was occupied by German armies from June 24, 1941 to July 16, 1944, during which time more than 51,438 people were murdered, including more than 20,600 Jews; there is a communal grave of Soviet soldiers and partisans, a grave of victims of fascism; in 1965 a monument was erected without any mentioning of Jews.
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Author's note: Derechin - village in Zel'va district (rayon) (since 1966) of Grodno region (oblast), located on the Sipa River, 15 km from Zel'va and 98 km from Grodno; first mentioned in the 15th century, during the Rzecz Pospolita (Polish Commonwealth), part of Slonim powiat of Novogrudok wojewodztwo; from 1795 part of Slonim district (uezd) of the Grodno guberniya of the Russian empire; Jewish tenants first mentioned in 1619, in 1766, 404 Jews belonged to the kahal, in 1897 - 1887 (of 2663 inhabitants)(Note: This makes no sense. Dates are backward and not clear what you mean re: of 2663 inhabitants); 1921-1939 part of Poland, since 1939 in BSSR. Before WWII 1346 Jews lived here; occupied by German armies from June 1941 to July 1944. There is a communal grave of Soviet soldiers and partisans and an obelisk honoring Jewish victims of genocide was erected in 1948.
Author's note: Drogichin – town, district (rayon) center in Brest region (oblast), located 110 km from Brest, on the Brest-Pinsk highway; first mentioned in 1452, during the Rzecz Pospolita a town in Pinsk powiat, Brest wojewodztwo (from 1623), a town from 1778, in 1776 - 510 Jews lived here, in 1897 – 784 Jews out of 1707 total inhabitants; part of Poland 1921 – 1939, in the BSSR from 1939, before WWII, 1521 Jews lived here; occupied by the German armies from June 25, 1941 to July 17, 1944, during which time 4,498 people were murdered; there's a communal grave of Soviet soldiers and partisans, a mass grave of victims of fascism, the obelisk honoring Soviet victims was erected in 1967, without any mentioning of Jews.
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The ghetto was cut off from the outside world, and any contact with non-Jews was prohibited. Strict monitoring 24 hours a day was maintained, and the delivery of food products into the ghetto could incur the death penalty. Prisoners were executed during two pogroms in December 1941 and July 1942 (3,500 people). Of these, the last names of 1,601 could not be determined. In total 4,716 people in the Dyatlavo regions perished betwenn 1941 and 1944, and another 1,256 residents were sent off to perform labor in Germany.
SS Special Commander Gleiman, serviceman Glebka (German), Sergeant-Major Ubrich, Lieutenants Kichler, Ridel, and Braun, Sergeant-Major Egensohn, and Captains Malcher and Maidel took an active role in the murder of the peaceful population. (The original of the source is kept in the State Archive of the Republic of Belarus, Fond 845, Inventory 1, File 6, List 37; Zone State Archive of Baranovich, Fond 616, Inventory 1, File 70, List 73; a copy is at the Yad Vashem archive, M-33/1159).
Author's notes: Dyatlavo - a city in the Grodno oblast and center of the Dyatlavo Region (cincse 1965) located in the region of Dyatolovka, 165 kilometers from Grodno; from the end of the 15th century until the first half of the 16th century it was part of the Troksk province of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1566 it was a town in the Slonim region; from 1795 it was part of the Grodno gubernia of the Russian Empire. In 1897 there were 3,033 Jews (out of 3,979 total population); in 1921-39 it was part of Poland, and since 1939 it is part of the Belarus SSR. In the pre-war years, there were 2,375 Jews. From June 30, 1941 to July 9, 1944, the town was occupied by the Germany army, who killed more than 4,716 people. There is a mass grave for Soviet soldiers and partisans, a grave of victims of fascism. In 1945 a home-made obelisk to the victims of the catastrophe was erected.
The ghetto was organized in July 1941 on Raboche-Krest'yankaya Street (Workers and Peasants Street) which adjoined the Jewish cemetery. In the middle of August 1941, 18 Jews were ordered to dig a huge hole ostensibly as a dump for damaged military equipment, which had been blocking up fields. When it was ready, steps were dug into the edges, arousing suspicion. In the morning of Monday, August 18, policemen Gnot and Golub have went into the ghetto and ordered the residents to the market to check documents. Those who came were forced to wait on their knees. The first to the hole near the forest were the twenty most physically able men. Shots were heard, and groups of 15 to 20 people began to be sent on. Elder Shenderov whom neighbors brought half- dressed, didn't wait and died in the arms of relatives. Have spared only two juvenile children, and Khasi Khodasevich, who has been given birth from a mixed marriage. At three o'clock in the afternoon it all was over; the hole contained 927 bodies.
Active participation in the Aktion were the chief of security service (SD) of Borisov Schoeneman, Gestapo servicemen Berg and Walter, the commandant of Borisov Scherer, commandant of Zembin Ilek, translator L'utske, burgomaster of Zembin David Egof, the chief of Zembin branch of the police Vasily Haritonovich, his assistant Feofil Kabakov (killed by partisans), and policemen who were local residents: Alexei Rabetski, Konstantin Golub, Grigory Gnot, brothers Konstantin and Pavel Aniskeviches, Jacob Kopytok, and others (A.Rosenbloom, Pamyat na Krovi (Memory of Blood), (Petak-Tikva, 1998) pp. 66-67)
Author's note: Zembin – village in Borisov district (rayon), 30 km from Borisov; one of the most ancient settlements in Belarus, formerly called Zhabin (Zabin) from the personal name Zhaba (the Toad); from the 16th century – town in Borisov starostvo in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, part of Russia from 1793; in 1897 – 1037 Jews, in 1926 - 838 Jews (among the total 1199 residents); occupied from June 1941 to June 30, 1944; after the war, relatives of the murdered Jews collected funds to build a concrete fence around the execution site, and placed a memorial plate. The mass grave was repeatedly dug into by marauders and desecrated by hooligans. In 1992, vandals broke a marble slab which was replaced in March 1993 with a metal sculpture, “Light of the Menorah”.
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