Holocaust in the Berezinsky district (Minsk region)

The Berezinsky district was completely occupied by German troops in July 1941, and the occupation lasted more than three years - until July 3, 1944 ^[3] . The Nazis included Berezinsky district in the territory administratively assigned to the army rear zone of Army Group Center . The commandant's offices - field (field commandant's offices) and local (ortskommandatura) - possessed all the full power in the region.

In all large villages of the district, district (volost) councils and police garrisons from collaborators were created.

To carry out the policy of genocide and carry out punitive operations, immediately after the troops, the punitive units of the SS troops, Einsatzgruppe , Sonderkommando , secret field police (SPF), security and SD police, gendarmerie and the Gestapo arrived in the area.

Monument at one of the places of execution of Berezin Jews

Simultaneously with the occupation, the Nazis and their henchmen began the mass extermination of Jews. “Actions” (such as the euphemism by the Nazis called the massacres organized by them) were repeated many times in many places. In those settlements where Jews were not killed immediately, they were kept in ghetto conditions until they were completely destroyed, using heavy and dirty forced labor, which caused many prisoners to die from excessive loads in the conditions of constant hunger and lack of medical care.

During the occupation, almost all Jews of the Berezinsky region were killed, and the few who survived fought in the majority later in partisan units .

The occupying authorities, on pain of death, forbade Jews to take off their yellow armor or six-pointed stars (identification marks on their outer clothing), leave the ghetto without special permission, change their place of residence and apartment inside the ghetto, walk on sidewalks, use public transport, be in parks and public places to attend schools ^[4] . The Germans, implementing the Nazi program of extermination of Jews , created 2 ghettos in the district.

• In the ghetto of the city of Berezino (summer 1941 - July 1942), more than 1,000 Jews from Berezino and neighboring villages were tortured and killed.
• In the ghetto in the village of Bogushevichi (late summer 1941 - December 1941), about 400 Jews from Bogushevichi and neighboring villages were killed.

Few Jews managed to hide in the attics, basements, and raspberries (pre-constructed hiding places) during the “actions”. Most of them after the escape joined the partisans ^{[5] [6]} . In Bogushevichi, Khaya Shusterovich was saved by a miracle, and her four children died ^[7] . Zina Levina-Malyarchuk and another 17 Jews managed to escape, taking advantage of the confusion of the guard, and join the partisans ^[8] . Also in November 1941, the 15-year-old Reuven (Roman) Crybaby managed to escape with his older brother ^[9] . The boy Melamed (Melamedzon) was sheltered for a time by an unknown family ^[10] .

Nine residents of the Berezinsky district were awarded the honorary title “The Righteous Among the Nations ” from the Israeli Yad Vashem Memorial Institute “ as a sign of deepest gratitude for the assistance provided to the Jewish people during the Second World War ”:

• Kosokovsky Vladimir, Varvara and Alexander - for saving Zinaida Krasner in Berezino ^[11] ;
• Kruglik Polycarp, his wife, Ivan, Nikolai, Anton - for saving the sisters Tamara and Elizabeth Zorins ^[12] ;
• Nina Kononovna Gaiduk (Greenberg) - for saving Evgenia Guzik and her brother Peter ^{[7] [13]} .

Monuments to the victims of the Holocaust in the area were erected in Berezino ^{[14] [15]} and Bogushevichy ^[16] .

Incomplete lists of Jews killed in the Berezinsky district have been published ^[17] .

Books and articles

• A. A. Zhdanovich, A. M. Zhukoiski, I. L. Zhukoiski i insh. (redkal.), P. A. Prybytkіn (laying). “Memory. Byarezіnsky rayan. " - Mn. : Belarus, 2004 .-- 576 p. - ISBN 985-01-0420-1 . (belor.)
• J. Helmer. I'll never forget!
• Shoa (Disaster) in the Berezinsky district. Jewish Dead Index
• G. K. K_syalyoў, A. E. Keysіk i insh. (redkal.), K. I. Kozak, A. I. Blacksmith (laying). “Memory. Pastaўsky rayan. " - Mn. : BELTA, 2001 .-- 688 p. - ISBN 985-6302-35-8 . (belor.)

Archival Sources

• National Archives of the Republic of Belarus (NARB):
  • fund 845, inventory 1, file 10, sheet 42;
  • fund 861, inventory 1, file 8, sheets 1, 108, 113;
  • fund 1350, inventory 1, file 70, sheets 15-16;
• State Archive of the Minsk Region (GAMO), - fund 3206, inventory 1;

additional literature

• Yitzhak Arad . The catastrophe of the Jews in the occupied territories of the Soviet Union (1941-1945). Center "Tkuma", Dnepropetrovsk, 2007. Center "Holocaust", M., 2007
• A. Kaganovich. “The Ghetto at the International,” Jewish tuning fork magazine, October 28, 1999
• Smilovitsky L. L. The catastrophe of the Jews in Belarus, 1941-1944 . - Tel Aviv: Matthew Black Library, 2000 .-- 432 p. - ISBN 965-7094-24-0 .
• Yitzhak Arad . The extermination of the Jews of the USSR during the years of German occupation (1941-1944). Compilation of documents and materials, Jerusalem, Yad Vashem Publishing House , 1991, ISBN 9653080105
• Chernoglazova R. A., Kheer H. The tragedy of the Jews of Belarus in 1941-1944: a collection of materials and documents. - Ed. 2nd, rev. and more .. - Mn. : E. S. Halperin, 1997 .-- 398 p. - 1000 copies. - ISBN 985627902X .
• Vinnitsa G.R. Holocaust in the occupied territory of Eastern Belarus in 1941-1944. - Mn. : Ark, 2011 .-- 360 p. - 150 copies. - ISBN 978-985-6950-96-7 .

• Monuments to the victims of the Holocaust in Belarus