The Holocaust in Beshankovichy District

The Holocaust in Beshankovichy District is an integral part of the Holocaust in Belarus and the Catastrophe of European Jewry.

This refers to the systematic persecution and extermination of Jews in the territory of Beshankovichy District by the occupying authorities of Nazi Germany and collaborators between 1941 and 1944 during World War II, as part of the policy of the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question."

In July 1941, Beshankovichy District was completely captured by German troops, and the occupation lasted until the end of June 1944.

To implement the genocide policy and conduct punitive operations, SS punitive units, Einsatzgruppen, Sonderkommandos, secret field police (GFP), security police and SD, gendarmerie, and Gestapo arrived in the district immediately after the troops. From the very first days of the district's occupation, the Germans began to separate Jews from other residents and kill them. Such "actions" (this euphemism was used by the Nazis to refer to their organized mass murders) were repeated many times in many places. In those settlements where Jews were not killed immediately, they were kept in ghettos until their complete extermination.

The occupying authorities, under penalty of death, forbade Jews from removing yellow patches or Stars of David (identification marks on outerwear), leaving the ghetto without special permission, changing their place of residence and apartment within the ghetto, walking on sidewalks, using public transport, being in parks and public places, and attending schools.

District administrations and police garrisons composed of collaborators were established in all large villages of the district. By the autumn of 1941, village elders had been appointed in all settlements of the district.

During the occupation, almost all Jews in Beshankovichy District were killed, and the few who survived mostly subsequently fought in partisan detachments.

The Germans, implementing the Nazi program of exterminating Jews, established 4 ghettos in the district.

In the Beshankovichy ghetto (summer 1941 – February 1943), about 2,900 Jews were killed.

In the Sloboda ghetto (early August 1941 – October 1942), about 400 Jews were tortured and killed.

In the Ostrovno ghetto (July 19, 1941 – September 30, 1941), over 300 Jews were killed.

In the Ulla ghetto (December 1941 – autumn 1942), hundreds of Jews were killed.

In Beshankovichy District, two individuals – Nikolai Illarionovich Peregud and his wife Anna – were awarded the honorary title "Righteous Among the Nations" by the Israeli Memorial Museum of the Holocaust and Jewish Heroism "Yad Vashem" "in deepest gratitude for the assistance rendered to the Jewish people during World War II" – for saving the Nemtsov family in Beshankovichy.

Monuments to the murdered Jews of the district have been erected in Beshankovichy, Sloboda, Ostrovno, and Ulla.

Information about Jews who lived in Beshankovichy and perished during the Holocaust

Information about Jews who lived in Bocheikovo and perished during the Holocaust

Information about Jews who lived in Sloboda and perished during the Holocaust

Information about Jews who lived in Sokorovo and perished during the Holocaust

Information about Jews who lived in Ulla and perished during the Holocaust

Information about Jews who lived in Ostrovno and died during the Holocaust