Minsk ghetto - death conveyor for Jews
The bloody years of World War II claimed millions of innocent lives. The terrible facts of the genocide of the Jewish people became known to the world community already in the post-war years. The atrocities of the Nazis against defenseless women, children, sick and wounded people of this unfortunate nation were so widespread and ruthless that they terrified all of humanity. In the Soviet historical Jews are positioned in literature as an uninitiated victim of German terror, and only the facts published in the 90s show that even in the Minsk camp there was an active underground struggle against the hated invaders.
Many of the surviving prisoners of the Minsk ghetto wondered why the party leadership of the city did not bother to warn the population about what the fascist captivity threatens the Jews. The invasion was indeed unexpected for the Allied Belarus, but most political workers were well aware of Hitler’s attitude toward the Jews. To the mercy of fate were thrown more than 75 thousands of people of this nationality who lived in Minsk. Today we can see from the surviving testimonies of contemporaries of those horrors, as well as from scraps of documents, that the city administration took care of the evacuation of not only their loved ones, but even the removal of property. At the same time, pregnant women, nursing babies, old people, and the sick were left at the mercy of the invaders. Some, anticipating the danger, still tried to escape from the city, but almost all returned, because they could not imagine what a terrible fate awaited them. Many still hoped for the mercy of the invaders, some awaited the speedy release of Soviet troops. Some people tried to hide among Russians and Belarusians, however, fearing for the fate of their concealers, they had to return to the city.
The Minsk ghetto was formed in July 1941, and had a complex structure. In fact, there were three camps in the city: Big, Small and Sonderghetto. Three weeks after Minsk was taken, an order was issued on the formation of the Jewish zone. The boundaries of the camp passed from Kolkhozny lane along the street of the same name and along Nemikskaya, then followed Republican, Shornaya and Kollektorskaya. Further, the border stretched along the Furniture Lane and the streets of Perekopskaya and Nizhnyaya. A Jewish cemetery was included in the camp, and then barbed wire enclosed the streets of Obuvnaya and Vtoroy Opanskaya, as well as Zaslavsky lane.
The large ghetto contained the bulk of the prisoners, they more than others suffered from mass executions and pogroms. The camp was organized from the very beginning of the occupation and existed until the 1943 year. Historians refer to the Small as the Molotovsky Radio Factory area, and Sondergetto was a segment of the Obuvnaya and Sukha Street. All the prisoners placed in the camp were obliged to collect and hand over to the command all the gold and money, moreover, hostages were taken, many of whom were killed. For each adult person, an area of no more than 1, 2 meters was provided, and even less norms acted during the period of camp reduction.
The official data on the number of mass executions and pogroms are as follows:
1. at least 5 daytime pogroms: in November 1941, March 1942, July 1942, October 1943;
2. at least 5 night pogroms: in March and April 1943.
In reality, the pogroms were, of course, more, and the killings did not stop for a single day. In fact, for one reason or another, several prisoners died, as the gauleiter gave the guards the right to shoot any suspicious Jew. The unfortunate people could have been killed even if they tried to approach the barbed wire that surrounded the camp, so the statistics are very unreliable and understated.
The main task of the Germans was to destroy the unfortunate prisoners, but it was almost impossible to do this at the same time. Mass extermination could cause serious protest and turn into a desperate uprising, so a plan was developed for the methodical killing of people. The destruction was carried out according to a predetermined plan. At first, very difficult conditions were created in the camp and the strongest and most initiative were cut out. Almost immediately after entering the city, the fascists divided the “Jews” and the non-Jewish population, then from among the Jews they singled out the most educated and immediately eliminated them.
The prisoners were not explained why such a selection is being conducted, so many of them voluntarily told about their qualifications, and about past life and work. The only link of the intelligentsia, which until a certain time the fascists did not touch, was the doctors. Under the conditions of extreme insanity, the Nazis greatly feared epidemics that did not spare either the prisoners or the invaders themselves, and therefore, in some ways, encouraged medical activities in the ghetto. Since the money and precious metals were removed immediately, the role of money began to perform tissue cuts, which are preserved in some families. They were exchanged for food and basic necessities of the population outside the camp. Such an exchange, at times, was deadly, as it was forbidden for prisoners to even approach the fence.
In addition to periodic massacres, the Nazis practiced active provocative activities. In the camp, there were underground resistance groups and bloody reprisals followed for assistance or even the slightest suspicion. A curfew was also introduced, all Jews were required to obtain special passports, and also to place lists of rooms and apartments in well-viewed places. Work was not provided, and it was allowed to leave the camp only in strictly established cases. For the most part, the Jews had unstable wages and were cruelly starving.
In addition to physical bullying and open destruction, the Germans heavily used the means of psychological pressure. Thus, anti-Semitic agitation was carried out among the non-Jewish population, while the prisoners themselves were humiliated in every way. Jews were the perpetrators of the Stalinist repressions, despite the fact that many of the representatives of this nation were repressed. Gauleiters installed special signs of shame for the unfortunate in the form of armor made of yellow fabric. In general, it was typical for the selection of Jews to place marks on their clothes from yellow material in the form of a six-pointed star, but the camp leaders in this matter were given freedom of choice, and everyone could mock as he wanted. Valuable in terms of describing life in the Minsk ghetto are the works of Abram Rubenchik. The author of interesting and truthful stories about the camp itself was in its conditions at a young age. The enemies did not break his spirit, and all the while in this terrestrial hell, he thought only about how to take revenge on the hated fascists.
There are still legends about the cruel massacres of the Germans over Jews, however, even the worst of them cannot reflect the nightmare that occurred in reality in Minsk and its environs. Behind the barbed wire, in an incredible crush, more than one hundred thousand frightened and doomed people languished. The torturers led out crowds with children on the street, lined them up in rows, handed them Soviet posters and banners and sneered at the prisoners. They were forced to smile and put the children on their shoulders, after which they were blasphemed into closed and stuffy hangars and left without food and water for several days. People did not fall because their bodies were tightly supported in unimaginable crampedness. Many died standing, children died in front of distraught mothers. Survivors after this horror led to the ravines and shot in turn. The graves did not fall asleep, and for a long time one could hear the groans of the mortally wounded prisoners buried under the corpses. After some time, the bodies were still covered with sand, earth and snow, however, according to contemporaries, the surface of the graves was not calm in some places.
For the entire period of the ghetto in Minsk, the Germans systematically reduced it. Residents from the "circumcised" areas were taken to specially organized units for the destruction of people. The German leadership was not ashamed of even the most inhuman means of killing, and in order to save money, she tried not to waste cartridges. Chemicals, new drugs and other methods were tested on the unfortunate. The Jews became the "consumable", which ruthlessly used the Wehrmacht. The figures, which are given even in official statistics, amaze the imagination of modern man. In one day, several thousand people could be killed. So, 28 July 1942 was killed about 25 thousands of people, and in October 1943 - 22 thousands.
However, the resistance was not broken. Despite the fact that most of the prisoners got rid of party tickets, many of them continued to hope for an early victory of the Soviet army and release. Over twenty-two partisan organizations acted on the territory fenced with barbed wire. Today we know the glorious names of these brave people. A series of their names in golden letters entered the history of the Fatherland. Smolsky, Schusser, Levina, Kisel, Krivoshein and many others supported the partisans in danger of terrible danger. Many of the underground workers, having worked for a long time in the ghetto, went into partisan detachments and continued to fight the invaders. A huge number of people loyal to the fatherland died at the hands of the Nazis, but there were also those who saw the end of the hated ghetto in 1943.
Remembering the victims of the Holocaust is difficult, but it is not at all easy to see how the events of those early years are erased in people's memory. Today, shaved guys with a swastika walk freely around our country, trampling the memory of their ancestors by mindless worship of fascism. In the post-Soviet space, we have forgotten about the terrible crimes of the Wehrmacht and are trying to equate it to the Soviet regime, so we will again and again remind about what happened to avoid this in the future. The atrocities of the fascists, choked with the blood of defenseless babies and the tears of mothers, deserve eternal censure.
Lazar Run. Minsk ghetto
Many of the surviving prisoners of the Minsk ghetto wondered why the party leadership of the city did not bother to warn the population about what the fascist captivity threatens the Jews. The invasion was indeed unexpected for the Allied Belarus, but most political workers were well aware of Hitler’s attitude toward the Jews. To the mercy of fate were thrown more than 75 thousands of people of this nationality who lived in Minsk. Today we can see from the surviving testimonies of contemporaries of those horrors, as well as from scraps of documents, that the city administration took care of the evacuation of not only their loved ones, but even the removal of property. At the same time, pregnant women, nursing babies, old people, and the sick were left at the mercy of the invaders. Some, anticipating the danger, still tried to escape from the city, but almost all returned, because they could not imagine what a terrible fate awaited them. Many still hoped for the mercy of the invaders, some awaited the speedy release of Soviet troops. Some people tried to hide among Russians and Belarusians, however, fearing for the fate of their concealers, they had to return to the city.
The Minsk ghetto was formed in July 1941, and had a complex structure. In fact, there were three camps in the city: Big, Small and Sonderghetto. Three weeks after Minsk was taken, an order was issued on the formation of the Jewish zone. The boundaries of the camp passed from Kolkhozny lane along the street of the same name and along Nemikskaya, then followed Republican, Shornaya and Kollektorskaya. Further, the border stretched along the Furniture Lane and the streets of Perekopskaya and Nizhnyaya. A Jewish cemetery was included in the camp, and then barbed wire enclosed the streets of Obuvnaya and Vtoroy Opanskaya, as well as Zaslavsky lane.
The large ghetto contained the bulk of the prisoners, they more than others suffered from mass executions and pogroms. The camp was organized from the very beginning of the occupation and existed until the 1943 year. Historians refer to the Small as the Molotovsky Radio Factory area, and Sondergetto was a segment of the Obuvnaya and Sukha Street. All the prisoners placed in the camp were obliged to collect and hand over to the command all the gold and money, moreover, hostages were taken, many of whom were killed. For each adult person, an area of no more than 1, 2 meters was provided, and even less norms acted during the period of camp reduction.
The official data on the number of mass executions and pogroms are as follows:
1. at least 5 daytime pogroms: in November 1941, March 1942, July 1942, October 1943;
2. at least 5 night pogroms: in March and April 1943.
In reality, the pogroms were, of course, more, and the killings did not stop for a single day. In fact, for one reason or another, several prisoners died, as the gauleiter gave the guards the right to shoot any suspicious Jew. The unfortunate people could have been killed even if they tried to approach the barbed wire that surrounded the camp, so the statistics are very unreliable and understated.
The main task of the Germans was to destroy the unfortunate prisoners, but it was almost impossible to do this at the same time. Mass extermination could cause serious protest and turn into a desperate uprising, so a plan was developed for the methodical killing of people. The destruction was carried out according to a predetermined plan. At first, very difficult conditions were created in the camp and the strongest and most initiative were cut out. Almost immediately after entering the city, the fascists divided the “Jews” and the non-Jewish population, then from among the Jews they singled out the most educated and immediately eliminated them.
The prisoners were not explained why such a selection is being conducted, so many of them voluntarily told about their qualifications, and about past life and work. The only link of the intelligentsia, which until a certain time the fascists did not touch, was the doctors. Under the conditions of extreme insanity, the Nazis greatly feared epidemics that did not spare either the prisoners or the invaders themselves, and therefore, in some ways, encouraged medical activities in the ghetto. Since the money and precious metals were removed immediately, the role of money began to perform tissue cuts, which are preserved in some families. They were exchanged for food and basic necessities of the population outside the camp. Such an exchange, at times, was deadly, as it was forbidden for prisoners to even approach the fence.
In addition to periodic massacres, the Nazis practiced active provocative activities. In the camp, there were underground resistance groups and bloody reprisals followed for assistance or even the slightest suspicion. A curfew was also introduced, all Jews were required to obtain special passports, and also to place lists of rooms and apartments in well-viewed places. Work was not provided, and it was allowed to leave the camp only in strictly established cases. For the most part, the Jews had unstable wages and were cruelly starving.
In addition to physical bullying and open destruction, the Germans heavily used the means of psychological pressure. Thus, anti-Semitic agitation was carried out among the non-Jewish population, while the prisoners themselves were humiliated in every way. Jews were the perpetrators of the Stalinist repressions, despite the fact that many of the representatives of this nation were repressed. Gauleiters installed special signs of shame for the unfortunate in the form of armor made of yellow fabric. In general, it was typical for the selection of Jews to place marks on their clothes from yellow material in the form of a six-pointed star, but the camp leaders in this matter were given freedom of choice, and everyone could mock as he wanted. Valuable in terms of describing life in the Minsk ghetto are the works of Abram Rubenchik. The author of interesting and truthful stories about the camp itself was in its conditions at a young age. The enemies did not break his spirit, and all the while in this terrestrial hell, he thought only about how to take revenge on the hated fascists.
There are still legends about the cruel massacres of the Germans over Jews, however, even the worst of them cannot reflect the nightmare that occurred in reality in Minsk and its environs. Behind the barbed wire, in an incredible crush, more than one hundred thousand frightened and doomed people languished. The torturers led out crowds with children on the street, lined them up in rows, handed them Soviet posters and banners and sneered at the prisoners. They were forced to smile and put the children on their shoulders, after which they were blasphemed into closed and stuffy hangars and left without food and water for several days. People did not fall because their bodies were tightly supported in unimaginable crampedness. Many died standing, children died in front of distraught mothers. Survivors after this horror led to the ravines and shot in turn. The graves did not fall asleep, and for a long time one could hear the groans of the mortally wounded prisoners buried under the corpses. After some time, the bodies were still covered with sand, earth and snow, however, according to contemporaries, the surface of the graves was not calm in some places.
For the entire period of the ghetto in Minsk, the Germans systematically reduced it. Residents from the "circumcised" areas were taken to specially organized units for the destruction of people. The German leadership was not ashamed of even the most inhuman means of killing, and in order to save money, she tried not to waste cartridges. Chemicals, new drugs and other methods were tested on the unfortunate. The Jews became the "consumable", which ruthlessly used the Wehrmacht. The figures, which are given even in official statistics, amaze the imagination of modern man. In one day, several thousand people could be killed. So, 28 July 1942 was killed about 25 thousands of people, and in October 1943 - 22 thousands.
However, the resistance was not broken. Despite the fact that most of the prisoners got rid of party tickets, many of them continued to hope for an early victory of the Soviet army and release. Over twenty-two partisan organizations acted on the territory fenced with barbed wire. Today we know the glorious names of these brave people. A series of their names in golden letters entered the history of the Fatherland. Smolsky, Schusser, Levina, Kisel, Krivoshein and many others supported the partisans in danger of terrible danger. Many of the underground workers, having worked for a long time in the ghetto, went into partisan detachments and continued to fight the invaders. A huge number of people loyal to the fatherland died at the hands of the Nazis, but there were also those who saw the end of the hated ghetto in 1943.
The Pit Memorial is located on Melnikite Street in Minsk and is dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust
Remembering the victims of the Holocaust is difficult, but it is not at all easy to see how the events of those early years are erased in people's memory. Today, shaved guys with a swastika walk freely around our country, trampling the memory of their ancestors by mindless worship of fascism. In the post-Soviet space, we have forgotten about the terrible crimes of the Wehrmacht and are trying to equate it to the Soviet regime, so we will again and again remind about what happened to avoid this in the future. The atrocities of the fascists, choked with the blood of defenseless babies and the tears of mothers, deserve eternal censure.
Himmler's List: Minsk Ghetto
The 65 anniversary of the sorrowful date for the destruction of the Minsk ghetto is dedicated to this picture. Eyewitnesses, miraculously survived in Hitler's hell, will tell their stories, show documents - dispassionate evidence of crime. More than 100 thousands of people became prisoners and victims of the Minsk ghetto - an exponential factory for the destruction of people ... The gas chambers circulated on a schedule. There were constantly arrivals with Jews deported from Western Europe. For high Hitler's ranks - Himmler, Cuba, Eichmann - exemplary executions of prisoners were carried out.
The 65 anniversary of the sorrowful date for the destruction of the Minsk ghetto is dedicated to this picture. Eyewitnesses, miraculously survived in Hitler's hell, will tell their stories, show documents - dispassionate evidence of crime. More than 100 thousands of people became prisoners and victims of the Minsk ghetto - an exponential factory for the destruction of people ... The gas chambers circulated on a schedule. There were constantly arrivals with Jews deported from Western Europe. For high Hitler's ranks - Himmler, Cuba, Eichmann - exemplary executions of prisoners were carried out.
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