1 Execution site(s)
Anatoli P., born in 1934: “The day after the execution I went to the murder site. The pit wasn’t covered and I could see their bodies at the bottom. Some of them weren’t dead, only wounded." (Witness n°77B, interviewed in Rosony, on July 21, 2008)
"On January 1942, at the Polotsk marketplace, the director of the Culture House, the politician Klepikov and a senior politician of Rosony were hanged.” [Act drawn up by Soviet State Extraordinary Commission (ChGK): GARF 7021-92-222/Copy RG-22.002M]
Rosony is located in eastern Belarus, close to the Russian border, 150 km (93mi) northwest of Vitebsk and 50 km (31 mi) north of Polotsk. The first records of the Jewish community date back to the early 19th century. Typically, the Jews worked in shops, workshops, mills, and warehouses. There is no exact information about how many Jews lived in Rosony, but according to the local witness there was a significant Jewish community that represented over the half of the total population.
Rosony was occupied by German forces in July 1941. Shortly after the German arrival all the Jews were marked with yellow badges. There was no ghetto in the town, the Jews continued to live in their homes until mid-fall 1941. Then they were murdered with the Jews from nearby villages, such as Yurovichi.
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