Golovchin (Hołowczyn, Holovchin) | Mogilev

/ On the road to Golovchin. ©Les Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum The former Jewish cemetery. ©Les Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum Viktor N., born in 1929, described the life of the Jews in Golovchin before the war. He saw how the Jews were forced to work on the road. ©Les Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum Vasiliy S., born in 1931.,  saw the pit after the shooting. “The grave is now in the middle of the pond." ©Les Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum The Yahad team during the interview at the witness’ house. ©Les Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum The grave where around 19 Jewish men were shot is now in the middle of a pond. ©Les Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum

Execution of Jews in Golovchin

1 Killing site(s)

Kind of place before:
Field
Memorials:
No
Period of occupation:
1941-1944
Number of victims:
19

Witness interview

Vasiliy S., born in 1931, interviewed by Yahad:

YIU: " Were you in the village during the arrest?
Vasiliy S.: About one hundred heavily armed Germans arrived in the village to arrest the Jewish men. I was in the nearby village taking care of the cows. My mother would not let me go any closer. I was just a child. I heard that the Jews were killed in Budki, so we went to see. At the time it was a clearing, covered by bushes. It is not far from the road. I saw the pit; it was not very big. A small mound of earth covered the grave." (Witness N°588, interviwed in Golovchin, on April 21, 2012).

Historical note

Around 70 Jews lived in Golovchin at the outbreak of war. Most of them were tailors, shoemakers, blacksmiths, and traders. There were two synagogues.

Holocaust by bullets in figures

When the Germans arrived, the Jews were forced to work on the road. In October 1941, around 19 Jewish men were shot in Golovchin. The other Jews were sent to another ghetto, probably in Belynichi. [For more information about execution of Jews in Belynichi please check the village’s profile.]

Nearby villages

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