Khislavichi | Smolensk

/ ©Nicolas Tkatchouk – Yahad-In Unum Elena K., born in 1917 saw the column of the Jews and how they were beaten by the Germans on the road to the execution site. Many young Jews tried to escape. 800 Jews were killed in the grave ©Nicolas Tkatchouk – Yahad-In Unum

Execution of Jews in Khislavichi

1 Killing site(s)

Kind of place before:
Ravine
Memorials:
Yes
Period of occupation:
1941-1943

Witness interview

Yelena K. evokes: "When the Jews were taken to the execution site, they were beaten. Many Jews, especially young men, tried to escape." (Witness N°17, interviewed in Khislavichi, on September 28, 2009).

Soviet archives

"The inhabitants of Khislavichi say that at least 800 human lives were destroyed on this horrible night. The massacre lasted a long time. Everybody who looked like a Jew was exterminated, like Ms.Kushchevskaya, an Ukrainian who was killed with her three small children." ( Act drawn by the Soviet Extraordinary Commission, made in May 1945, RG-22.002M/1630-2/28).

Historical note

Khislavichi is located 75 kilometers south of Smolensk on the Sozh River. In 1939, 1,427 Jews were living in the town. Units of German Army Group Center entered Khislavichi on July 16, 1941.

 

Holocaust by bullets in figures

Shortly after the Germans’ arrival, 800 Jews of the town were marked  and were resettled in a ghetto. The first aktion was perpetrated against 120 to 150 Jews in September or October 1941. On March 20, 1942, the Russian police entered the ghetto. Under the command of the German Security Police, they killed all the Jews of the ghetto about 150 meters northwest of the town.

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