Pochinok | Smolensk

/ Maria P., born in 1924, saw how the Jews were gathered by the Germans. She remembered that 15 families of the hamlet were taken by the Germans ©Miguel Maldonado – Yahad-In Unum Maria T., born in 1925 remembered that a lot of Jews had to hide to escape. The Germans and the Russian policemen managed to catch them ©Miguel Maldonado – Yahad-In Unum

Execution of Jews in Pochinok

2 Execution site(s)

Memorials:
Yes
Period of occupation:
1941-1943

Witness interview

Maria Pavlovna M.evokes: "At first, the Germans were not so cruel, they started by just collecting food. The Jews stayed inside their houses and stopped pursuing their work. But, there were rumors that they should escape, because the Germans were planning to kill them. Many tried to escape, and some even managed to do so." (Witness N°146, interviwed in Pochinok, on May 29, 2009).

Historical note

Pochinok is located 62 kilometers southeast of Smolensk

on the rail line from Orel to Riga. In 1939, 283 Jews were living in Pochinok.

Holocaust by bullets in figures

German units of Army Group Center occupied the town on July 17, 1941. In August 1941, a ghetto was created. Einsatzkommando 9 or a troop  of Smolensk liquidated this ghetto on April 21, 1942 and shot 200 people.

 

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