Turets | Grodno

/ One of the few tombstones remaining at the Jewish cemetery. ©Nicolas Tkatchouk/Yahad - In Unum Mikhail V. remembered that the Jews had to go to the village square on a regular basis to pay contributions. ©Nicolas Tkatchouk/Yahad - In Unum Pavel M. remembered that after the shootings, the Jewish houses were plundered by locals. ©Nicolas Tkatchouk/Yahad - In Unum Pavel K. remembered that the victims’ clothes were taken to a house to be sorted out after the shooting. ©Nicolas Tkatchouk/Yahad - In Unum Lidia S. remembersed that the Jews came back to the village and asked for their houses back after the war. ©Nicolas Tkatchouk/Yahad - In Unum Pavel K. leading Yahad team to the execution site. ©Nicolas Tkatchouk/Yahad - In Unum The Yahad team and Pavel K. at the mass shooting site of the Turets Jews. ©Nicolas Tkatchouk/Yahad - In Unum

Execution of Jews in Turets

1 Killing site(s)

Kind of place before:
Jewish cemetery
Memorials:
Yes
Period of occupation:
1941-1944

Witness interview

Pavel M.: "The Jews had to undress about 30m away from the pit. Then they ran towards the pit one by one to be shot… the pit was very big. The shooting lasted for about an hour." (Witness N°296, interviewed in April, 2010)

Soviet archives

"The Germans ordered all Jews to gather at the main market square. The head of the police force in charge of the Aktion chose 103 of the Jewish men and sent them to a forced labour camp in Novy Sverzhen. All the others were taken to the cemetery and shot." [Deposition of Ura I., trader, RG-22.002M/7021-86/38]

German archives

"After these expeditions, the Jews of Stolptse learned that hundreds of Jews from Turets, Kletsk, Nyesviez, Mir, Gorodye, Svyerna and other places had been killed." [Deposition of Joel M. in February, 1962, B162-6945]

Historical note

Turets is a village situated about 90 km southwest of Minsk. Before the war, half of the local population was Jewish. There were also a significant number of Jewish refugees from western Poland. The village was under German occupation from 1941 to 1944.

Holocaust by bullets in figures

The Jewish population of the village was rounded up in autumn 1941, and 40 to 70 people were selected. These people were shot in a pit at the Jewish cemetery.

Approximately 1 month later, the rest of the Jewish population was once again rounded up. Skilled workers were selected to be sent to the labor camp at Novy Sverzhen. The rest of the population was shot at the Jewish cemetery. The Jews were shot in a very long pit right next to the previous one. For several days following this Aktion, any Jews found in hiding were also killed in a third pit.

Nearby villages

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