1 Execution site(s)
Eva K.: “I saw two shootings at an anti-tank trench near Voronino. Lots of shootings took place there. The victims were killed in groups, lined up on the edge of the grave. They were still dressed and they always cried. It was cold, there was snow. The victims were brought in canvassed trucks. In the spring, when the snow melted, the corpses became uncovered. I later saw these corpses being buried, before being burned with gasoline. I saw Germans at the site.” (Witness N°661, interviewed in Godyliovo, on June 25th 2013).
« In September 1941, the Oberleutnant Mertus decided to gather 4679 Jews in a castle. After seven days without food or water, they were taken by truck to the edge of the Dniepr and were shot in an anti-tank trench. The children under 10-12 years old weren’t shot, instead the Germans threw them alive into the trench and buried them ». [Act drawn by the Soviet Extraordinary Commission, on December 1944, RG22.022M/7021-88/35].
“According to a German report from December 27th 1944, a shooting is mentioned in which around 4600 Jews were shot in September 1941” [Attorney’s report, Bykhov region of Mogilev, B162-7602, p.99].
Bykhov is located 50km away from Mogilev. In 1925, there was a Jewish kolhoz established 4km from the village. There was also a synagogue and a Yiddish school, which closed in 1938. The German occupation began on July 4, 1941.
The Jews of Bykhov were killed in two mass shootings in September and November 1941. In September 1941, 252 Jews were shot by the SS. The execution site was located between the former hospital and the village of Bykhov in a site known as the Gankov ditch. The remaining Jews were killed in November 1941 by the SS in the neighboring village of Voronino. According to Eva K. (Witness N°661), one week before the shooting, the Jews were rounded up in a castle, without food or water. They were then taken by truck to an anti-tank ditch in Voronino. The victims were forced to undress and were shot in lines on the edge of the ditch. The children weren’t shot. Instead, the Germans threw them alive in the ditch. According to the witness Yahad interviewed, in December 1943, the Germans exhumed the bodies and burned them. According to the German and Soviet archives, 4600 Jews from Bykhov were shot in Voronino.
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