Mstislavl | Mogilev

/ An old church in Mstislavl © Aleksey Kasyanov - Yahad-In Unum An old Jewish house © Aleksey Kasyanov - Yahad-In Unum A bulding where the Jewish victims where gathered before being shot © Aleksey Kasyanov - Yahad-In Unum A witness showing the road behind. The same road the Jews took as they were brought to the killing site © Aleksey Kasyanov - Yahad-In Unum During the interview with a witness near the killing site © Aleksey Kasyanov - Yahad-In Unum Valentina U., born in 1930 © Aleksey Kasyanov - Yahad-In Unum Maria Kh., born in 1923 © Aleksey Kasyanov - Yahad-In Unum A ravine where the Jewish victims were slaughetered. Today there is a monument © Aleksey Kasyanov - Yahad-In Unum

Execution of Jews in Mstislavl

1 Execution site(s)

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

Witness interview

Valentina U. recalls: " I saw the shooting from the nearby hill. A German found me and thought I was a Jew so he took me to the grave but the priest intervened. He was here to bless the Jews before the shooting." (Eyewitness N°616, interviewed in Mstislavl, on May 1st, 2012)

Soviet archives

“On November 1, 1943, in the town of Mstislavl, the German monsters arrested a group of perfectly innocent people, ordered them to undress and go to the execution site, then they made them go down in a prepared grave and recovered them with earth.” [Report of the local commission, drawn up in 1944; RG 22.022M/7021-88/45]

Historical note

Mstislavl is situated 80 kilometers (50 miles) east- northeast of Mogilev. In 1939, there were 2,067 Jews living in Mstislavl which represented almost 20 % of the local population. The German army occupied the town in July 1941. Some Jews managed to flee on the East, although there was no organized official evacuation.

Holocaust by bullets in figures

The anti-Jewish measures were carried out by German Security police, punitive squad and local police. From the very beginning of occupation, all Jews were registered and their houses were marked. All the valuable things were seized. In early October, they killed 30 elderly Jews. On October 15, 1941, together with the local police, they murdered from 850 to 1.300 Jews (according to different sources).

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