Vyazma | Smolensk

/ Broken gravestone in the Jewish cemetery ©Miguel Maldonado – Yahad-In Unum Lyudmila I., born in 1933, remembered that all the Jews of the village were shot. They were first tortured and were buried in one street in the periphery of the village ©Miguel Maldonado – Yahad-In Unum Nikolay I., born in 1927, remembered that the Jews and inhabitants were subjected to forced labor. The Germans beat them badly if they didn’t work fast ©Miguel Maldonado – Yahad-In Unum

Execution of Jews in Vyazma

1 Execution site(s)

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

Witness interview

Ivan N. evokes: "There were graves near the Jewish camp, perhaps 110 graves, maybe more, surrounded with barbed wire. They used bulldozers to dig them. I saw four graves, 40 meters long and I saw bones too." Lyudmila Y. (N°138): "I think that the bodies of the murdered Jews were buried at Novatorskaya Street, right on the corner, close to the Jewish cemetery." (Witness N°136, interviewed in Vyazma, on May 25, 2011).

Historical note

Vyazma is the administrative center of the district of Vyazma in the region of Smolensk. In 1939, the Jewish population gathered 641 inhabitants. 

Holocaust by bullets in figures

The town was occupied by the Germans from October 7, 1941 to March 13, 1943. In October 1941, 11 Jews were shot in the town and two were hanged. In December 1941, 117 Jews were killed by the Einsatzgruppe B.

Nearby villages

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