Slavgorod (Slavgrad, Slawharad) | Mogilev

Slavgorod, known as Propoysk during the war, is located 112 km southeast of Mogilev. A Jewish population resided in the village from the 18^th century. The Jews were merchants or craftsmen. There was a Jewish kolkhoz called “October” that employed 50 individuals. There was a Yiddish school, which closed in 1938. In January 1939, 1,038 Jews lived in the village. The Germans occupied the village on August 15, 1941.

According to historian Martin Dean, the first anti-Jewish measures took place in August upon the arrival of SK7b. They killed 19 Jews accused of being communists. A ghetto was then quickly set up in the village. German security forces and policemen liquidated the ghetto in November 1941 over the course of three shootings, according to certain sources. The first shooting took place on November 5, 1941 when 40 Jewish men and young people were taken from the ghetto and shot in an anti-tank trench next to the slaughterhouse outside of the village.  According to Yahad witness Maria P. (Witness N°660), the Jews were shot with a bullet in the neck. All of the shootings which took place during the occupation were perpetrated in the same anti-tank trench. On November 14, 1941, women from the ghetto were shot at the same site. According to Soviet reports, 100 Jews were shot at this location. On November 28, 1941, 50 children were loaded into trucks, taken to a lake and drowned. In Slavgorod, there were two memorials: one for the victims of a shooting in November 1941 and another for the victims of a shooting perpetrated in 1942.