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1 Execution site(s)
Semyon G.: “When the Jews arrived at the hill, I heard contant bursts of gunfire. Then single shots. One week later, I went to see the site. There were 2 pits, a large one, and a smaller, round one. The pits were filled with bodies, but there were no bodies on the edge. The victims were fully dressed and the pits had been very badly filled in. At the time of the Germans’ retreat, the bodies were burned. When I went back to see it, there were still bones at the bottom of the pit.” (Witness N°783, interviewed in Myslotino, on May 27, 2014).
“The Germans brought the Jews to Myslotino Hill in sealed trucks. I saw the Germans bringing people of Jewish nationality with my own eyes, nearly 800 people. There were not only men, but elderly people, women, and children of all ages. On the hill, there were large mass graves, 10m long by 5m wide. » [Testimony of Matriona P. in Glusk, on February 26, 1945, for The Soviet Extraordinary State Commission, RG-22.002M Reel 24 part III p.65]
Glusk is a city located 46 kilometers southwest of Bobruisk. It was and remains the district capital. According to the 1939 census, 1,935 Jews lived in Glusk, making up 37,8 % of the total population. There was a wooden synagogue. The majority of Jews lived off of trade. The town was occupied by German forces at the end of June 1941.
Research has shown that an open ghetto was established, but that most of the Jews kept on living in their houses. According to local testimonies recorded by Yahad, the Jewish houses were also marked with a Star of David. Jews were forced to perform hard labor on a daily basis, including working in the fields. Local inhabitants were occasionally forced to watch episodes in which the Jews were humiliated.
On December 2, 1941, after being beaten and humiliated by local policemen, the Jews were ordered to gather in the city square and to bring their valuables with them, along with a little food. They were then taken in a column and shot at Myslotino Hill in pits that had been dug in advance by POWs. It is estimated that there were around 1000 victims.
A certain number of Jews, especially specialists who were not living within the ghetto, managed to escape the massacre, and joined the partisans.
According to eyewitnesses interviewed by Yahad, before retreating, the Germans carried out Operation 1005, during which the corpses of the Jewish victims were burned and buried by Soviet POWs.
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