• Memorial to the Koldichevo camp
Near the small Belarusian village of Koldichevo the SS operated a forced labour camp of the same name between 1941 and 1944. On site and in the surrounding area several memorials remember the approximately 22,000 prisoners who were killed in the camp by the SS.
Image: Koldichevo, 2008, Direction sign at the country road near the great memorial, Zbigniew Wołocznik
Koldichevo, 2008, Direction sign at the country road near the great memorial, Zbigniew Wołocznik

Image: Koldichevo, 2008, Memorial to the victims of the labour camp, Zbigniew Wołocznik
Koldichevo, 2008, Memorial to the victims of the labour camp, Zbigniew Wołocznik
The little village of Koldichevo (Belorussian: Koldychevo, Polish: Kołdyczewo) is located between the towns of Navahrudak (Polish: Nowogródek) and Baranovichi (Polish: Baranowicze), a region where many Jews lived prior to World War II. Between 1920 and 1939 the area belonged to Poland. When the Soviet Union occupied Eastern Poland in the course of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the area became part of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Belarus. After the attack of the German Wehrmacht on the Soviet Union in June 1941, Waldemar Amelung, commander of the Security Police at the Baranovichi field office, established a forced labour camp at Koldichevo, presumably in December of the same year. The SS deported mainly Jews from the surrounding towns like Navahrudak and Baranovichi as well as Polish and Belarusian partisans and civilians to Koldichevo. The camp was regarded as particularly brutal. Commander of the camp was SS-Hauptscharführer (master sergeant of the SS) Fritz Jörn, the security guards were Belarusian volunteers. Presumably up to 10,000 people were constantly interned in the camp, they had to conduct forced labour. According to eyewitness reports the majority of the prisoners had to sleep in the open. At the same time the camp was a SS killing centre: They murdered several thousand prisoners there and in addition a major transport was sent from Koldichevo to Auschwitz in 1944. A small Jewish resistance group was active in the camp, with their aid about a hundred Jewish prisoners managed to flee on March 17, 1944. 24 of them were recaptured but 75 Jews managed to escape, most of them joining the Jewish partisan group led by the Bielski brothers.
When the Red Army closed in by the end of June 1944, the SS dissolved the camp, killing thousands of prisoners in the process.
Image: Koldichevo, 2008, Direction sign at the country road near the great memorial, Zbigniew Wołocznik
Koldichevo, 2008, Direction sign at the country road near the great memorial, Zbigniew Wołocznik

Image: Koldichevo, 2008, Memorial to the victims of the labour camp, Zbigniew Wołocznik
Koldichevo, 2008, Memorial to the victims of the labour camp, Zbigniew Wołocznik
Altogether up to 22,000 people were murdered in the Koldichevo camp, among them Jews, Belarusians and Poles. According to the inscription on one of the memorials there were also Romani among the victims. The exact number of victims is not known.
Image: Koldichevo, 2008, Memorial stone for the murdered prisoners in the village, Marek Dojs
Koldichevo, 2008, Memorial stone for the murdered prisoners in the village, Marek Dojs

Image: Koldichevo, 2008, Stone next to the memorial referring to the »22.000 murdered peaceful citizens«, Zbigniew Wołocznik
Koldichevo, 2008, Stone next to the memorial referring to the »22.000 murdered peaceful citizens«, Zbigniew Wołocznik
After World War II several memorial stones were erected in and around Koldichevo. Since 1964 a memorial stone is situated in the village centre. Next to it is a smaller stone bearing the Belorussian inscription »People, stop! During the years of the Great Patriotic War the Koldichevo death camp was situated here. Within it 22,000 peaceful citizens met their death at the hands of the fascist murderers«. Another stone bears the inscription of a poem.
Approximately two km north of the village a further memorial was inaugurated in 2002, including and specifically naming all victim groups. It is shaped like a three-arched gate. On the front there is the Russian inscription »Eternal memory to the victims of fascism«. At the columns multilingual memorial plaques remember the various victim groups: Jews, Poles, Belarusians and Romani. On top of the gate is a Star of David as well as a catholic and an orthodox cross.
Image: Kolditschewo, 2008, Ruins of the camp, Zbigniew Wołocznik
Kolditschewo, 2008, Ruins of the camp, Zbigniew Wołocznik

Image: Koldichevo, 2008, Memorial plaques at the gate refer to the various victim groups, Zbigniew Wołocznik
Koldichevo, 2008, Memorial plaques at the gate refer to the various victim groups, Zbigniew Wołocznik
Name
Pamjat' koldytschewskowo lagerja smerti
Address
along the country road P5
Koldychevo
Open
The memorials are accessible at all times