In Vitebsk (Belorussian: Vitsebsk) only a small commemorative stone remembers the approximately 16,000 Jews from Vitebsk which had to live in a ghetto from August 1941. Almost all of them were later shot by SS-Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing units). At one of the site of mass shootings outside of town is a memorial to the victims.

Vitebsk, undated, Great synagogue, YIVO Institute


Vitebsk, 2012, Memorial stone in front of the »Metalists' Club«, Avner

Since the middle ages Vitebsk (Belorussian: Vitsebsk), now located in Northeast Belorussia, was an important major city. Jews settled there since the 17th century. In the 19th century the Jewish community grew strongly, Vitebsk became a centre of Jewish culture. In 1939 about 37,000 of the 170,000 inhabitants were Jewish. When the German Wehrmacht attacked the Soviet Union in 1941 part of the population was evacuated, among them thousands of Jews. When German troops conquered the strategically important city after fierce battles, about 50,000 people were still left in the city. Many of the remaining 16,000 Jews from Vitebsk had to conduct forced labour. Repeatedly members of the SS-Sonderkommandos 7a and 9 (SS special commandos) shot several hundred Jews respectively. Shortly afterwards by the end of 1941 all Jews from Vitebsk had to move to a ghetto. The ghetto was located at the site of a half destroyed factory premises, the living conditions were disastrous. Presumably several thousand Jews died of hunger and diseases. As early as October 8, 1941 the SS started to dissolve the ghetto: Within two or three days members of the SS-Einsatzgruppe B (mobile killing unit) and their accomplices took about 10,000 Jews to a nearby gorge outside of town. There they shot all Jewish men, women and children.

Vitebsk, undated, Great synagogue, YIVO Institute


Vitebsk, 2012, Memorial stone in front of the »Metalists' Club«, Avner

The exact number of Jewish victims in Vitebsk is not known. Estimates range from 8,000 to 13,000 dead killed by members of the SS-Einsatzgruppe B (mobile killing unit) or through hunger and diseases in the ghetto.

Vitebsk, 1941, German soldiers conducting arrests in the street, Yad Vashem


Tuvolo, 2012, Memorial stone at the site of several mass shootings, Avner

After the war many Jews returned to Vitebsk, in 1970 the Jewish community numbered 17,000 members. In the following decades and especially after the end of the Soviet Union more and more Jews emigrated, in 1999 only 2,800 were left. Of the more than 50 synagogues that existed before the war not one remained. The ruins of an old synagogue are still visible in Revolutiyonnaya street. For decades, it served as a warehouse of a nearby pharmacy. Today, only fragments of the façade remain.
In the 1980s, the Jewish community received an old and derelict building to use as a synagogue. Despite the wave of emigration, the community has become more and more active and decided to erect a new synagogue. It was consecrated in October 2017.
In Vitebsk only a small inconspicuous memorial stone remembers the up to 13,000 victims of the ghetto. The memorial stone was presumably erected in 1995 and is located in front of the »Metalists' Club«, a building that belonged to the ghetto. According to the inscription a new memorial is planned on this site. A further memorial is located at the most important site of mass shootings just out of Vitebsk near the village of Tulovo. It was dedicated only in 2010. Apart from a memorial stone with Hebrew, Belorussian and English inscriptions a sculpture designed by Valeriy Mogutchiy and Valeriy Sharono remembers the murdered.

Vitebsk, 2012, Memorial stone in front of the »Metalists' Club«, Avner


Tuvolo, 2012, The memorial erected in 2010 at the site of mass shootings, Avner

Name

Pamjatniki shertwam getto

Address

ul. Inyilskogo / ul. Engelsa
200001 Wizebsk

Open

The memorials are accessible at all times.