Maly Trostinec

Through eye-witness testimonies and archival footages, this documentary tells the story of Maly Trostinec, camp and site of mass murder, (12 km) southeast of Minsk, Belorussia. The camp existed since November 41 solely for the purpose of killing and appropriating the remaining possessions of the victims. The camp served as a killing site for the Jews of Minsk and the surrounding area and tens of thousands of Jews from other European countries. Many thousands of Byelorussian civilians, Byelorussian partisans and, most of all, Soviet POWs, were murdered at Maly Trostinec as well. The murder was committed by SS man and was principally by shooting in front of pits. After the executions, the pits were levelled by tractors. Prisoners who were kept a live were employed in sorting the victims' possessions, or in camp maintenance. From time to time they were subjected to selection, which became more frequent during 1943. In the fall of 1943 the Germans began to obliterate the traces of the ma