Pochep - Commemoration of Jewish Victims

After the liberation of Pochep by the Red Army, in order to prevent vandalism, the Soviet authorities ordered the ditches where the Jews were murdered to be covered with earth. A small monument was erected at the site. However, it was soon desecrated by unknown persons, who stole the upper part of it and destroyed the fence surrounding the monument. In the 1960s a new monument, with Hebrew and Russian inscriptions, was erected. The Hebrew inscription says: "A memorial to our Jewish brothers, 1,846 inhabitants of Pochep who were brutally murdered and buried alive by the accursed Hitler's fascists on 16-17 [sic] of Adar 5702." The Russian inscription says: "Here are buried 1,846 people brutally murdered by the fascist henchmen on March 16-17, 1942."