Belynichi

Jewish settlement in Belynichi began at the end of the 17th century. Under Soviet rule many Jews continued to practice crafts, some in cooperatives. Others became white-collar workers, while a few turned to farming. The town had a government school with instruction in Yiddish. In January 1939, 781 Jews lived in Belynichi, comprising aproximately 25 percent of the total population. The Germans occupied the town on July 6, 1941. After the first murder operation conducted in August or September 1941, the remaining Jews of Belynichi, as well as refuges from Poland who had arrived in 1939 and 1940 — about 600 people in all, were concentrated in a ghetto established on a single street. Later Jews from the neghboring localities of Shepelevichi, Golovchin, Neroplya, and others were deported to the ghetto. Although the ghetto was not fenced in, the inhabitants were not allowed to leave and Belarusian police were posted as guards. The Jews in the ghetto were killed on December 12, 1941. The Red Army liberated Belynichi on June 29, 1944.