Miloslavichi

Jews began living in Miloslavichi in the mid-19th century. At the turn of the century there were 630 Jews, comprising half of the total population. In 1905, when a wave of pogroms struck the Pale of Settlement, some of the Jews in Miloslasvichi succeeded in halting anti-Jewish violence on the part of peasants from nearby villages. Before the Bolshevik revolution most Miloslavichi Jews were small-scale traders and artisans. However, in the first years of Soviet rule two Jewish agricultural cooperatives, "Veker" and "Osvobozhdenie," were established near Miloslavichi. The former was subsequently reorganized into the Jewish kolkhoz "Naye Lebn", where 45 Jewish families worked on the eve of the war. In 1923 571 Jews lived in Miloslavichi, comprising 43.5 percent of the total population. The Germans occupied Miloslavichi on August 10, 1941. Many Jews managed to leave the village before the arrival of the Germans, but approximately 30 Jerwish families remained. Soon after the occupation began a Jewish elder was appointed, and the Jews were forced to perform hard and menial work. In August 1941 10 to 12 Jewish men were taken hostage and, then, shot at the Jewish cemetery. The remaining Jews were compelled to wear yellow badges on their clothes. At the end of November or the beginning of December 1941 they all were shot near the village school. Miloslavichi was liberated by the Red Army on September 28, 1943.