Khislavichi

The Jewish community of Khislavichi dates back to the eighteenth century. During the Soviet period, a Yiddish school and library operated in the town. In the 1920s, along with the state-sponsored schools, several unofficial heders ran in the town. In 1939, the Jewish community of Khislavichi numbered 1,427 people, 27 percent of the total population. The Germans invaded Khislavichi on July 16, 1941. The Jews were ordered to wear a yellow band with a black spot in the center. At the beginning of September 1941, all the local Jews, as well as those from surrounding areas, altogether more than 800 people, were placed into a ghetto. The Jews of Khislavichi were annihilated in a number of murder operations. In September, Germans killed the members of the local Judenrat and another 20 Jews in unknown location. Most of Khislavichi’s Jews were murdered in two operations in October 1941 in a ravine near the town, and in March 1942 in a ditch near the Machine and Tractor Station. In addition, in January 1942, young boys and girls from Khislavichi were put on trucks, taken to an unknown location and, most likely, killed. The Red Army liberated Khislavichi on September 26, 1943. In September 1941, the Jews of Khislavichi were concentrated in a ghetto comprised of three streets located on the outskirts of the town. The ghetto contained between 800 and 900 Jews living in forty to fifty houses. Most of the Jews’ property, located outside the ghetto, was plundered. The Jews were required to perform forced labor, and a number of Jewish tailors were assigned sewing jobs for the Wehrmacht. The ghetto also had a shoemaker’s workshop. A number of Jews managed to flee the ghetto.Over time, Jews from nearby villages joined the inhabitants of the ghetto. In late September 1941, between 114 and 150 Jewish men (sources vary on the figure) were accused of spreading rumors regarding the approach of the Bolsheviks, taken from the ghetto, and shot to death. In January 1942, a number of young Jewish men and women were taken from the ghetto, none of whom ever returned.In the winter of 1942, a group of German pilots came to the ghetto to plunder the Jews’ remaining property. In January-February 1942, almost all the Jews of the ghetto were forced to build fortifications.The ghetto was liquidated on March 20, 1942.