Zakharino

Zakharino was established as a Jewish settlement. In 1847 its 538 Jews comprised the total population of the village. Although most Zakharino Jews were then farmers, some of them made their livelihood as petty merchants or artisans. Zakharino had a Yiddish elementary school until it was transformed into a Russian one in 1938. Zakharino was occupied by the Germans on August 1, 1941. Numerous refugees, most of them Jewish, fled to Zakharino from Belarus at the beginning of the war. The looting of Jewish property and the abuse and murder of Jews began immediately after the occupation started. The Germans set up a Jewish council in the village. In October 1941 a ghetto was established in the town and about 300 Jews were moved into it. The ghetto was liquidated in May 1942, when all of its inhabitants were shot to death in a field near the village. Zakharino was liberated around September 27, 1943. The village no longer exists.