Usvyaty

In 1897 the Jewish community of Usvyaty consisted of 956 people, who comprised 35.5 percent of the total population. The Jewish commune Pustosh was established in Usvyaty, but it was liquidated after a short time, in 1922 or 1923. After that a kolkhoz where Jews and Russians worked together was organized in Usvyaty. In 1939 the 136 Jews in the settlement comprised 5.5 percent of the Usvyaty's total population. The settlement was occupied by the Germans on July 14, 1941. Small groups of Jews were murdered on July 25, 1941, and in August 1941. In late September 1941 a ghetto was established in Usvyaty for 100 – 170 Jews of the settlement and Jewish refugees from Riga, Nevel, Vitebsk, and other places. Small scale murder operations took place on November 7 and 10, 1941. The Germans planned to liquidate the Usvyaty ghetto on January 28, 1942, but the arrival of Soviet forces thwarted the planned mass murder of the Jewish inmates.