Otradnaya

Since Otradnaya had been outside the Pale of Settlement, where the tsars Jews to live, even in the Soviet period no Jews lived in the village. However, with the German invasion of the USSR on June 22, 1941, Otradnaya County turned into an area of civilian evacuation or flight, including of many Jews. German forces captured Otradnaya at the beginning of August 1942. Within the first days of the German occupation some Jewish families, consisting of about 40 people, attempted to escape from the Germans but were caught. Later they were gassed in special gas vans. Most of the remaining Jews were shot on October 10, 1942 on the bank of the Urup River. The Jews were shot there in a pit after the Germans had taken away their valuables and other items. The Red Army liberated Otradnaya on January 30, 1943.