Dubinowo

Dubinowo was established in 1848 as a Jewish agricultural colony. The major crops cultivated there were rye, wheat, and peas, but the linchpin of the colony's economy was its dairy industry. During World War I, the Germans seized all the cattle in Dubinowo, and, when the war was over, only some of the local farmers were able to reopen their dairy farms with the aid of the ORT. Others began to focus on trade and crafts. The local Jewish community was devout, and the tiny village accommodated two houses of religious study and prayer (batei midrash). In 1921, when Dubinowo became part of independent Poland, it was home to 362 Jews, who made up 91 percent of its total population. In September 1939, the village was annexed to the USSR. Shortly after the outbreak of the Soviet-German War in June 1941, Dubinowo was occupied by the Wehrmacht. On July 17, the German Gendarmerie and the local police killed 24 Jewish men, 20 of whom were shot near the Jewish cemetery, about 300 meters from the village. The remaining Jews of Dubinowo, 96 in number, were moved to ghettos in Widze, Brasław, and elsewhere in March 1942. There, they shared the fate of the local Jews. Dubinowo was liberated by the Red Army in early July 1944.