Murder Story of Dzerzhinsk Jews on Pervomayskaya Street in Dzerzhinsk

On October 20 (or 21), 1941 the Germans forced the workers of the local kolkhoz, as well as Soviet prisoners of war (about 80-120 people), to dig a pit. The pit – 25 meters long, three meters wide, and three meters deep – was on Pervomayskaya Street, opposite the Protestant Church near the former Polish school. The Germans surrounded the whole area. When the preparations were complete, the Jews were taken to the pit in groups of 15-20 on the pretext that they were being relocated. The Jews were forced to lie down in the pit and were then shot to death by Lithuanians. The killing lasted until evening. According to different sources, the number of victims was between 1,920 and 2,500 (according to one source, in the course of a single day 1,000 Jews and local Communists were shot). Along with the Lithuanians, local policemen participated in the murder. After the shooting, the men who had dug the pit covered it with earth.