Murder Story of Lyady Jews in Plauny near Lyady

On the morning of September 27, 1941, the Jewish population of Lyady was assembled in the western part of the town. After they were subjected to various humiliations, several Jews were forced to dig a pit. In the afternoon, the Germans brought seven young male and female Jewish partisans to the pit (among them former residents of Lyady) and shot them. That same day, the Jews were taken to the old Jewish cemetery. The Germans took all the youth, separated the boys and the girls, publicly beat them, and locked them in a nearby shed. They then declared that if the Jewish population of Lyady failed to collect gold and other valuables, all the hostages would be shot. Meanwhile, the Germans selected twenty-five Jewish males, members of the intelligentsia as well as artisans, transported them to the opposite bank of the Mereya River near the village of Plauny, and shot them. Three days later, the Germans permitted the relatives of the Jewish victims to bury them in the new Jewish cemetery.