Murder Story of Nowogródek Jews in Litówka

Following a number of killing operations in surrounding towns, including Korelicze, Lubcz, and Wsielub, all the surviving Jews were brought to the Nowogrodek ghetto, significantly increasing the number of inmates. On August 7 or 8, 1942, the ghetto was surrounded, and most of its residents, 2,500-5,000 Jews, as well as some laborers who worked in the German army’s stables, were ordered to report to the square. There they were made to lie stretched out on the ground for six hours. They were then taken in groups to the village of Litówka by truck, where they were executed next to a ravine. The murder operation was commanded by Johann Foerster of the Wilejka security police and it was carried out by the gendarme staff of the Nowogrodek region, together with Lithuanian and Latvian units, and probably with the partial cooperation of the Baranowicze SiPO. An additional murder operation took place in the area on February 4, 1943 (according to other sources, on March 25), during which the 510-520 remaining Jews from the ghetto were killed at the same site.