In late July 1941, the German authorities in Vitebsk ordered all the Jews in the city to relocate to the right bank of the Western Dvina River, where a ghetto was to be established. Since the bridge across the river had been blown up by the retreating Soviet forces, and the pontoon bridge set up by the Germans was off-limits to the local population, the only way to cross the river was by boat. Belarusians who owned boats and rafts put their craft at the Jews' disposal, for a fee. During the crossing itself, German soldiers, who were patrolling the river in boats, capsized the boats and rafts that were loaded with Jewish families, and beat the Jews who tried to swim out with oars and rifle butts. Other German soldiers, stationed on the opposite bank, were shooting upon the Jews crossing the river. A total of about 300 Jews were deliberately drowned during this crossing. This massacre appears to have been perpetrated by members of Sonderkommando 7a of Einsatzgruppe B, and by soldiers of various Wehrmacht units stationed in Vitebsk at that time.

Related Resources

Written Testimonies

Written Accounts

Soviet Reports

ChGK Soviet Reports

From "I Saw Hell", the testimony of Polina Dobrovolskaya:

… About two weeks later, a notice was posted, [ordering] the Jews to cross to the other side of the Western Dvina River, near the train station. Everybody was to gather at the Uspenskiy Hill near the technical college building. To the best of my recollection, everybody had to come at either 2 or 3 PM. My mother took along some belongings, and we went to the riverbank. It was hell. The area was so crowded that there was no place to stand. My mother and I somehow found a place near the bushes at the hill. Germans, young boys and girls, walked along and robbed the Jews of their belongings. Some refused to part with their possessions. Mother immediately handed everything over to them. Then, many boats was brought to the riverbank, and elderly people, women, and children were loaded into them. There were Germans and [local] policemen. The boats sailed into the middle of the river, and were then capsized. Whoever tried to swim out would be hit on the head with an oar. The river was red with blood. The children were simply thrown into the water. There was such noise, such an outcry….

Mishpokha,http://mishpoha.org/vspominayut-uzniki/656-ya-videla-ad

Western Dvina River

river

Murder Site

Belorussia (USSR)

55.193;30.194

Photos

The Western Dvina River. Photographer: Alexander Litin, 2018.

YVA, Photo Collection, 14614588