During the brief existence of the Vitebsk Ghetto, in late summer-fall 1941, some of its inmates were shot in the territory of the ghetto itself, in pits located among the ruins of the prewar Metalworkers' Club, on the right bank of the Western Dvina River. We do not know the number of Jews murdered there, nor the identity of the perpetrators.

Related Resources

Written Testimonies

From "I saw hell", the testimony of Polina Dobrovolskaya:

…There was a raid; they took my mother, me, and twenty other people. We were taken to the courtyard of the Metalworker's Club. There was a pit there already. My mother told me: "Pasha, I beg you, my child, make yourself scarce somehow, so that they do not see you." I stood behind my mother. They would approach the people randomly and say: "Du, Du, Du" (you, you, you in German). I was not taken, but my mother was. [They took] a total of about ten people and shot them at point-blank range. I saw my mother fall. -Was it the site currently occupied by the County House of Culture? -There, in the courtyard. I received such a shock. I could not even weep or cry. We were taken back to the Metalworkers' Club…

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

Metalworkers' Club in Vitebsk

club

Murder Site

Belorussia (USSR)

55.193;30.194

Photos

The former Metalworkers' Club. Photographer: Alexander Litin, 2018.

YVA, Photo Collection, 14615678