Byalynichy
Byalynichy (Belarusian: Бялынічы, Białyničy; Russian: Белыничи, tr. Belynichi, Polish: Białynicze) is a city and administrative center of Byalynichy Raion of Mogilev Region.
Among other things, the town is known for the icon Our Lady of Byalynichy, worshiped by both Eastern Orthodox, Greek Catholic and Roman Catholic Christians of Belarus.
History
Around 780 Jews lived in Belynichi at the eve of World War II. They composed about 24 percent of the total population. The Jews were mainly traders.
There were different execution sites of the Belynichi Jews. The main one is in the forest: more than 600 Jews (mainly women and children) from the Belynichi ghetto were shot in two large pits on December 12, 1941. The graves were dug by the inhabitants of the nearby village, Mashchanitsa. The Jewish men were killed during a previous Aktion in September 1941 near Niropla.[1] After the first murder operation conducted in August or September 1941, the remaining Jews of Belynichi, as well as refuges from Poland who had arrived in 1939 and 1940 — about 600 people in all, were concentrated in a ghetto established on a single street. Later Jews from the neghboring localities of Shepelevichi, Golovchin, Neroplya, and others were deported to the ghetto. Belarusian police were posted as guards. The Jews in the ghetto were killed on December 12, 1941.
The Red Army liberated Belynichi on June 29, 1944
References
External links
- The murder of the Jews of Byalynichy during World War II, at Yad Vashem website.
Coordinates: 53°55′01″N 30°21′00″E / 53.917°N 30.350°E