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Obj. ID: 34160
Memorials
  New Holocaust Monument in Grozovo, Belarus, 2006

© Dr. Leonid Smilovitsky, Photographer: Smilovitsky, Leonid, 2019

Memorial name:

No official name.

Who is Commemorated?

447 victims of the Nazis, 433 of whom are Jews of Grozovo.

Description:

The monument at the killing site and the mass grave of the Jews of Grozovo stands near the old monument erected in 1966 (see here).

In the center of the paved and fenced area of the new monument, there is a stylized traditional European Jewish tombstone with a broken upper left corner and rough-hewn sides. Its black granite surface is riddled with six bullets (perhaps symbolizing the 6 million victims of the Holocaust). In the upper right corner, the Magen David is seen, while the rest part of the monument bears not identical epitaphs in Hebrew and Belarusian languages.

Behind the stylized Jewish tombstone - both to the right and left- are two small, rough-hewn objects resembling Jewish tombstones as well.

In the background, there are two (according to the number of firing pits) upright steles that bear the names of the innocent victims killed in the place of the monument. The list is incomplete.

From the right and left sides of the monument's area, there are two octagonal, coffin-like constructions symbolizing the two firing pits.

A metal fence surrounds the monument.

Inscriptions:

On the tombstone:

In Hebrew:

במקום של ההוצאה להורג היו מונחים
  ארבע מאות ושבעה [ארבע מאות ארבעים ושבע] אזרחים חפים מפשע
של גרוסוב.
מהם ארבע מאות שלושים ושלושה יהודים
בעיקר ילדים שנרצחו על ידי הנאצים עם הפלישה
לבלרוס באלף תשע מאות ארבעים ואחת על ידי הגרמנים.
למה?

Translation: At the site of execution rest / four hundred forty-seven / innocent citizens / of Grozovo. / Four hundred and thirty-three of them are Jews. / Mostly children who were killed by the Nazis with the invasion / of Belarus by the Germans in one thousand nine hundred forty-one. / Why?

In Belarusian:

На гэтым месцы
пахавана 447  бязвiнных
жыхароў мястэчка Грозава, з iх
433 яўрэi, большасць з якiх дзецi
i старыя, якiя былi закатаваны ў
снежнi 1941 года ў час
фашысцкай акупацыi
Беларусi.
Чаму?

Translation: At this site, 447 innocent residents of the shtetl of Grozovo are buried. 443 of them are Jews, most of whom are children and elderly, who were brutally torched to death in December 1941 during the fascist occupation of Belarus. Why?

On the steles: 

In Belarussian: List of victims. 

Commissioned by

American Jews [see here]. 

Summary and Remarks
Remarks

6 image(s)

sub-set tree:

Name/Title
Killing Site in Grozovo, Belarus | Unknown
Object Detail
Monument Setting
Date
2006
Synagogue active dates
Reconstruction dates
Artist/ Maker
Shvaibovich, Vladimir (artist)
{"4328":"Active in Kopyl, Belarus"}
Historical Origin
Unknown
Community type
Congregation
Unknown
Location
Belarus | Minskaia vobl. | Grozovo
| 0.4 km from the Grozovo-Koniukhi Road.
Site
Unknown
School/Style
Unknown|
Period
Period Detail
Collection
Unknown |
Documentation / Research project
Unknown
Iconographical Subject
Textual Content
Languages of inscription
Shape / Form
Unknown
Material / Technique
Granite
Material Stucture
Material Decoration
Material Bonding
Material Inscription
Material Additions
Material Cloth
Material Lining
Tesserae Arrangement
Density
Colors
Construction material
Measurements
Height
Length
Width
Depth
Circumference
Thickness
Diameter
Weight
Axis
Panel Measurements
Condition
Extant
Documented by CJA
Surveyed by CJA
Present Usage
Present Usage Details
Condition of Building Fabric
Architectural Significance type
Historical significance: Event/Period
Historical significance: Collective Memory/Folklore
Historical significance: Person
Architectural Significance: Style
Architectural Significance: Artistic Decoration
Urban significance
Significance Rating
1
Ornamentation
Custom
Contents
Codicology
Scribes
Script
Number of Lines
Ruling
Pricking
Quires
Catchwords
Hebrew Numeration
Blank Leaves
Direction/Location
Façade (main)
Endivances
Location of Torah Ark
Location of Apse
Location of Niche
Location of Reader's Desk
Location of Platform
Temp: Architecture Axis
Arrangement of Seats
Location of Women's Section
Direction Prayer
Direction Toward Jerusalem
Coin
Coin Series
Coin Ruler
Coin Year
Denomination
Signature
Colophon
Scribal Notes
Watermark
Hallmark
Group
Group
Group
Group
Group
Trade Mark
Binding
Decoration Program
Suggested Reconsdivuction
History/Provenance

The new monument at the killing site and the mass grave of the Jews of Grozovo is situated at the forest edge, near the highway Konykhi - Grozovo, and in the vicinity of the old monument erected in 1966 (see here)

About 500 Jews of Grozovo were murdered there in December 1941.

Main Surveys & Excavations
Sources

Il'ya, Al'tman (ed.), Kholokost na territorii SSSR (Moskva: ROSSPEN, 2011), p. 247.

Lev Slobin, "Boris Gimel'shtein: Poslednii Evrei Mestechka Grozovo," Moio Mestechko., http://shtetle.com/shtetls_minsk/grozovo/grozovo.html (accessed December 24, 2023)
Type
Documenter
Leonid Smilovitsky | 2019
Author of description
Liza Schwartz | 2023
Architectural Drawings
|
Computer Reconstruction
|
Section Head
|
Language Editor
|
Donor
|
Negative/Photo. No.
The following information on this monument will be completed: