Obj. ID: 56953
  Memorials Holocaust Memorial at the Killing Site in Garadok (Gorodok) near Vitebsk, Belarus, 1983
Memorial name:
No official name.
Who is Commemorated?
Jews of Garadok (Gorodok), killed by the fascists.
Description
The memorial was erected near the killing site and mass grave of the Garadok (Gorodok) Jews in Biarozavka (Berezovka). It consists of two elements: a high, relief stele, truncated in its upper part, and a relatively small pyramid-like upright slab. The high stele bears a plaque with the depiction of a greaving mother while on the smaller slab, there are metal branch and a plaque with the carved Magen David and the Russian-language dedication.
Inscription
In Russian
Евреям - жертвам фашизма
Translation: To the Jews - victims of fascism.
Commissioned by
The victims' relatives.
sub-set tree: 
| Biarozavka (Berezovka)
Garadok (Gorodok) was under German occupation from 10 July 1941 until 24 December 1943 [Wikipedia]. In late August 1941, a ghetto was established [Al'tman 232]. The mass murders of the Garadok (Gorodok) Jews were carried out several times in a number of locations. By the time of liberation. non of the local Jews survived. [Wikipedia].
Immediately upon the end of the war, the victims' relatives began to look for the precise place of the mass grave near Biarozavka (Berezovka) where in the first half of August 1941, between 120 to 200 Jews were shot [Shulman; Yahad-In Unum]. The place was quickly identified, and in 1965 the monument was established [Shulman; Al'tman 232]. However, in the 1970s the decision to erect a new monument was made. The project was implemented by A.B. Bydman with the support of P.P. Shershen', the representative of the local authorities. Through their efforts, in the summer of 1983, the monument under discussion was opened [Wikipedia].
In the years of Perestroika, the memorial was vandalized: the metal plaque was stolen. On it there was a following Russian-language dedication agreed with the authorities: "To the Soviet citizens of Gorodok shot by the German-fascist invaders in 1941." Later, in its place, the concrete slab with the words "To the Jews - victims of fascism" was set [Wikipedia].
According to the tradition of the Garadok (Gorodok) Jewish community, annually on Tisha B'av the local Jews hold a commemorative ceremony at the place of the monument [Shulman].
There is another monument in the town's vicinity related to the Holocaust events. It was erected in December 2020 instead of the old one that dated back to the 1980s.
"Execution of Jews in Gorodok",
The Map of Holocaust by Bullets, Yahad-In Unum, http://www.yahadinunum.orgwww.yahadmap.org/#village/gorodok-garadok-harodok-vitebsk-belarus.397.
For the original image and Holocaust history, see
Wikipedia, https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Холокост_в_Городокском_районе_(Витебская_область)#/media/Файл:Ghetto_Haradok_(Haradok_district)_Berezovka_1a.jpg, https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Городокское_гетто.
Il'ya, Al'tman (ed.), Kholokost na territorii SSSR (Moskva: ROSSPEN, 2011), p.232.
Shulman, Arkadii, "Evreiskiy Gorodok", Mishpoha., https://web.archive.org/web/20140312213654/http://mishpoha.org/library/04/0408.shtml (accessed January 28, 2025)

