Obj. ID: 58516
  Memorials  New Holocaust Memorial in the Jewish Cemetery in Radun', Belarus, 1997

To the main object: Jewish cemetery in Radun', Belarus

"The Germans entered Raduń on June 27, 1941. Anti-Jewish decrees and orders followed: Jews were required to wear an identification mark – first an armband with the Star of David, then a yellow patch on their clothes; they were forbidden from consuming meat, butter, and eggs; forced labor was introduced, and a Jewish council was established. After the massacres in the nearby towns of Orany (present-day Varėna, Lithuania), Ejszyszki (Lith. Eišiškės), and Olkieniki (Lith. Valkininkai) in September 1941, dozens of survivors found refuge in Raduń. In November (or October) 1941, a ghetto was established in the town.
In the first days of 1942, the German police from Lida uncovered approximately 40 Jewish refugees living in Raduń without official residence permits. They were killed and buried in a nearby forest" [Yad Vashem: Untold Stories].

"On the night of May 7-8, the German Security Police, the Gendarmerie, and the local collaborationist police surrounded the ghetto. All groups working outside the ghetto were ordered to return. During the two-day-long encirclement, many Jews managed to flee from the ghetto; about 150 of them were shot dead in the attempt; it is believed that some 300 may have made good their escape. On May 10, the Germans seized 100 young Jews, ordering them to dig pits in the Jewish cemetery. According to some testimonies, these Jews staged a mass escape following a signal given by Meir Stoler; about 30 of them managed to evade the murderers. In the afternoon, the Germans and policemen escorted the Jews of Raduń westward along the Grodno road, to the cemetery that lay approximately 2 km west of Raduń. Those who lagged behind on the way to the murder site where killed on the spot. The rest were ordered to undress and lie down in the pits. At that very moment, the Germans picked out "specialist workers", and even permitted them to take their families out of the pits. Those not classified as "specialists" were shot" [Yad Vashem: Untold Stories].

The commemoration of the massacre on May 10, 1942, began in 1961 when the first monument was erected in the Jewish cemetery. "It was a sculpture of a Soviet soldier holding a machine gun. The monument commemorated "1,137 Soviet citizens", without specifying their ethnicity" [Yad Vashem: Untold Stories].

In 1997, the monument under discussion was unveiled at the murder site.