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Obj. ID: 9391
  Memorials
  Old Holocaust Memorial I at the Killing Site in Orsha, Belarus, 1950s (?)

© Vladimir Levin, Photographer: Levin, Vladimir, 2010

Memorial name: 

No official name. 

Who/What is Commemorated?

2,900 Jewish children of the Orsha Ghetto, killed on November 26-27, 1941. 

Description

The monument was erected at the killing site and mass grave, near the old Jewish cemetery. It was shaped like a lying slab with a memorial plaque that bore a Russian ethnically neutral inscription. The territory of the monument was surrounded by a fence. 

Inscription

In Russian 

Здесь
похоронены
советские
граждане,
погибшие от рук
немецко-фашистских
захватчиков
26-27.XI.1941 г.

Translation: Here / are buried / Soviet / citizens / who died at the hands / of the German-fascist / invaders / on November 26-27, 1941.

Commissioned by

Victims' relatives.

Summary and Remarks
Remarks

sub-set tree:  

Name/Title
Old Holocaust Memorial I at the Killing Site in Orsha | Unknown
Object Detail
Monument Setting
Date
1950s (?)
Active dates
Reconstruction dates
Artist/ Maker
Historical Origin
Unknown
Community type
Unknown |
Congregation
Unknown
Site
Unknown
School/Style
Unknown|
Period
Period Detail
Collection
Unknown |
Documentation / Research project
Unknown
5 image(s)    items per page

5 image(s)    items per page
Iconographical Subject
Unknown |
Textual Content
Languages of inscription
Material / Technique
Concrete
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
0
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 fascists entered Orsha on July 16, 1941 [Al'tman, 698]. When the occupation regime in the town had been firmly established, there was a flurry of anti-Jewish decrees. In September 1941, the Germans created a ghetto [jewishgen.org]. The Jews of Orsha were killed in several Aktions [Al'tman, 698-700].

The present monument was erected presumably in the 1950s near the Jewish cemetery, at the killing site and mass grave of 2,900 Jewish children from the Orsha Ghetto. They were killed on November 26-27, 1941, during the liquidation of the ghetto. Their parents were killed 150 meters from that place [izvezda.by]. On their mass grave, there are two monuments - a stele and a boulder. The stele was established in 1968, while the date of the boulder's erection is unknown. 
In 2014, with the support of the Lazarus Foundation, the monument under discussion was replaced by a new one [Belarus Holocaust Memorial Project]. 

Main Surveys & Excavations
Sources

"Holocaust in Belorussia,"  jewishgen.org, https://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/belarus/bel178.html (accessed March 24, 2025)

Il'ya, Al'tman (ed.), Kholokost na territorii SSSR (Moskva: ROSSPEN, 2011), pp.698-700.

Marat, Botvinnik, Pam'atniki Genotsida Evreev Belarusi (Minsk: Belaruskaia navuka, 2000), pp.176-177.

"Orsha,"
Belarus Holocaust Memorial Project, https://www.belarusmemorials.com/memorials/vitsyebsk/orsha/.

"Pam'atnyi znak evreiskim d'et'am iz Orshanskogo getto," izvezda.by, https://izvezda.by/ru/monuments-ru/getElement/6077/ (accessed March 20, 2025)
Type
Documenter
Dr. Vladimir Levin | 2010
Author of description
Liza Schwartz | 2025
Architectural Drawings
|
Computer Reconstruction
|
Section Head
|
Language Editor
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Donor
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Negative/Photo. No.
The following information on this monument will be completed: