Obj. ID: 32651
Memorials  Old Memorial at the Killing Site in Stolbtsy, Belarus, 1951, 1990s

To the main object: New Memorial at the Killing Site in Stolbtsy, Belarus, 1994, 2000s

The Germans occupied Stolptsy on June 27 when most of the town's Jews (about 3,000) were still there. During the time of occupation, the three mass murders occurred. The present monument commemorates the third one, the so-called "Grosse Aktion", that took place on September 23 - October 1, 1942, 1.5 kilometers northwest of the town, near the villages of Konkolowicze and Zajamno. The Nazis carried out a selection among the ghetto inmates, sparing about 500 Jews who were deemed capable of work. 1,975 people were killed between September 23 - October 1, 1942, and this was followed by the massacre of 300 additional people on October 11-14 [Yad Vashem: The Untold Stories].

The first monument at the killing site and mass grave of the Stolbtsy Jews was erected by the local survivors immediately after the war. However, the monument has not survived.

In 1951, at the initiative of the chairman of the Krasnyi Oktiabr" collective farm, Ivan Pirogov, a present mound was poured over the grave. In the early 1990s, two plaques with Russian-language inscriptions were placed on it by the town authorities [Yad Vashem: The Untold Stories]. 

 In 1994, on the initiative of the Belarusian Jewish community, a  new obelisk was added to the memorial [Yad Vashem: The Untold Stories]. It bears two plaques. One of them was placed together with the monument itself. Another one was added in the 2000s by the Simon Mark Lazarus Foundation, the Miles and Marilyn Kletter Family Foundation, and the Warren and Beverly Geisler Family Foundation.

At the site of the mass murder (the "Grosse Aktion"), there is also another monument, erected in 1994. It is shaped like a mourning mother. The Belarusian-language text on its pedestal does not specify the victims' nationality [Yad Vashem].