Obj. ID: 53279 Holocaust Monument on the Banks of the Dniepr near Škloŭ (Shklov), Belarus, 1979
Memorial name
No official name.
Who is Commemorated?
The Jewish Holocaust victims from the Škloŭ (Shklov) area.
Description
The monument is erected on the banks of the Dniepr, not far from the site where the Jews of Škloŭ (Shklov) were shot to death. It has the form of a tall white obelisk with the Soviet Medal of the Great Patriotic War.
At the foot of the obelisk, there are two memorial plaques with Russian inscriptions and a depiction of flame. The victims' nationality is not mentioned, but there is a quote from a short poem written by the Soviet poetess Olga Bergolts (Bergholz) that was frequently used on Soviet monuments.
Several steps lead to the monument.
The Russian text on the plaque of this monument says: "This monument is erected in memory of defenders and liberators of Shklov County, our fellow countrymen, fighters, partisans, underground members, and peaceful civilians who were killed during the years of the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945 and in commemoration of the 35th anniversary of the liberation of the county from the German-Fascist occupiers.
During the Great Patriotic War [the following number] of natives of the Shklov region perished:
in combat-6,650, as partisans-470, innocent civilans-8,549.
The [following number of] villages were destroyed: totally -18, partially-108. Nothing has been forgotten, no one has been forgotten."
Inscription
On the right plaque:
In Russian
Обелиск сооружен
в память о защитниках
и освободителях
Шкловского района,
земляках - воинах,
партизанах,
подпольщиках
и мирных жителях
погибших в годы
Великой Отечественной
войны 1941 - 1945 гг.
и в ознаменование
35-летия освобождения
района от
немецко-фашистских
захватчиков.
Никто не забыт,
Translation: This obelisk is erected in memory of defenders / and liberators / of Shklov County, / fellow countrymen - fighters, / partisans, / underground members, / and peaceful residents / who were killed during the years / of the Great Patriotic / War 1941-1945 / and in commemoration / of the 35th anniversary of the liberation / of the county / from the German-Fascist / occupiers. / no one is forgotten,
On the left plaque:
In Russian
В годы Великой
Отечественной войны
погибло уроженцев
Шкловщины
на фронтах - 6,650
в партизанах - 470
мирных жытелей - 2,540 [?]
уничтожено деревень
полностью - 18
частично - 108
Ничто не забыто.
Translation: During the Great Patriotic War / [the following number of] natives of the Shklov region perished / on fronts - 6,650, as partisans - 470, / peaceful citizens - 2,540 [?] / the [following number of] villages was destroyed: totally - 18, partially - 108. / No one is forgotten.
Commissioned by
The local authorities.
Škloŭ (Shklov) was occupied by the Germans on July 12, 1941. At the end of the same month, the two ghettos were created. Since then and to the beginning of October 1941, local Jews were killed in murder operations at five different murder sites [Yad Vashem: The Untold Stories].
The memorialization began in 1955 when Jewish survivors from Škloŭ (Shklov) exhumed the bodies of their relatives who had been murdered during the Holocaust at various locations near the town and transferred them to the old Jewish cemetery. The bodies were buried in 5 mass graves, and the monument was erected [Yad Vashem: The Untold Stories].
The present monument was established by local authorities in 1979, on the banks of the Dniepr, not far from the site where the Jews of Škloŭ (Shklov) were shot to death. It was dedicated to the 35th anniversary of the liberation of Škloŭ (Shklov) County by the Red Army [Yad Vashem: The Untold Stories]. Today the monument is the place of the commemorating ceremonies.