Mogilev

The fate of the Jews under the German Invasion & Occupation

Mogilev is the district capital in the Belorussian, founded in the thirteenth century. Jews lived in Mogilev from the sixteenth century and in the nineteenth century it was a centre of religious study and of Hassidism and later on of Zionism and Jewish Socialism. Jewish life in the city declined after the Bolshevik revolution of 1917.

The Jewish population of Belarus in 1897 was more than 911,000 - which is 14,2% of the total population in Belarus. Following World War I and the establishment of the Communist regime, the number of Jews had decreased and by 1926 only 17,105 or 34.1% of the population remained.

During the 1920s a violent struggle occurred between the religious circles and the  Zionists on the one hand, and the Yevsektsiya (Jewish Communist Section) on the other, which resulted in the liquidation of Jewish communal life in the town. On the eve of the Second World War 16,200 Jews lived in Mogilev, out a total population of 99,440.

Then on the 26 July 1941 the Germans occupied the city after a battle lasting twenty-five days. Part of the Jewish population had been evacuated or had managed to get away, but the majority numbering some 10,000 were still there when the Germans occupied the city.

Shortly thereafter Einsatzkommando 8 belonging to Einsatzgruppen B entered Mogilev and launched killing aktions against the Jews, murdering them by the thousands.

Excerpts from one of the Operational Situation Reports submitted by Einsatzgruppe B operating in Mogilev:   

(photos added to enhance the text)

Read the full article here:  http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/nazioccupation/mogilev.html

The Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team

www.HolocaustResearchProject.org

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