BURIAL SITE OF HOLOCAUST VICTIMS FOUND IN BRASLAV DISTRICT
An unknown burial site of the Holocaust victims has been found in Braslav district, Vitebsk region. Historian Alexander Saplitsa, a Braslav resident, discovered the site.
According to Alexander, the site is located next to the area where the village of Yaisy used to be. The village was destroyed during World War II.
After interviewing local residents Alexander found out that during the Nazi occupation in the summer of 1942, the whole population of the small, predominantly Jewish village, was moved to the Braslav ghetto. However, 13 people, mostly men aged 18 – 60, were shot in the village by Nazi policemen and buried on the village outskirts – each of them in a separate grave. After the war a memorial was set up on the grave but in the 60s the place was forgotten.
Alexander Saplitsa considers that the remains of the victims should be exhumated and their burial should be discussed with the victims' relatives. The names of the victims are still unknown but can be retrieved from archive documents. It is only known that one of Yaisy residents survived and lived in Canada after the war.
|
|
ENG 