Only a monument erected in Vitsebsk region reminds of the tragedy that happened with thousands of village residents in this area. Every year, on 11 February, the executed Beshankovichy Jews are honored by prayer and meditation.
“As long as we are alive, we will keep the memory of these people, these people are also alive…” says Hanna Klimovich, volunteer, St. Petersburg.
On the morning of 11 February 1942, the local Jews were driven into the street by the Germans. That day, the Nazis killed more than a thousand Jews in Beshankovichy.
The Jewish life, which flowed naturally for centuries in the town, stopped in a single day. It never really returned to Beshankovichy. Mikhail Salaminsky, Vitsebsk:
“The task of our young generation is not only to know what it was, but also to remember. We want this crime to never happen again anywhere. “
The material symbol of the local Jews’ murder is a monument with the inscription in Russian and Yiddish. After several decades, on the anniversary of the brutal shooting, here came the descendants of the victims, who cherish the memory of the terrible events of the Second World War. Hanna Klimovich, volunteer, St. Petersburg:
“We simply need to remember that sad day and pronounce the words of remembrance, read a prayer in memory of those who were left behind.”
Despite the risk of death, the residents of Beshankovichy hid their Jewish neighbors. For saving the family of Nemtsovs, Mikalai and Hanna Perahud were awarded the title “Righteous Among the Nations” from the Israeli memorial complex “Yad Vashem”.
Hanna Mordan, belsat.eu