Pain that cannot be forgotten: in Brest honored the memory of prisoners of the Jewish ghetto

The pain that cannot be forgotten... In Brest held a rally dedicated to the 84th anniversary of the destruction of the Jewish ghetto. It was created on December 16, 1941 in the city center with a perimeter of about six kilometers. According to various sources, from 20 to 27 thousand people were locked behind barbed wire. Less than a year later, on October 15, 1942, the Nazis took all the surviving prisoners in freight cars 100 km away to the Berezovsky district and brutally killed them.

According to the surviving record of the population of Brest, 16,934 Jews lived in the city on October 15, 1942. The next day, the clerk again indicated this figure, but then crossed out. On October 17, in the column “Jews” has already put a dash. Literally in an instant Brest became "Judenfrai".

The monument to ghetto prisoners was erected in 1992 at the intersection of Dzerzhinsky and Kuibyshev streets. Nearly three decades later, in 2019, the remains of more than 1,200 Jews of all ages were discovered near the site. They were found by accident during the construction of a new residential quarter. Information that there is a mass grave in the very center of Brest has not previously appeared anywhere.

With the assistance of concerned citizens and local authorities, the long-suffering territory of the city acquired a new memorial zone: the previously installed monument in memory of the dead Jews during the Great Patriotic War was slightly displaced, another sculptural composition appeared nearby - a golden menorah woven with an olive tree branch, but instead of candles - images of melted figures symbolizing the victims of the Brest ghetto.

Every year on a mournful date, many people gather here to honor the memory of Jews who died during the Great Patriotic War.

- The destruction of the Jewish ghetto in October 1942 was not only a national disaster for the Jewish people, but also a profound, irreparable demographic and cultural loss for our entire region. Today, our memory is expressed not just in words, but in daily collective work to preserve the historical heritage and this memory, said Ekaterina Shchurova, Chairman of the Brest City Jewish Public Association “Brisk”.

The Deputy Chairman of the Brest City Executive Committee Vitaly Shcherba also took part in the rally.

He noted:

On the eve of the Great Patriotic War, the Brest Jewish community was one of the largest in the territory of the Republic of Belarus and made up the majority of the population of our city. They developed our city and glorified it. At the same time, I would like to note that both then and now, our city is multinational, we welcome all religions, all nationalities. Everyone is comfortable here and just come to visit us.

Among those present is a student of Brest State University named after A. S. Pushkin Artem Talatynnik. The guy is studying at the history faculty, in the future he will become a teacher.

- We all need to know our history. Because if you do not know the past, then there will be no future, the young man emphasizes. - I had two grandfathers fighting. One reached Czechoslovakia but was injured. And the second grandfather, unfortunately, did not live to the Great Victory. We remember the feats of our heroes. And we will always remember. But we will never forget the atrocities committed by the German fascist invaders.