Poplavy (Klichev) | Mogilev

/ Typical Soviet shop “Gastronom.” ©Les Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum The Yahad team with a witness during an interview in their garden. ©Les Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum Andrey M., born in 1931 : ”The pits had been dug in advance. The Jews were lined up on the edge of these pits and shot with a submachine gun. They all fell down inside like dominos.” ©Les Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum Nadezhda V., born in 1922: “During the round-up I saw a Jewish woman with a toddler coming from the recruitment office where the Jews had been assembled. When a German noticed her he made her turn back around to the building.” ©Les Kasyanov/Yahad - In Un The execution site of 300 Jews murdered in the forest close to the village of Poplavy. ©Les Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum

Execution of Jews from Klichev in Poplavy

1 Execution site(s)

Kind of place before:
Forest
Memorials:
Yes
Period of occupation:
1941-1944
Number of victims:
300

Witness interview

Nadezhda V., born in 1922: “There was no ghetto in Klichev, the Jews continued to live in their homes until the day everyone, the entire population, was told to assemble. The Belarusians were ordered to come to the pharmacy building and the Jews to the recruitment office. The Jews didn’t suspect anything and they came without making a fuss. But it was only a pretext for the Germans. Once the Jews were assembled, they were all taken in covered trucks to the shooting site where the pits had been dug in advance. I saw the trucks passing by in the direction of the forest.” (Testimony n°682, interviewed on July 16, 2013, in Klichev)

Historical note

Poplavy is located about 150 km southwest of Mogilev. According to some sources, few Jews lived in the village prior to war. However, a large community of Jews lived in Klichev, located about 50 km from Poplavy. The first records about Jews date back to the middle of the 18th century. The majority of Jews were traders and merchants. There were at least two synagogues and a Yiddish elementary school, but everything was closed in 1938. On the eve of the war, there were 433 Jews in the village, comprising almost 20% of local population.

Holocaust by bullets in figures

The Germans occupied the village in the early July 1941. According to some sources, shortly after the Germans’ arrival a ghetto was established in Klichev which numbered about 600 Jews. However, local witnesses were unable to confirm this information. According to them, on the day of the execution, conducted on October 14, 1941, the Jews were first assembled at the building of the recruitment office and from there taken in covered trucks to a forest close to the village of Poplavy where they were shot. The execution was conducted by Police Bataillon n°307, most probably assisted by local Belarusian police. The remaining Jews from the ghetto who had managed to hide were shot at the Jewish cemetery in Klichev.

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