The site of the concentration camp
About a thousand Jewish survivors from the destruction of the ghetto, workers, specialists and part of their families were moved to the so-called labour camp on the territory of the "Strommashina" factory, which was established on September 29 or October 3, 1941, not far from the office of the highest SS and police chief. The camp was guarded by German SS troops and Ukrainian policemen. The most skilled Jewish labourers were selected to serve the officers. Then prisoners of war, Jews from other towns in Belarus and Poland, and arrested civilians were placed in the camp, including 400 young Jews from Slonim. Every day dozens of prisoners died of hunger and cold. The guards who took people to be shot claimed that "they were being sent to agriculture." Every Thursday prisoners were taken in a lorry to be executed; sometimes they didn't bother with this and shot people in a corner of the camp itself. The camp had to be constantly replenished, otherwise it would quickly become empty because of the terrible regime. Supposedly, in 1942, on the orders of one of the highest SS and police officers, Bach-Zelewski, up to 4,000 camp inmates were exterminated in one operation, and this was not the only such action. At the beginning of September 1943, before liquidation, according to partisan intelligence, there were 500 inmates, including 276 Jews in the camp. By 15 September 1943, only 120 people were left alive in the concentration camp. The Nazis took them to Minsk, to the camp on Shirokaya Street, and then two weeks later they were sent to the city of Lublin, to the infamous Majdanek concentration camp.
There was an armed underground in the concentration camp, thanks to which several escapes of prisoners were possible. A total of 73 people escaped. Mostly men. According to the memories of survivors, some of them were shot by partisans.
In 1942-1943, the SS men dumped the bodies of the murdered and tortured prisoners into two huge pits on the territory of the factory and covered them with lime. Today a workshop has been built over one of the pits. An asphalt road through the territory of the plant was built over the other pit.
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From the memoirs of Chaim (Yahim) Kraskin and Solomon Rozin, former prisoners of labour camps and organisers of armed resistance:
"In early October 1941, in the former building of the Sovnarkom garage on Pervomayskaya Street, the German-Fascist command organised a concentration camp near the Dimitrov factory (now the Strommashina factory). At first Jews of all specialities were driven there: tailors, shoemakers, locksmiths, painters, stove makers, etc., about 800 people in all. The rest of the Jewish population, which for one reason or another could not be evacuated, was exterminated in the villages of Polykovichi and Pashkovo.
In the camp, 4-storey bunks were set up, we slept on planks, there were no blankets or sheets. At 6 o'clock in the morning everyone had to get up and run to the yard to the construction site, if anyone delayed even for one minute, he was beaten immediately in front of the whole line, and those who could not get up because of illness or other reasons were immediately killed. In the morning we were given 200 grams of bread ('ersatz') and a can of skilly with dog meat or sausage, and everyone was driven to work; the lucky ones were those who got to work in the city. These lucky ones got something and shared the last remnants with their comrades. The death rate from exhaustion and beatings was high, 15-20 people died every day.
In addition, twice a week, a selection was made for the so-called agricultural camp. The youngest and healthiest children were taken there. Later we learnt that this so-called agricultural camp was an anti-tank ditch where they were taken to be killed. Every day in the camp became more and more difficult: the cold, the abuse, and we began to think about escaping". The prisoners managed not only to organise sabotage work, but also to contact partisan units and organise several escapes. In total, 73 people escaped from the camp. It is not known how many of them managed to survive...".
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From the memoirs of Naum (Nochem) Sorkin: (1923 - 2006):
"In the autumn of 1941, the Nazis began shooting Jews. First, they took away the men, then all the other people. My family also fell into one of these groups. The Nazis chased us to the prison. The Nazi asked if anyone had a speciality. My brother said he was a locksmith, and I called myself a locksmith too. We were pushed aside. Then the Jewish craftsmen were driven to the Dimitrov factory, now the Strommashina factory. Here the Nazis organised a special labour death camp. Prisoners of war and civilians, including thousands of Jews, were driven here. There were men of different specialities: locksmiths, blacksmiths, glaziers, tailors, painters, stove makers. As I learnt later, by the end of October 1941, only Jewish men remained here. All the other Jewish residents - women, children, old people - were shot or buried alive... The Nazis shot people in the street, in the yard and even in a room of their own house, and my grandfather was killed right in bed...".
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Photo of former resistance members. Standing: Blumin, Elkin, Katsman, Sorkin, Nemchin. Sitting: Shakhrai, Kraskin, Razman (Rozin).
Nemchin, Shakhrai, Kraskin, Razman (Rozin) escaped from the concentration camp and fought in partisan units. The photo was taken, tentatively, at the end of the 50s and beginning of the 60s.