StudyGuide - Courses

Uncovering the Holocaust by Bullets

Watch the testimony video, read accompanying documents and answer related questions.

Access to accompanying documents

Witness

Klara A.

Country

Belarus

Birthdate and Birthplace

1934, Shklov

Year of video recording

2009

InEvidence link (YahadMap)

Know more

Shklov, BELARUS

Shklov is a town located 35km north of the regional capital of Mogilev. Shklov is central to the Haskala movement. Towards the end of the 19th century, there were approximately 5,500 Jews making up 80% of the local population. Between the two wars, it was under Soviet rule and around a dozen Jewish families lived in a kolkhoz named “Iskra.” On the 12th of July 1941, the German troops occupied Shklov and the shootings started soon after. By the end of July, two ghettos are created, one near the Orthodox Church, the other near the Linin factory. In August, the Sonderkommando 7b of Einsatzgruppe B arrived in the town in order to shoot the local Jews. According the Soviet archives, 3,200 Jews from Shklov and neighboring villages were assassinated. There were many shootings between summer and winter of 1941. Klara, born into a Jewish family, witnessed one of the shootings.

Klara A., a Jewish survivor, born in 1934. ©Les Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum

Klara A. describes the proportions of the ditches ©Les Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum

The house where Klara and her mother were arrested ©Les Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum

Glossary

Kolkhoz
In the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics (USSR), a kolkhoz was a collective farm, grouping together land, livestock, tools and the labor force of one or several villages in a collective framework. All production was delivered to the state.

The Haskala
From the end of the 18th to the 19th centuries, the Haskala refers to a progressive movement inspired by the philosophy of the Enlightenment, extolling equal rights, secular education and the modernization of the liturgy.

"Aktion" against the Jews
In the framework of the genocide, the German term "Aktion" designates the mass liquidation of Jews. Several Aktionen can take place over a period of time to murder the entire Jewish population of a village, a town or a region.

Questionnaire

1.- How old was Klara during the events?

2.- Why were Klara and her mother arrested by the Germans?

3.- How did the Germans proceed with the arrest of the Jews from Shklov?

4.- Why did the Germans force the local population to watch the shooting?

5.- How were Klara and her mother saved? Who saved them?

6.- What would have been the fate of Klara and her mother if they had not been saved?

7.- In your opinion, what motivated the rescuers?

8.- Where are the graves in relation to the town of Shklov?

9.- Why do you think the witness agreed to give his testimony 80 years after the events?

10.- Why do you think it is important to record and diffuse this type of testimony?

Additional Resources

Access supplementary materials, including articles and further reading suggestions, for a comprehensive learning experience

Historical notes

Shklov is located about 40 km north of Mogilev. Not only was it an important Jewish religious- but also a economic and cultural center. During the 18th century, it was home to a yeshiva and became the center of the Haskalah movement. At the end of the 19th century, there were 5,542 Jews in the town. They largely lived off trading. A dozen families worked in the Jewish kolkhoz called "Iskra". In 1939, only 2,132 Jews remained in Shklov. The Germans occupied the town on July 12, 1941.

Hertzel Kalmykov, a Jewish survivor, standing near the monument in memory of the Jews from Shklov, erected by Hertzel Kalmykov. ©Photo from the family archive, shared by Scott Kalmikoff

The monument erected in the memory of the Shklov Jews murdered by the Germans, situated at the Jewish cemetery. © Les Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum

The synagogue building. ©Les Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum

The old Jewish cemetery. ©Les Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum

Sources / Archives

Soviet archives

“In the district of Shklov, the German Fascist monsters shot, hanged, burned or deported to forced labor camps in Germany, 4696 people. 354 women and 163 children were shot. One woman was hanged. 112 people were burned alive. 45 POWs were tortured to death or assassinated. In the Shklov prison, a hundred people were seized and thrown naked into the cellars.” [Report of the local commission, drawn up in 1944; RG 22.022M/7021-88/45].

PICTURES GALLERY

YIU TEAM WITH KLARA A.

After the interview the Yahad - In Unum team sets off together with the witness to visit the historical sites ©Les Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum

Klara and the Yahad - In Unum team on the banks of the Dnieper River, not far from the shooting site and mass graves. ©Les Kasyanov/Yahad - In Unum