The "Forest of Names" (2010)

Wald der Namen6.9.18_Aliaksandr Dalhouski.jpg

The "Forest of Names"

Several thousand people were murdered in Blahaǔščyna between 1941 and 1943. Most of them were local Jews or Jews deported from Central Europe. As a historical site of the crimes against humanity near Maly Trascjanec, the forest clearing has a high status as a place of remembrance for the victims of the extermination site and in the European culture of remembrance.

Examples of some profiles

In 2009, the IM-MER citizens' initiative ("IM" stands for "Initiative Malvine" and "MER" for "remember Maly Trascjanec") was founded in Vienna, which aims at individual remembrance of the Nazi victims at Maly Trascjanec. Since 2010, the initiative has been putting data and photos of the murdered people on yellow boards on trees in the Blahaǔščyna forest. The initiative is also supported by teachers and students from the surrounding area; some relatives of the victims also left a yellow plaque on their journey to Maly Trascjanec to commemorate their relatives or acquaintances there.

In addition to the general wording found on most other memorials and commemorative plaques in the area, these plaques offer the opportunity to give a face to the murdered people and tell their personal stories.¹

The memorial stone was removed during the works for the erection of the memorial site in Blahaǔščyna and replaced with a new one in the "Forest of Names".

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^{1 See Dalhouski, Zur Geschichte der Wahrnehmung, p. 147.}