The Minsk Ghetto

Minsk prison

Plan of the Minsk ghetto

Prehistory of the formation and establishment of the Minsk ghetto

As early as on 1 July 1941, 3 days after the capture of the city of Minsk, men of military age had to report for registration for an assignment to forced labour. At Drozdy, five kilometres east of Minsk, both the registered men from Minsk and prisoners of war were gathered. Up to 100,000 prisoners of war and 40,000 civilian prisoners were herded together in a confined space and in the open air. The people had to spend several days or weeks there under the poorest of conditions and without fixed accommodation.

The local population was already subjected to a first selection here. The Nazi occupation forces separated "Jews" from "non-Jews" and also distinguished between "workers" and "academics". About 3,000 Jewish academics were already shot and buried in pits during this action, which was carried out by the "Einsatzgruppe B", among others. The remaining Jewish men were taken to the Minsk prison because the camp was overcrowded. From there, they were usually transferred directly to the Minsk ghetto or kept in the cells for further humiliation and even death.

On 10 July 1941, the Nazi occupation forces initiated the first measures to form the ghetto. The area for this was located northwest of the city centre and covered approximately two square kilometres. There were a total of 40 larger and smaller streets in the ghetto, in which there were mostly single-storey old wooden houses without electricity or running water. For a long time it was considered an "open ghetto", as there were guarded entrances, but there were no fences, barbed wires or walls.

Entrance to the Judenrat

The Minsk Ghetto

Not only the population from the city of Minsk, but also the Jews from the wider surrounding area were forcibly relocated to the ghetto. At the beginning of August 1941, the number of Jewish women, children and men in the ghetto was estimated at between 45,000 and 50,000.

As in other ghettos set up by the Nazi occupying power, the administration was taken over by the forcibly appointed "Judenrat" (Jewish council). This was to consist of 12 people in smaller towns and 24 people in larger towns. A chairman and his deputy were "elected" to the top position of the "Judenrat". These two persons had to take orders from the Nazi occupation forces and pass them on to the ghetto inmates. In case of disregard, refusal or poor execution, they were punished with full severity, which usually meant death.

Other tasks of the “Judenrat” were as follows:

• Complete registration of the Jewish population
• Relocation of the Jews to the newly created ghetto
• Formation of ghetto institutions such as work office, welfare department, housing department and communal kitchen
• Establishment of a ghetto police force

The Minsk Jews were identified by a yellow patch embroidered on their chests. The "Reichsjuden" (Reich Jews), who were added later, wore a yellow six-pointed star, which was intended to distinguish them from the Russian Jews. From May 1942 onwards, they also had to wear a white cloth patch with their house number on the back or chest to enable the Nazi occupation authorities to identify them more quickly in the event of a possible "offense".

From November 1941, the first trains with Jews from the "Reich" were deported to the Minsk ghetto. Two so-called "Sonderghettos" (special ghettos) were set up for them. These were surrounded by barbed wire from the very beginning and were intended to strictly separate the Minsk Jews from the "Reich Jews". In the "Sonderghetto I", a "Hamburg Camp", "Rhineland Camp" and "Frankfurt Camp" were set up. The both "Sonderghettos" had their own separate "Judenrat", which, however, was structurally set up in the same way as the Russian "Judenrat" and also had to pass on and implement the orders of the German occupying power.