Elimelech Benari's Kletsk Memoir

Table of Contents (?)

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Introduction
The destruction of the Jews of the town of Kletsk in Belorussia was carried out by the Germans, with the assistance of their servants the Belorussians and the Lithuanians, in two stages. The first stage, in which more than 4,000 Jews were brought to their death --the majority of the community-- occurred on the ninth of Cheshvan, October 30th, 1941, four months after the Germans invaded the town.

The remaining 1,500 to 2,000 Jews were imprisoned behind barbed wire in the ghetto, which survived nine more months. Its end, and that of the 500-year-old community, came on the eighth day of Av, the 22nd of July, 1942, at which point emerged an armed and organized resistance, as far as conditions allowed, and individual acts of bravery.

Notes: In Belorussia: The modern country. Prior to WWII, Kletsk was under Polish jurisdiction. ...the Belorussians and the Lithuanians: the implication that Belorusians and Lithuanians as entire peoples were responsible may have been intended; if so, this is patently misleading.

Page Last Updated: 22-Jun-2011