On January 14, 1942, the Nazis liquidated the Jews from the Kopys ghetto in the Mergl Ravine, close to the flax factory, three kilometers from the village of Staiki. Groups of 10-15 people were ordered to undress. They were then driven into a pit prepared in advance by explosives, and shot to death. The number of victims – men, women and children – is placed at 200 - 300, according to different sources. The few Jews who managed to flee the murder site were later caught and shot.
Related Resources
Written Testimonies
ChGK Soviet Reports
Testimony of Ekaterina Vinarskaya, Belarussian:
I remember that day very well. I climbed the roof of my house and saw what was going on. The Jews were brought to the ravine, undressed and shot in groups.
For four days after that, the soil was breathing and vapor was coming out of it.
… The Jew named Chernin, an ex-tailor, was hiding together with his two sons. They came to us. They stayed in our house for one night, but later my parents said to him:
“We would keep you here but we are afraid we will be shot”. They lived on our street for four days, and I do not know what happened to them after that ....
From Gennadii Vinnitsa, “A Word of Memory” (Orsha, 1997), p. 54 (Russian)
Mergl Ravine
ravine
Murder Site
Belorussia (USSR)
54.319;30.290
Videos
Photos
Part I
USC SHOAH FOUNDATION, 39401 copy YVA O.93 / 39401
Part II Alexander (Abram) Shmerkin was born in 1927 in Kopys, and lived there during the war years. (Interview in Russian)