The Germans occupied Vitebsk, a district capital in northeastern Belorussia, on July 11, 1941. Immediately, the Jews suffered persecution, forced labor, and murder. A ghetto was established in the town and 16,000 Jews were settled there. The liquidation of the Vitebsk Ghetto began on October 8, 1941, on the pretext of epidemics that allegedly emanated from the place. In the course of the three-day murder Aktion, Jews were taken to the Vitbe River, where they were shot and their bodies hurled into the water.
