Execution of Jews in Rudnya
Antonina B. recalls: "I went up onto the roof because I heard shots fired. The road was a little wider than nowadays, and there were columns all along the road. Jews were walking on foot, there were no wagons, and kids were crying and screaming." (Eyewitness N°9, interviewed in Rudnya, on September 29, 2009)
Rudnya, settled up in 1363, is located 68 kilometers (42 miles) west- northwest of Smolensk. In 1939, there were 1,640 Jews living there. The town was occupied by German army on July 14, 1941. Only few Jews could flee on the east by foot or in carts before the Germans arrived.
Shortly after the occupation all the Jews were registered and force to wear yellow rings. In August, 1941, a closed ghetto was established. There were about 1,200 people in the ghetto, Jews native to Rudnya as well as refugees from Baltic States and Belarus. The first Aktion was carried out in August 1941 against some young Jews aged from 15 to 20. In September, about 100 Jews were shot by Germans. During all the time the Jews were subjected to force labor, to assault. On October 21, 1941 during the next Aktion carried out by Einsatzkommando 9, a German punitive detachment of the Security Police and SD accompanied by local police, more than 1,000 Jews were slaughtered. The mass shooting took place outside of town, in the anti-tank ditch. The last remaining Jews of the ghetto, specials among them, were shot on February 24, 1942 along with 200 Jews brought from ghetto in Mikulino. In 1941– 1942, the Germans and their collaborators shot between 1,500 and 2,000 Jews in total in Rudnya.
Kapustino