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Chaim Lazar, who described the Koniuchy massacre in his book,{{ref|Lazar}} claimed 300 people have been murdered. |
Chaim Lazar, who described the Koniuchy massacre in his book,{{ref|Lazar}} claimed 300 people have been murdered. |
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No criminal charges were filed. |
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[[Institute of National Remembrance]] started a formal investigation of the massacre on March 3, 2001. The institute examined a number of archival documents including police reports, encoded messages and military diaries of Soviet partisans and personal files of Soviet partisans. Requests for legal assistance were sent to prosecutor offices in Belarus, Lithuania, Russian Federation and Israel. |
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A similar massacre took place in [[Naliboki]] village. |
A similar massacre took place in [[Naliboki]] village. |
Revision as of 23:01, 29 December 2005
On 29 January 1944, the Polish village of Koniuchy in Lida district (currently Kaniukai in Lithuania) was completely destroyed with many of its inhabitants murdered by Soviet partisan units under the command of the Central Partisan Command in Moscow.
In 1943, the village had about 60 households and about 300 inhabitants. Soviet partisans from nearby Rudnicki Forest used to notoriously plunder the village, stealing food, clothes and cattle. A small self defence unit was created in the village which effectively prevented further plundering. On the night of January 28 the partisans surrounded the village, and launched their attack at 5 in the morning. They set the houses on fire and were shooting the villagers attempting to escape their households. According to the investigation carried out by Polish Institute of National Remembrance, not less then 38 men, women and children were indiscriminately massacred and most of households destroyed. The raid was carried out by 120-150 Soviet partisans from several multinational units, including Jewish escapees from the Kovno Ghetto and the Vilna Ghetto. On January 31, 1944, the head of the South Partisan Brigade, Genrikas Zimanas (Henoch Ziman), sent an encoded report to Antanas Sniečkus in Moscow, stating that the most ardent and self-defensive village of the region, Koniuchy was burnt down on January 29 by the combined forces of several partisan units.
Chaim Lazar, who described the Koniuchy massacre in his book,[1] claimed 300 people have been murdered.
Institute of National Remembrance started a formal investigation of the massacre on March 3, 2001. The institute examined a number of archival documents including police reports, encoded messages and military diaries of Soviet partisans and personal files of Soviet partisans. Requests for legal assistance were sent to prosecutor offices in Belarus, Lithuania, Russian Federation and Israel.
A similar massacre took place in Naliboki village.
In May 2004 there was a memorial monument raised in Koniuchy, with 34 names of the murdered.
References
- ^ Lazar, Chaim. Destruction and Resistance. Shengold Publishers, New York, 1985.
- ^ Information on the Investigation in the Case of Crime Committed in Koniuchy by IPN
- translated report of IPN
- Operations Diary of a Jewish Partisan Unit in Rudniki Forest