We continued further on the same road till we came to the Jewish Memorial Monument and Massacre site just beside the road. Well, what a surprise it was nothing like the one shown in Andrea’s book except that the same tree remained beside it. A new Monument stood with new fence and attached a Belarus Government Protection Plaque. Flowers had been planted around it and two large wreaths were placed at the back. Dov Bar’s Hebrew Memorial Tablet which he placed in 1997 (as mentioned in Andrea Simon’s book) was standing at the foot of the monument. It was an emotional time to be here and pay respect to Terry’s family and all the lost Jewish families of Volchin. In the rain we carefully placed our Zelcer Family Plaque on the left hand side of the monument and planted a single daffodil bulb. The memorial candle would not stay alight in this weather. As Terry recited Kaddish it just poured down with rain the tears of the lost families so brutally murdered on that horrendous day 22nd of September 1942.
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| Jewish Memoria.l Volchin, Belarus August 2006 |
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| Jewish Memorial. Volchin, Belarus August 2006 |
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| Zelcer Memorial Plaque, dated 30.08.2006 |
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| View from behind the memorial, looking toward main road through town. |
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Jewish Memorial with fence, Belarus Protection Plaque.
Erected 01.07.2004 |
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| Terry Zelcer reciting Mourner's Kaddish |
The Plaque on the Monument reads:
Memorial for the Jewish People: “Here in 1942 395 Jews, citizens of Volchin & Chernavchitsy were shot. Shame on the Bloody Executioners and German Fascists” The Smaller Plaque on the fence around the memorial reads: “Republic of Belarus. War-time burial ground. Don’t Destroy! Protected by Law”.
The Smaller Plaque on the Fence reads:
Republic of Belarus. War-time burial ground. Don’t Destroy! Protected by Law
After returning home from our visit we wrote to the Volchin Town Council expressing gratitude for the new Jewish Memorial Monument and they explained that “it was erected on 1/07/2004 which is the date of Independence Day of Republic of Belarus and was the 60th Anniversary when Belarus became free from the German Nazis. The students of Volchin School look after and clean the memorial”.
