Мемориал Яма

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Level 30 Local Expert

It is a very emotional place, especially when you also go down the stairs to the bottom of the ravine. The Yama Memorial is dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust. It was created on the site of a ravine where during the Great Patriotic War, during the existence of the Minsk ghetto (July 1941 — October 1943), the Nazis shot prisoners. One of the most terrible episodes was on March 2, 1942, when about five thousand people died. The remains of tens of thousands of people are still buried in this ravine. Back in 1947, the USSR's first obelisk to victims of the Holocaust was erected on this site, with an inscription in Yiddish. And in the 1990s, the alley of the Righteous among the Nations was planted nearby: each tree is signed with the names of those who saved Jews, on pain of death. The sculpture composition "The Last Way" was added in 2000 to the existing memorial, it was created for about eight years. During the installation, the authors deliberately chose an abstract, collective image to emphasize the tragedy of the entire nation, rather than individual destinies. The composition is located along the staircase that leads to the center of the memorial. It depicts 27 bronze figures of exhausted, impersonal people. They seem to be translucent shadows descending the steps to the very bottom of the ravine — to the "pit" where the tragic events took place. At the same time, a list of sponsors of the memorial appeared, as part of the renovated obelisk. Among them are both Belarusian companies and institutions, as well as representatives of the diaspora from other countries.

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WladArk

Level 29 Local Expert

During the Nazi occupation of Minsk, a Jewish ghetto was located on the territory that begins behind modern Revolutionary Street and ends at the place where the monument was erected. In March 1942, for three days, the Nazis brought large groups of prisoners here and shot them. In total, more than 5,000 Jews were killed during this time. Among them are 200 orphans from the Minsk Jewish orphanage, who were shot along with medical staff and tutors. For a long time, the only mention of the ghetto on Rakovskaya was an obelisk erected in 1947. It was one of the first monuments to Holocaust victims in the USSR. The bronze sculpture "The Last Way" appeared in this place in 2000. Its authors are architect Leonid Levin and sculptors Alexander Finsky and Elsa Polak. The monument was made for eight years. During the installation, no equipment was used at all – all work on the installation of the composition was carried out manually. I recommend you to visit!

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Аленка Исаева

Level 30 Local Expert

Yama Memorial – Minsk The place is recommended for tourists to visit. Monument to the victims of the Holocaust. The sculpture conveys all the horror and fear of the events taking place. The place is very difficult emotionally.

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Ольга Золотарева

Level 22 Local Expert

The pit is the first monument to the Holocaust in the USSR. Before the Second World War, this part of the city was a suburb. The area occupied by the memorial today was a small quarry where local residents took sand to build houses. The German occupation authorities found another use for it. Jews from the Minsk ghetto, victims of executions, were dumped here. The Nazis carried out the largest punitive operation in early March 1942. Thousands of people were driven to the ravine within a few days. Among them were 200 children from the orphanage, along with their tutors. 😫😫😫🙏🙏🙏

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Дима Кругляков

Level 30 Local Expert

It is a very entertaining memorial with its messages and images. Possible disadvantages: the very position on the slope and the depression slightly conceal the composition and proximity to buildings (small designation area).

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Светлана

Level 30 Local Expert

The most poignant impression of a trip to Belarus. A monument to the victims of the Holocaust. A chilling composition. The idea and execution are at the very heart. Low bow and eternal memory

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Сидней Элисс

Level 7 Local Expert

Standing on the edge of this memorial, you can physically feel the ground slipping away from under your feet. The pit is not just a place of memory, it is a place of pain. A huge funnel in the middle of a quiet neighborhood, where instead of water there are human tears and a story that cannot be rewritten. Very much, very scary and very necessary. When you read the inscriptions on the stones in Yiddish, you understand the full scale of the tragedy that occurred here in a matter of hours. Eternal memory to the innocent victims of the Holocaust

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александр т.

Level 30 Local Expert

While walking around the city, we came across this memorial quite by accident. The monument is located in the courtyard between residential buildings. A very strong place. I definitely recommend a visit.

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Req_ Æt

Level 30 Local Expert

The place for the memorial complex was not chosen by chance. A terrible crime against humanity was committed here, five thousand prisoners of the Minsk ghetto were shot. Emaciated figures of people, one after another, descend into this pit to meet their deaths there. It's creepy. But be sure to visit.

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Лена Б.

Level 9 Local Expert

One of the few monuments/memorials that made an impression on me. We stumbled upon it by chance while walking around Minsk in 2019. 💔

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Настя

Level 14 Local Expert

It's an emotionally difficult place. The sculptures complement the picture that can be imagined being here in the middle of the action. A terrible tragedy that claimed the lives of innocent people....

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Денис Бородин

Level 17 Local Expert

I perceive the Pit as a place where history is not just told, but lives in the sense of the presence of those who died a martyr's death here. Seeing the figures of the doomed faceless people descending into the pit, one feels hopelessness, fear and pain that cannot be forgotten. This memorial reminds us that it is everyone's duty to remember, so that such evil does not happen again, and humanity is always above all. The pit is a lesson of humility and respect for life, for those who are victims of malice and hatred. This is an invitation to reflect on how important it is to preserve memory and combat any form of violence in the modern world. The memorial preserves memory and calls for compassion and humanity, making the past an integral part of our consciousness. (Perplexity helped, but the thoughts are mine).

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Вероника

Level 16 Local Expert

The hand does not rise to give 5 points to this place. It was very hard, I didn't even want to go down - there were 5,000 dead bones there, and we were kicking on them (It was cold in the pit, like in a crypt, I wanted to run away quickly, wash my face with water and pray.

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Ирина Сивачева

Level 8 Local Expert

The task of this monument is not to let people forget the terrible years of the occupation of Minsk.

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Алексей К

Level 15 Local Expert

It's an absolutely inconspicuous place from the outside. I came across it almost by accident. One of the most tragic places in the history of Minsk. Every detail of the memorial is thought out to the smallest detail. I will remember the visit for a long time.

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kate

Level 16 Local Expert

It's a good memorial, but when you think about its meaning, your heart breaks into pieces.

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Андрей Н

Level 22 Local Expert

It's a very difficult place, everyone should cross over and stick their heads in a minute of silence. Nothing is forgotten! No one is forgotten!

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Мария К.

Level 12 Local Expert

The Pit Memorial is a must-visit!!! Monument to the victims of the Holocaust.

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Светлана М.

Level 2 Local Expert

We visited the Yama Memorial complex today. It 's very hard emotionally . Not only from the fact that the life path of five thousand people tragically ended here : the elderly , women , children ... Irrevocably, irreparably fascist inhumans wiped so many people off the face of the earth .... But it was also bitter from the neglect , some kind of abandonment of this place .... As if everyone had forgotten the way there ... There is no one to clean up the mess ... There is no one to bring a pebble ....

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Дмитрий

Level 26 Local Expert

An atmospheric place that reeks of the tragedy of those years …

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