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Vasilishki (Belarusian: Васілішкі, Russian: Василишки, Polish: Wasiliszki, Yiddish: װאַסילישאָק Vasilishok, is an urban settlement in Shchuchyn District, Grodno Region, Belarus, the administrative center of Vasilishki Selsoviet.
Contents
Map of Vasili%C5%A1ki, Belarus
History
From 1919 to 1929, Wasiliszki was part of Lida County and from 1929 to 1939 of Szczuczyn County of the Nowogródek Voivodeship of Poland.
Before World War II, more than 80% of the 2,500 inhabitants of the town were Jews. In 1939 the village was overtaken by the Soviets; the German occupied the village at the end of June 1941.
In December 1941, a ghetto was established where Jews from the neighboring villages of Zaboloc and Sobakintse were also kept imprisoned. Jews were forced to perform hard labor. On May 10, 1942, the Germans, assisted by the Lithuanian police, made a selection of the Jews in the central square. Between 1,800 and 2,200 Jews were shot in the Jewish cemetery over the course of 2 days, where pits had been dug in advance. The rest of the Jews, around 200 people, were transferred to different ghettos, among them the Lida ghetto. A certain number of Jews survived by escaping to the forest.