KASCIUKOVICHY

Kasciuˈkovichy

Town, centre of Kasciukovichy Rajon, Magiliow Voblasc, on the Zhadunka River. 144 km south-east of Magiliow, 339 km from Minsk, 3 km from the Kamunary railway station (on the Krychaw — Unecha line); junction of highways in Klimavichy, Hocimsk, Surazh, Krasnapollie.

In 1939, Kasciukovichy had 6,092 inhabitants.

During the Great Patriotic War

On August 12, 1941, German troops broke through the defence front of the 13th Army on the Sozh River near the town and Kasciukovichy was invaded on the same day.

German Nazi invaders killed 846 people in the town and rajon, including in Kasciukovichy 382 Jews (number ‘380’ is marked on the monument) who were executed on September 3, 1942, near the Kamunary railway station; the town was practically burned down.

The Kasciukovichy Underground Rajon Committee of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Belarus and Kasciukovichy Underground Rajon Committee of the Leninist Young Communist League of Belarus; the 13th Kasciukovichy Partisan Brigade, 5th Kletnya Partisan Brigade; the 44th Partisan Detachment, 124th Kasciukovichy Partisan Detachment, 2nd Hocimsk Partisan Detachment and “Valentina Maerova” (Valentin Maerov’s) Partisan Detachment operated in the town and rajon; the Stalinskij Prizyv («Сталинский призыв»; lit. ‘Stalin’s call’) underground newspaper, i.e. the body of the Kasciukovitchy Underground Rajon Committee of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Belarus, was published.

On August 13, 1943, partisans and underground members exploded the invaders’ enterprise which produced sleepers and stringers for the railway in Kasciukovichy, outcommissioned a sawmill and a power plant.

Kasciukovichy was liberated on September 28, 1943, by the forces of the 120th Guards (major general N. K. Maslennikov) and 283rd (colonel V. A. Konovalov) Rifle divisions of the 41st Rifle Corps (major general V. K. Urbanovich) of the 3rd Army of the Bryansk Front during the Bryansk offensive of 1943 with the participation of the 2nd Kletnya Partisan Brigade (commander T. M. Korotchenko; it operated in the territory of modern Bryansk Oblast of the Russian Federation).

In Kasciukovichy, there are:

• mass graves of Soviet soldiers; ones of Soviet soldiers and partisans; ones of Soviet soldiers, partisans and civilians; ones of Komsomol underground members; single tombs of soldiers of the Red Army, i.e. junior political instructor V. M. Gorozhankin, private N. M. Sizov, and unknown people; grave of fascism victims; monuments were placed on the graves;

• memorial complex to the compatriot soldiers who died during the Great Patriotic War;

• memorial sign to the partisan commands that operated in the territory of Kasciukovichy Rajon during the Great Patriotic War;

• Alley of Glory built in honour of six Heroes of the Soviet Union, i.e. natives of Kasciukovichy town and Kasciukovichy Rajon (F. M. Avkhachiow, A. N. Varantsow, M. I. Zińkovich, V. P. Margielow, U. A. Skugar, M. P. Sudzilowski);

• memorial plaque in honour of the liberating soldiers.