Chervyen massacre
1941 CE.
Shown on the map at 53.688°, 28.472°.
The Chervyen massacre (Lithuanian: Červenės žudynės; Belarusian: Чэрвеньскія расстрэлы, romanized: Červieńskija rasstrely), also called the Minsk–Chervyen Death March (Polish: Droga śmierci Mińsk–Czerwień) was a NKVD prisoner massacre on 25–27 June 1941. Political prisoners from Lithuania, Poland and Belarus were forced by the NKVD into a death march eastwards from Minsk to Chervyen (present-day Belarus) after Operation Barbarossa began and many were executed. The execution of the prisoners likely began as early as the night of June 22–23, 1941. The NKVD murdered some prisoners while they were still in Minsk. The rest were herded on foot toward Mogilev. During the several-day march, the prisoners suffered from heat, hunger, and thirst. They were also massacred by their guards. On June 26 or 27, the marching columns reached Chervyen, where the NKVD shot several hundred to a thousand more prisoners. A few survived thanks to the escape of guards and the arrival of the Wehrmacht. The number of prisoners murdered on the death march remains unknown. Some estimates, though likely inflated, suggest it could have reached as high as 18,000.
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