The Pit (memorial)

The memorial with obelisk on the left (obscured) and group sculpture on the staircase on the right.

The Pit (Belarusian: Яма) is a monument on the corner of Melnikayte and Zaslavskaya streets devoted to the victims of the Holocaust in Minsk, Belarus. It is on the site where, on March 2, 1942, the Nazi forces shot about 5000 prisoners of the nearby Minsk Ghetto.

The obelisk was created in 1947 and in 2000 a bronze sculpture entitled "The Last Way" was added. It represents a group of doomed martyrs, walking down the steps of the pit. The sculpture was created by Belarusian artist, Chairman of the Jewish communities of Belarus, Leonid Levin and sculptor from Israel Elsa Pollak. On the obelisk is written in Russian and Yiddish "The bright memory of five times the light of thousands of Jews who perished at the hands of sworn enemies of humanity - German-fascist monsters"

When reconstruction of the memorial was undertaken no machinery was used and all work done by hand, a process which took eight years to complete. According to the original plan for the group sculpture it was to be more detailed but eventually was left with an expressive aesthetic, devoid of national colors, and includes figures of a violinist, children, and a pregnant woman who represent more collective characters. The memorial has been a target for vandalism. Every year on March 2 in Memorial funeral memorial rallies occur.

See also

• The Holocaust in Belarus
• List of Holocaust memorials and museums