Hanging of members of the Communist underground in Minsk
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Hanging of members of the Communist underground in Minsk

The public hanging of three members of the Communist underground on Karl Marx Street in Minsk. One of the victims wears a large placard around his neck that reads "We are partisans and have shot at German soldiers."

This execution was one of four carried out in Minsk on October 26, 1941, by German troops with the 707th Infantry Division. Altogether, 12 members of the Communist underground were publicly hanged in four groups of three near a yeast-making factory. This is believed to be the first public execution after the German invasion of the Soviet Union and it included the hanging of Masha Bruskina, a young Jewish woman. In each of the four cases, the bodies were left to hang for several days to serve as a warning to would-be resisters.


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