Pre-1941: Sloboda, village, Beshenkovichi raion, Vitebsk oblast’, Belorussian SSR; 1941–1944: Ssloboda, Rear Area, Army Group Center (rückwärtiges Heeresgebiet Mitte); post-1991: Slabada, Beshankovichy raen, Vitsebsk voblasts’, Republic of Belarus Sloboda is located about 65 kilometers (41 miles) northwest of Vitebsk. German forces occupied the village on July 6, 1941, about two weeks after the German attack on the USSR on June 22. In this period, part of the Jewish population was able to evacuate to the east, and men of eligible age were inducted into the Red Army. Following the occupation of the village, the German military commandant appointed a village elder (starosta) and organized a Belorussian police force (Ordnungsdienst) consisting of local residents. In the summer and autumn of 1941, the Germans implemented a series of anti-Jewish measures in Sloboda. Jews were registered and forced to wear patches in the shape of the Star of David; they had to perform heavy labor; they we...