Uzda is a small Jewish town not far from Minsk, located near the Uzdyanka River. Information about it dates back to about 1450, when the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth dominated here. Uzda was indeed considered Jewish, since 102 out of 134 households in 1884 were Jewish. And in 1897, 2,068 out of 2,756 of its inhabitants were Jews.

It is worth noting that Uzda gave the world one of the greatest halachic authorities in America of the past century - Moshe Feinstein (1895-1986), who later became the head of the New York Yeshiva "Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem".

However, Uzda became notorious for the events that took place in this Jewish town during the Second World War. The German occupation lasted three years - from June 1941 to July 1944, killing 1,740 Jews.

Before the start of the war, there were 1143 Jews in the town. In its first days, part of the Uzda Jews tried to escape to the east of the country, but many of them had to return because the German troops had captured most of the roads.

Having seized Uzda, the Germans organized a city council there, appointing the former shoemaker Brel as the "burgomaster", and Vikenty Witkovsky as the commandant, and concurrently, the chief policeman. In July of the 41st, the Jewish population was placed in the ghetto, giving only 2 days to collect. They also began to bring Jews from other nearby towns and villages here.

A terrible tragedy happened in the Uzda ghetto in October of the same year, on the 17th. The day before, a group of Soviet prisoners of war dug several deep pits on the outskirts of the town, after which they were shot there.

Vitkovsky, the chief police officer of the city, told the Jews in the ghetto that on October 17 they would be transported by cars towards Minsk, so they would need to wear good clothes. At the same time, everything of value, including jewelry, should be put in a separate place. Many prisoners did not believe it, but they had no choice. Early in the morning, at about 5 o'clock, a large number of policemen and Gestapo surrounded the ghetto, and at 7 o'clock covered cars arrived, into which they began to drive all the prisoners. By some miracle, only a few managed to hide and survive. All those who did not agree to be loaded into the Gestapo trucks were immediately shot.

The Jews were doomed. They were placed over prepared graves and shot at point-blank range with machine guns. Living children were thrown into the pits along with the dead and wounded...

After decades, the old town remembers the tragedy of its inhabitants. A memorial to the memory of the victims of the genocide of Jews who were martyred during the Second World War has been erected at the new Jewish cemetery.