Usvyaty is an urban-type settlement in the Pskov region, not far from the border with Belarus. According to data from 1939, 136 Jews lived in the village. In the early days of the war, the population increased due to the evacuees and was, according to rough estimates, about 550 people.

The Nazis captured the village on July 13, 1941. In the early days of the occupation, there were no incidents involving Jews.

The ghetto was organized on the outskirts of the village by the lake within four streets: Malaya Naberezhnaya, Gorkogo, 25 Let Oktyabrya and Gvardeyskaya. There were about 80 private houses on the territory.

The territory allocated for the ghetto turned out to be large enough, and according to the testimony of the survivors, there was no overcrowding. In Usvyaty, the Nazis did not create a Judenrat, did not keep records of the Jewish population, but they did not attempt to solve the problem with food in the ghetto. Moreover, the local authorities at the expense of the ghetto solved food issues. Police officers and officials periodically searched the houses of prisoners, taking food, and the non-Jewish population of the village with impunity gathered crops from the gardens that ended up in the ghetto.

Until the fall of 1941, there were no problems with food in the ghetto. The guards did not pay attention to the facts of the exchange of things by Jews for food from the local population.

Until November 1941, the only doctor who remained in the village came to the calls in the ghetto. He charged a lot of money for services and medicines.

In early November 1941, the Nazis shot Chaim Sandler, who, in the absence of the Judenrat, dealt with the occupiers on behalf of the prisoners. Three more people were killed with him.

On the night of November 6, a group of young people fled from the ghetto, killing a guard. Three days later, the Germans and police officers surrounded the ghetto. The prisoners were taken out into an open field and a selection was carried out, taking men and young women. They were shot, and the remaining prisoners returned to the ghetto. In the aktion on November 9, 1941, according to Soviet sources, 343 people were killed.

There were no shootings until December 1941. The remaining prisoners were not taken to work and not released from the ghetto. Hunger began. In winter, the invaders did not give an opportunity to get firewood, and the prisoners had to burn furniture to keep warm. By the end of January 1942, there was no food left in the ghetto, and the prisoners were on the verge of starvation. However, on January 29, 1942, with an unexpected blow, the Red Army liberated the village. The history of Usvyaty is the only case in the USSR when the Red Army managed to free the still living prisoners of the ghetto.

After the war, a memorial was erected on one of the streets that were part of the ghetto. Another memorial was erected at the cemetery.