According to the 1939 census, more than 26 thousand Jews lived in Brest, who accounted for 50.9% of the townspeople. After the capture of Poland by German and Soviet troops, the city was controlled by the Nazis from 15 to 22 September 1939, who sent an unspecified number of local Jews for forced labor in Germany.

From September 22, 1939 to June 22, 1941, Brest was controlled by Soviet troops. During this time, a lot of Jews accumulated in the city, who fled from the Polish lands occupied by the Nazis.

The Nazis captured the city in the early days of the invasion of the USSR. None of the local Jews and refugees managed to leave Brest. Until the end of June 1941, the occupiers destroyed more than 4 thousand Jews, among whom were pupils of the Jewish orphanage.

Until the autumn of 1941, the Nazis regularly demanded the payment of indemnities from the community, the soldiers took away valuable things from the Brest Jews.

Until September 1941, Jews were allowed to take out patents to open craft workshops.

From November 1941, the Nazis ordered Jews over the age of 14 to register. According to surviving German data, 18,000 Jews were registered in Brest, who accounted for 35.2% of the local population.

In December 1941, the invaders created a closed ghetto with three guarded gates. The two parts of the ghetto were separated by Moskovskaya street. Crossing between parts of the ghetto was allowed until 18:00. In addition to the Jews of Brest, the Jews captured by the Nazis in neighboring villages ended up in the ghetto.

In the ghetto, on the orders of the occupiers, the Judenrat and the Jewish police were created. A synagogue, prayer houses, a hospital (75 beds), public kitchens, a nursing home, craft workshops and a shop worked on the territory.

11 doctors of prisoners of the Brest ghetto received permission to practice privately. The occupiers used skilled workers to work in factories. The rest of the prisoners were involved in the work of clearing the ruins of the Brest Fortress.

In early October 1942, a meeting of the Gestapo and the local police took place, at which an aktion was planned to exterminate the Jews. Upon learning of this, the Jewish underground organizations of the Brest ghetto prepared for resistance. Attacks were expected on the night of October 15th. On the morning of October 15, when the members of the resistance units went home, the Nazis surrounded the ghetto.

By October 18, 1942, the ghetto was liquidated. Jews were shot in the area of ​​the local cemetery, private houses and the hospital. Until November, the invaders hunted down those who had to flee. According to historians, about 20 thousand Jews died in Brest.