The chronicle of the camp of Ozarichi in the times of the World War II is very tragic and shameful and there are still masses of people who do not know about it.
It was a very wicked and desperate plan that was formulated by the German army back at the start of 1944 as Soviet army was trailing the then visibly receding German army. They made temporary camp in freezing muddy fields in the Belarussian town of Ozarichi today. These camps were horrible in their intent. The Germans first of all, rounded up the thousands of population, consisting mostly of children, old folks and crippled women, into these open grounds so that they could form a human shield. This was to stall the soviet army. Second they brought people with typhus to spread the disease to the prisoners and then to the soldiers of the Soviet who tried to help.
The camp was abominable. If not there was no shelter as there was no food neither. Most of the individuals could just last a couple of days. Between 17,000 individuals died as a result of hunger, illness, cold weather, in a year or less than 2 weeks. Upon the arrival of the Soviet soldiers in March 1944, they were appalled seeing the presence of things there. The typhus was so contagious, that even some of the troops grew ill of it.
Some that did so were put on trial after the war. In 1946 and trial was held against eighteen German war criminals in which they were convicted of establishing and running the Ozarichi camps. Today at the camp there is some memory because people should not forget this bloody event and repeat it.
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