Before the war Krynki was a children's sanatorium located not far from the village of Doroganovo. The place was transformed into a concentration residence for 300-350 orphans in the area in early 1942. The Jewish children were put into a separate room. As a result of the cold, hunger, and poor sanitary conditions many children died and were buried on the banks of the nearby Ptich River. In May 1942 the rest of the Jewish children were told they would be transfered to another orphanage. The young children were taken by local policemen in carts, while the older ones were formed into two lines and forced to walk to the Galney Valley, where pits had been dug by the local population. The murder was carried out under the command of an SD killing unit that had arrived from Bobruysk. Some of the local policement would call out the names of seven or eight children, who would be brought to the edge of the pit and then shot by the Germans. The grave was covered over with earth by local policemen and older non-Jewish children from Krynki. Eighty four children were killed, along with some female staff members. Among those killed were fifteen infants. Vladimir Sverdlov was the sole survivor of the massacre.

More information: Yad Vashem