In June 1941, during the Nazi Invasion of the Soviet Union, the Einsatzgrüppen (Special Action Groups), were tasked with the responsibility of neutralizing enemies of the Third Reich. Murdering Jews, Partisans, and Soviet functionaries as the Einsatzgruppen followed the Wehrmacht — at a safe distance from the front lines — was the method of choice. Over the three-year active life of these Special Action Groups, they accounted for the murder of more than two million Jews, roughly 40% of the Holocaust total.
Like the stereotypical German, the Einsatzgrüppen kept immaculate (so to speak) records of their murderous rampage through Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Romania, Latvia, Estonia, Moldova, Belarus, and other regions of the Soviet Union. In September 1941 alone, Einsatzgrüppe C murdered 33,771 Jews at Babyn Yar (Babi Yar), a conveniently situated ravine in Kiev, Ukraine.
There were five Einsatzgrüppen. In order to fulfill their task, these Special Action Groups were augmented with units of the Waffen SS, Wehrmacht, local collaborators (to identify their Jewish neighbors), and other groups. Einsatzgruppe B was active in Eastern Belarus. Though we do not have an Operational Situation Report specifically mentioning Shchedryn, Operational Situation Report number 124, dated 25 October 1941 (source: USHMM; see above link), does refer to Bobruisk, where the unit's commander matter-of-factly reports to Berlin that 418 persons, including rebellious Jews, had been recently executed.
Bobruisk is twenty-three miles northwest of Shchedryn. Since Einsatzgrüppe B was known to have operated in Gomel, sixty-six miles southeast of Shchedryn, it is quite probable that Einsatzgrüppe B's area of operations, under the command, from June to November 1941, of SS Gruppenführer (major general) Arthur Nebe, included Shchedryn. SS Brigadeführer (brigadier general) Erich Naumann commanded the unit from November 1941 to March 1943.
Driven by Nazi barbarism, in 1941 Jews from surrounding villages "escaped" to Shchedrin. It is likely that it was Einsatzgrüppen B that arrived in Shchedrin in early 1942 to continue its murderous task of eliminating the Nazi regime's perceived enemies. More than 2,000 Jews were murdered over three days, extending from 8 March to 10 March 1942. The village was liberated by the Soviets in June 1944.
A Memorial was established in 2021 in memory of Shchedrin's Jewish victims of Nazism.
Naumann was hung on 7 June 1951 for crimes against humanity, war crimes, and membership in a criminal organization. Arthur Nebe was involved in the 20 July 1944 plot against Hitler; he was executed by the Nazis on 21 March 1945.