The fascists shot the Jews and intellectuals from Grodno, the neighboring villages as well as hostages from the eastern regions of Poland, in this very place. After the war, a monument to the victims of Nazis was erected at the place of mass executions. It was a monument to a mother lamenting her sons killed in both wars.
Yan Kokhanovsky skillfully combined his teaching and environment-oriented activities contributing to the creation of environmental science. He is a founder of the society of nature lovers in Grodno, which has operated since 1925.
On October 20, 1942, Yan Kokhanovsky and the other victims were taken to the fort near the village of Naumovichi. The Gestapo men fulfilled an order of the Commander without delay and without any witnesses, as the result, 20 residents of Grodno and 5 from the neighboring villages were shot dead. The names of many of them have remained on the memorial erected in 1990.