Jews were identified and executed at a POW camp in Vyazma. According to the memoirs of the future Soviet historian, Mikhail Markovich Sheinman, who was in German captivity at the time: In honor of the defenders of the Fatherland, a memorial complex has been erected on the Moscow–Minsk highway outside the city. In 2009, in the vicinity of Vyazma, where the battles took place in 1941, a memorial named "The Virgin Field" was opened. The burial ground, where tens of thousands of people died in the death camp, is buried in the territory of the existing meat-processing plant, now marked chapel in memory of the dead prisoners of war. Administrative and municipal status Within the framework of administrative divisions, Vyazma serves as the administrative center of Vyazemsky District. As an administrative division, it is incorporated within Vyazemsky District as Vyazemskoye Urban Settlement'. As a municipal division, this administrative unit also has urban settlement status and is a part of Vyazemsky Municipal District. Economy The town's main industries in the present day are engineering, leather working, graphite products, and flax textiles. Historically the town was known for its pryaniki, which are even mentioned in classical works of Russian literature. The original recipe, as well as the technology and knowledge, were lost during the revolutionary period. Attempts to resurrect the pryanik industry during the Soviet period were unsuccessful, but in post-Soviet times the local Вяземский хлебокомбинат (Vyazma [industrial] bakery) started once again to produce hand-made pryaniki, some of which were awarded prizes in national competitions. Transportation Vyazma is a major railway junction for both freight and passenger transport, with connecting trains from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kaluga, and Bryansk. The long-distance (lastochka) train from Moscow to Smolensk stops at Vyazma, with travel time to and from the capital being between 2 and 2:30 hours. Short distance trains also go to and from Mozhaysk and Borodino, linking Vyazma to the Moscow suburban railway network. Vyazma is also located near the main M1 Highway between Moscow and Minsk. The nearby Vyazma Airport serves military and recreational purposes, but there are no commercial flights to or from the city. Education The only university in the city is the Smolensk Cossack Institute of Industrial Technologies and Business, a regional branch of the Kirill Razumovsky Moscow State University of Technology and Management (First Cossack University). Vyzma also hosts several institutions of tertiary and further education: Vyazma Polytechnic College