Articles

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  • 22/09/2022

    Ghetto in Smalyavichy

    German troops occupied Belarusian Smalyavichy at the end of June 1941. The occupation lasted three years - until July 1944, and entered the history of the Jewish population of the town as its most tragic period. From the first days of the capture of Smalyavichy, the entire Jewish population was

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  • 13/09/2022

    Jewish shtetl in Polonne

    This small regional center in the Khmelnytskyi region (Ukraine) was once a significant trade and craft center in the western part of the Russian Empire. This town owes its status to a large Jewish community. Throughout its history, Polonne has seen both development and prosperity, as well as tragic

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  • 06/09/2022

    Jewish shtetl in Polonne

    This small regional center in the Khmelnytskyi region (Ukraine) was once a significant trade and craft center in the western part of the Russian Empire. This town owes its status to a large Jewish community. Throughout its history, Polonne has seen both development and prosperity, as well as tragic

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  • 30/08/2022

    Jewish cemetery in Uzda

    The small district center Uzda in the Minsk region, located near the river Uzdyanka, was once a shtetl densely populated by Jews. According to the surviving information, in the early 1880s there were 134 households in Uzda, 102 of which belonged to Jews. And by the end of the 1890s, more than 2,000

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  • 26/08/2022

    Jewish ghetto in Uzda

    The Jews of the small shtetl Uzda, not far from Minsk, felt the threat of the approaching war as early as September 1939. Then several Jewish refugee families from the German-occupied regions of Poland arrived in the town. Feeling the attitude of the Nazis towards the Jews, they warned the Uzda peop

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  • 16/08/2022

    Jewish cemetery in Polonne

    Polonne is a small regional center in the Khmelnytskyi region, which has a long and, at times, tragic history associated with Jewry. This place owes its formation and development to a large Jewish community, which in the mid-1600s was cфonsidered one of the most numerous in the Volyn region of the R

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  • 08/08/2022

    Jewish city Uzda

    Uzda is a small Jewish town not far from Minsk, located near the Uzdyanka River. Information about it dates back to about 1450, when the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth dominated here. Uzda was indeed considered Jewish, since 102 out of 134 households in 1884 were Jewish. And in 1897, 2,068 out of 2,

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  • 13/06/2022

    Cemetery in Pinsk along Spokoynaya Street

    There were several Jewish cemeteries in Pinsk. One of them was located near the Shkolnyi Dvor. The People of Pinsk called him "Pokopisha", "Spokopishche". The very first one was built at the beginning of the 16th century, it was located between Zavalnaya and Kotlyarskaya streets. Zvi Hirsh, who was

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  • 30/05/2022

    Jews in Pinsk

    The Jewish community in the city dates back to 1506. Those families who left Lithuania in 1495 settled here. They had their own synagogue and cemetery. In 1560, 275 Jews lived here, in 1648 there were already about 1,000. The Jews were tenants, collected duties, taxes, traded wholesale grain, tim

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  • 17/05/2022

    Ghetto in Pinsk

    The Nazis entered Pinsk at the beginning of July 1941. Before the war, 22,149 Jews lived here. Only a part of them were evacuated by the time of the German occupation. Refugees who moved from other settlements lived in the city. Already in August, the invaders shot many people. Under the exterminati

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  • 10/05/2022

    Jewish cemetery in Brest, Belarus

    Jews settled in Brest from the 14th century. The city had a Jewish cemetery, which turned out to be overcrowded by the 19th century. In 1795 the city came under the control of the Russian Empire. On the site of the old city and the Jewish cemetery, the imperial authorities decided to build a fortres

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  • 02/05/2022

    Jewish cemetery in Grodno, Belarus

    Jews settled on the territory of Grodno since the 12th century. The first Jewish cemeteries are mentioned in the privilege of Prince Vytautas of the 14th century. By the 20th century there were three Jewish cemeteries in the city: Old, New and Zanemanskoye. The old one along Bolshaya Troitskaya S

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  • 19/04/2022

    Jews in Brest, Belarus

    Brest is a regional center in Belarus. It was founded in the 11th century. During the XIV - XVI centuries - was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. From 1569 to 1795, 1920-1939 - under Polish jurisdiction. Since 1795 - under the rule of the Russian Empire. In the 20s of the XIII century, the Pr

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  • 19/04/2022

    Jewish cemetery in Rakov, Belarus

    The Jewish community in Rakov has existed since the 1620s. By the end of the 19th century, Jews made up 60% of the population in the village. According to the information located on the plate of the cemetery gates, the cemetery was founded in 1648. According to sources, the first burial was made

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  • 11/04/2022

    Jews in Grodno, Belarus

    Grodno is the center of the region of the same name in Belarus. The city was founded in the XI century. From the 13th to the 16th centuries, it was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, from the 16th to the 18th centuries - the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. From the end of the XVIII century - unde

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  • 06/04/2022

    Ghetto in Grodno, Belarus

    In the late 1930s, Jews made up more than 50% of Grodno's population. With the beginning of the Soviet-German war, part of the Jews tried to leave the city. However, the Nazis took Grodno under control already on June 23, 1941, caught up with those who fled, and forced them to return. The occupat

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  • 10/03/2022

    Ghetto in Rakov, Belarus

    In September 1939, after the partition of Poland between Nazi Germany and the USSR, Rakov came under Soviet jurisdiction and received the status of an urban settlement. More than 900 Jews lived in it. The Nazis captured Rakov on June 26, 1941. In the first days of the occupation, the local police

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  • 28/02/2022

    Ghetto in Brest, Belarus

    According to the 1939 census, more than 26 thousand Jews lived in Brest, who accounted for 50.9% of the townspeople. After the capture of Poland by German and Soviet troops, the city was controlled by the Nazis from 15 to 22 September 1939, who sent an unspecified number of local Jews for forced lab

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  • 28/02/2022

    Jews in Borisov, Belarus

    Borisov is the center of the district of the same name in the Minsk region. It is located 70 kilometers from the Belarusian capital. The settlement was founded in the XII century. From the 13th century it was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. After 1596 - under the jurisdiction of the Polish–Lit

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  • 21/02/2022

    Jews in Rakov, Belarus

    The settlement was founded in the XIV century. Until 1793 - as part of Poland. From 1793 to 1921 - the Russian Empire. From 1921 to 1939 - under the jurisdiction of Poland. Since 1939 it has been part of Belarus. The Jewish community of Rakov is mentioned in documents in 1623 in connection with a