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Belarus is located east of Poland and is slightly smaller than the State of Kansas. It borders Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Russia and has a total population of 10.4 million of which it is also home to some 20,000 to 70,000 Jews.
Over 50% of the population of the major cities Minsk, Grodno, Mogilev and Vitebsk were Jewish cities. Ninety eight percent of the native Byelorussian lived in the countryside. Today, Jews constitute one percent of the national populations according to information from the Minsk In Your Pocket Guide, Summer, 1997, page 30; Winter, 1997-98, page 31. White Russian (Byelorussia) is the nationality of the people living in this marshy land area, that was formerly part of Mother Russia. White Russian Monarchists, fighting Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War (1917 to 1920) were referred to as "White Guard" and those they fought were referred to as the Red Guard. They were more commonly referred to as the Reds and the Whites. Today, Belarus is not much different than yesterday's Belarus. You will still see the horse drawn plows and vehicles on the rough highways next to old models of the Lada automobile. Getting gasoline, which is rationed, can take up a great deal of time, when you find someone selling gasoline along the side of the road. It is quite a poor country controlled by the military, but in some areas, the people are better off than other Russian satellite states. You will find that the people are scraping the bottom in order to survive including selling off personal items and even used shoes and clothing items. Outdoor markets are quite common. Belarus lost over 30% of its population and over 75% of its towns and villages during WW II. The notorious 12th Lithuanian Police Auxiliary Battalion, chillingly named the Schutzmannschaft was formed in Kaunas in 1941, and was composed entirely of Lithuanian volunteers. According to documents in the Belarusian Archives, this unit was dispatched to Belarus on October 5, 1941 with the ostensible mission of breaking the back of local resistance and partisan groups. The 12th Police Auxiliary operated principally in Minsk City and Minsk District, but sometimes moved further a field. The unit was responsible for massacres in Slutsk, Smilovichi, Borisov, Rudensk, Koidanov and many other Shtetl. Its principle functions were mass executions, hangings and genocide, often on the streets and in city squares. At least 42,000 people; Jews, partisans, and alleged Communist Party members were murdered by the unit. It was in Byelorussia that the Nazis wholesale murder of Jews was first tested. At the same time, many ghettoes became centers of resistance. Underground organizations were active in the ghettoes of Baranovichi, Bobruisk, Brest, Grodno, Slonim, Minsk, Vileyka and others. An in-depth study of the history of
Belarus from ancient times to the present (in English) can be found at The country known today as
Belarus, consisted of four
Guberniyas: Belarus Shtetl listings: As of 2/1/01, the Belarusian ruble stands at 1230 to the U.S. dollar.
Details on the administrative structure can be found at http://www.jewishgen.org/belarus/Vitaly/Minsk%20Uyezd.htm
"A Jew in Byelorussia, Lida and Karaganda" (Un Juif de Bielorussie de Lida A Karaganda) (In French) Ghetto-Maquis-Goulag -authored by Kuszelewicz, Joseph Harmattan - 19/09/2002 ISBN 2-7475-1308-4 "Ashes" - authored by Arnold Zale, a Melbourne, Australia writer who has traveled to Belarus and recorded his feelings in a moving and literary manner. Available from most major chain bookstores. "A Survivor's Story" - an interview with a WWII survivor from Luninets: as provided by The Columbus Dispatch newspaper in the January 23, 1997 edition. "Atlas of the Jewish People" - contains many diagrams that illustrate Jewish migrations starting from biblical times to the present. "Bashert: A Granddaughter's Holocaust Quest" - authored by Andrea Simon and published by University Press of Mississippi. The book contains the most extensive information to date on the Brona Gora and Volchin massacres. ISBN 1-57806-481-3 "The Belarus Secret" - authored by John Loftus, a former federal prosecutor in the Nazi war crimes unit of the Justice Department. Published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. Library "BriefeMeiner Erinnerung: Mein Uberleben in Judischen Ghetto von Minsk 1941-1942" Roughly translated to "My Letter Living Through the Jewish Ghetto in Minsk". This book, written in German by Ana Krasnaperko, is available from the publisher Haus Villigst, 5840 Schwerte, Germany Telephone: 02304/755230. The Holocaust Museum has a copy and discusses the story of the many German Jews from Bremen and Hanover deported to Minsk and includes photos and text, but does not list names. And, along with her mother, who was a doctor, escaped into the woods and lived with the partisans. "From Belarus To Cape Breton And Beyond" - authored by Larry Gaum lgaum@total.net Some of the scenes of the atrocities that Larry learned of when he visited Lakhva in 1994 from a former resident and survivor are included in this book. "History Atlas of Belarus" - in Russian. Leonid Smilovitsky smilov@netvision.net.il states that he has "a free copy of it direct from Belarus'. The Atlas was published in Minsk in 2001 and contains 28 pages. He also offers in Russian, a monograph of Dr. Anishchenko "Pale of Settlements in Belarus" (18th century) "Holocaust in Byelorussia, 1941-1944" - the first systematic study of the history of the Holocaust in Byelorussia written in Russian - authored by Dr. Leonid Smilovitsky with a preface by Daniel Romanovsky and published in Tel-Aviv, 2000.
See the Online Newsletter of the Belarus SIG for the article. "Jewels and Ashes" authored by Arnold Zable, a Melbourne, Australia writer who has traveled to Belarus and recorded his feelings in a moving and literary manner. Available from most major chain bookstores. "Jewish Life in a Shtetl in Europe" - authored by Cheyna Rogovin Chertow (born 1912), who shares her memories of Belakoritz and Wolzyn in 1912 to 1931 is available at JewishGen archives of 3/1/1999 on page 7. "Jewish
Religious Life in Belarus, 1944-1953" - translated into English by Dr.
Leonid Smilovitsky of the Diaspora Research Institute of Tel Aviv
University. See the Online Newsletter of the Belarus SIG for the article.
"Jewish Roots in Poland: Pages from the Past & Archival Inventories" - authored by M Weiner. Published by Roots to Roots Foundation, Inc. 136 Sandpiper Key, Secaucus, NJ 07094-2210 Telephone 201 866 4075 e-mail mweiner@routestoroots.com "Jews in Belarus: From Our Common History, 1905-1953" authored by Dr. Leonid Smilovitsky, Diaspora research Institute of the Tel-Aviv University and published by ARTI-FEX in Minsk, 1999 in Russian.
See the Online Newsletter of the Belarus SIG for the article. "Jews in Belorussian Public Prosecutor's Offices, 1944-1956 // East "Jews of Moscow, Kiev and Minsk: Identity, Anti-Semitism, Emigration" - authored by Rozalina Ryvkina - The Jews of Moscow, Kiev and Minsk:... "Settlers in Yekaterinoslav Guberniya" which is not located in Belarus, but offers some interesting information on why Jews left the economically poor cities in the north, like Belarus, and established new settlements in Novo Russia "Towns of Belarus on Old-Time Postcards" - authored by Viachka Tselesh and published in Minsk in 2001 as the 2nd edition. The book, 9" x 11", has 255 pages in hardcover, texts are in Belarusian and English. The majority of postcard photographers, printers and sellers were Jews. The book is an important source of information about the life of our ancestors in the Russian Empire "Un Juif de Bielorussie de Lida A Karaganda" (In French) (A Jew in Byelorussia, Lida and Karaganda) Ghetto-Maquis-Goulag - authored by Joseph Kuszelewicz, Harmattan - 19/09/2002 ISBN 2-7475-1308-4 Born in Lida, his family survived with the partisans in the nearby forests. After a five year post-war imprisonment in the Gulag, he joined his family in Paris. "Jewish luck," spoken of with bitter irony by Jews and with resentment by their neighbors, led Joseph Kuszelewicz from the Lida ghetto in Hitler controlled Byelorussia, to Stalin's gulag in Karaganda, Kazakhstan. The story begins in the one hell of the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question," and ends in the alternate hell for Soviet citizens deported as zeks to the gulag. After the Lida region was liberated, Joseph was conscripted into the Red Army. He was severely wounded in East Prussia during the final months of the war. Released from the army, he was arrested and deported to Kazakhstan. The author's story is supported by an appendix that includes documents and transcripts from the Lida war crimes trials of 1966. Submitted to JewishGen on 1/24/04 by Bernard Kouchel General
Old Belarus Synagogue - Photo courtesy of Brest Online
I would suggest to the researcher of the following sites, to also check the other two Baltic Country sites, including Estonia and Lithuania, as well as Poland and Russia as there may very well be some cross references as the country borders changed many times between wars. An excellent site to find information about most European countries is at http://searcheurope.com Global Gazetteer is a great web site. It is a directory of 2,880,532 of the world's cities and towns, sorted by country and linked to a map for each town. A tab separated list is available for each country. The World Fact Book
All Belarus Database -
Enter the surname you are looking for, and see what records exist within this database. Archives Access to archives since the mid-1990s has greatly enriched the Holocaust historiography in Byelorussia. Documents on the history of the Holocaust, lists of ghetto victims, descriptions of partisan actions in which Jews took part, lists of monuments on common graves, etc., began to appear in the 'Pamyat' (Memory) series of documented chronicles of Byelorussian towns and districts which have been published since 1987. Archives - To request records you must first contact the Belkom Archive, Kollektornaya St. #10, Minsk. It is advisable to also send a copy of your request to the consulate in your country. Individual archives are not allowed to provide information on the contents of their holdings, but the Belkom Archive is allowed to provide the information on subordinate archives. They charge $50 for initiating a search. For access to the holdings of the national Archives, the researcher should apply directly by official letter of application to the director of the individual archives requested. The majority of documents preserved at the Archives are open for researchers. Foreign researchers planning visits should check in advance regarding operating hours and temporary changes. Most Archives are open Tuesday through Friday from 9:00 to 5:00, but check first. Fees for a genealogical research includes a pre-payment of $80.00 and a final sum based on a charge of $4.00 per hour of research. Enclose a check, drawn on your bank, for the pre-payment of the $80.00, made payable to the name of the appropriate archive. Also see below under the title of Military, addresses of Archives where records may be found. Records for areas in Belarus have been turning up in Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, the united States and in Israel. Some of these are primary records and others are secondary records. You may also fined that some Jewish records are mixed with 'Church Records' and 'Mixed Records'. You also may write to: Archives of Belarus (in Russian) - Archives and Burial Places in Belarus (including Jewish Cemeteries and the Jewish Communities in Belarus)- http://www.jewishgen.org/cemetery/e-europe/belarus.html Byelorussian Archives site - links to each of the various archives http://www.president.gov.by/gosarchives/EArh/Erx_spisok.htm Central State Historical Archives L'viv - address is Director of the Central State Historical Archives of Ukraine National Historical Archives of Belarus - branches in several cities http://president.gov/by/gosarchives/Arh/arx_naz_ist.htm National Historical Archive of Belarus (Minsk) Director: Alla K. Golubovich They are asking an $80.00 deposit upfront. Records prior to 1917 'should' be in the National Historical Archives of Belarus. The Minsk branch should have the records from areas that were once part of Vitebsk, Mogilev and Minsk Guberniyas. The Grodno branch should have the records for what was formerly the Grodno Guberniya. Please keep in mind that many vital records did not survive and you may have to use secondary records, Revision Lists, Resident Lists, Court Records, etc. if they are available. The Belarus SIG has extracted and translated into English, the entire remaining census forms for the Grodno Guberniya. While most of the records were destroyed, the remaining remnants provide valuable genealogical data for those who can find their families on the census records. This census includes the place of birth, place of registration, along with the address and shtetl where people were living at the time of the census. In many instances these three locations are different for the same person in the census database. The information provides an insight on origination of families and helps to lead to other shtetls for you to research. In addition to areas now in
Belarus, the Grodno Guberniya portion of the 1897 Census includes areas now in
Poland; Bialystok, Bielsk and Sokolka Uyezd. BIALYGen, the Bialystok Region Jewish Genealogy Group. The BelarusSIG web site has inventories of records known to exist in the two branches of the NHAB, as well as the postal addresses for the two different branches of the NHAB. National Historic Archive of Belarus (Grodno)
National
Archives of the Republic of Belarus The Archives was founded on May 28, 1927. During 1930-1944, it was located in Mogilev. In June 1995, the documents of the former Central archives of the Communist Party were added to the State Archives' complex. The Belarusian State Archives was reorganized into the National Archives of the republic of Belarus. More information ins available at http://www.president.gov.by/gosarchives/EArh/E_naz.htm Previous Names of the archive: Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic's Central Archives of October Revolution (1927-1938) Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic's Central State Archives of October Revolutions and Socialist Development (1938-1993) Belarusian State Archives (1993-1995)
State Archives of Brest Region
State Archives of Grodno Region
State Archive of Register Offices (Grodno Region)
Grodno OZGS = State Archive of Register Offices For The Grodno Region
National Historic Archive of Belarus (Minsk)
Molodechno OGA = Zonal State Archives In Molodechno Some records for shtetls that were once in Lithuania may be found in the Vilna Archive Belarus Records in the Vilna Archive (Lithuania) It is recommended that both addresses be also written in Ukrainian. A sample of how to address the Archive can be found at this site where you will also find 'Vital and Marriage records from Greek Catholic and Orthodox Parishes in Former Austrian Galicia, Former Malo Rus, Ukraine, Poland and Belarus.' A possible contact for the Archives in Minsk, Belarus, according to Amy Levinson arl@teleport.com in a message on the JewishGen forum of 12/9/96 states that a probable contact for the Grodno Archives may be 'Perzashkevich, aka "Minsk Genealogy Group" at Minsk PKP National Archives (in Russian)- Useful site ZAGS Archives State Archive of Register Offices for the Brest Region State Archive of Register Offices for the Gomel Region State Archive of Register Offices for the Grodno Region State Archive of Register Offices for the City of Minsk State Archive of Register Offices for the Minsk Region
State Archive of Register Offices for the Mogilev Region
State Archive of Register Offices for the Vitebsk Region
A Belarus Miscellany - a collage of information http://solar.rtd.utk.edu/~kasaty/miscellany.html Belarus - informational sites - look at the YIVO News winter edition for "Jewish Documentary Sources in Belarus using the finding aid. Virtual Guide to Belarus: Belarus Cemetery Law - a law was enacted that is applied to cemeteries of all faiths, including Jewish cemeteries. Any cemetery unused for 25 years can be reclaimed for other purposes. Owning to the murder of entire Jewish communities by Germans and their Lithuanian, Latvian and Ukrainian partners in the 1941-44 period, the bulk of Jewish cemeteries fall under this law during the years 1966-69. Belarus Discussion List - this list is for those interested in Belarus using Internet discussion list 'netiquette' and any further restrictions imposed by the charter. Complete 'welcome' description Belarus Jewish Community - the leader is Yuri Dorn who is also the President of the Union of Religious Jewish Congregations of the Republic of Belarus. Belarus: History and Famous Personalities - Here you will find 'tons' of links about Belarus Belarus Postal History - Belarus Records in Various Archives - authored by David M. Fox is quite informative regarding surviving records that may be available including information about 'Changing Borders'; Centralization of Records; Conditions in the Archives and much more Belarus: Reference - much information about the country, with hundreds of links to sites on Belarus in English and links to maps of cities of the Republic Belarus Research (from Poland) - Belarus Research Guide - Belarus Research List - A list of people searching for ancestors with ties to Belarus Belarus Revision Lists - the 'Reviska Skazka' (Revision Lists) were conducted in territories ruled by the Russian Czar in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Lists only enumerated those individuals subject to taxation and was also used for identifying men to draft into the army. Further information and a table showing the years by Shtetl/District can be found at The Belarusian State Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War - BelarusSIG - here is a great site where David M. Fox webmaster has tried to collect all the data accumulated about various archival information and inventories of records and has made them available at http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/belarus_records "Fonds that are not included in the inventories at this site, are secondary records (other than vital records or revision lists) where the archives or private researchers found valuable data. Frequently, vital records or revision lists are not available for some shtetls and the only way to gather information is from secondary records." The BelarusSIG web site, besides offering "All Belarus Database", offers: BelarusSIG site To join the SIG: To post to the Belarus SIG discussion group, send your message to: Belarus On-line Newsletter: Information on these Guberniya: Grodno, Minsk, Mogilev, Vitebsk and other Belarus Resources are available. The Belarus SIG is online http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/newsletter/ or to the Belarus SIG website There is much to learn from these pages and in addition to a large database, you will also find detailed maps of various areas (and years) of the country. Translations include: The Webmaster is Edward Rosenbaum - http://shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Belarus.html
Belarus Given Names Database - a searchable database of Jewish given names used in Belarus during 1795 - 1925 and links in each record to the new local vernacular names adopted in this same time period in nine Foreign countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Palestine, South Africa, UK, US Belarus Surname Index - now has 21,462 surnames from 97 web sites indexed http://www.jewishgen.org/belarus/static_index.htm Belarus Newspaper Link Belarus Online Newsletter Belarus SIG Web Page http://www.jewishgen.org/belarus/ Belarus Yizkor Book
Katastrofia Evreev v Belorusii 1941-1944
(Holocaust in Belorussia, 1941-1944) The Belarusian Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities
President is Leonid Levin - Minsk 220123, Belarus Belarusian Heritage - Belarusian Historical Figures - Belarusian Born People ( A List of People Born in Belarus)- http://www.geocities.com/albaruthenia/IA/history.html Belarusian Diaspora in Poland - lots of interesting information at this site Byelorussian in Poland - Byelorussian in Russian Federation - there are approximately 1,206,000 Byelorussian in Russia as of 1993. There is a large community in the Komi Republic (27,000 currently live in Komi, the republic's fourth largest ethnic community after Russians, Komi and Ukrainians. and approximately 12,000 Byelorussians in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia). Birth Certificates from Belarus - include the full name (including patronymic) exact date and place of birth, date of registration of the birth; birth certificate number; parents' names; parents' parents' names (including parents' mothers' maiden names); parents' birth dates (father's full birth date and mother's birth year); father's occupation; and any changes in the registry of birth. Birth Records from the "Detailed Inventory of 13 Microfilms of Belarus Records at the Family History Center" See also the All Belarus Database Brewing Trade in Belarus - Cemeteries - Bruce Kahn has a searchable photographic database of this and many other cemeteries. Follow the links and you will find around 2,000 photos of Jewish cemeteries in Lithuania and Belarus. Chevra Kadisha, located on Mohliver St. in Tel-Aviv is working on a list of Chevra Kadisha files for towns in Belarus. Consolidated Jewish Surname Index, which includes the Jewish Records Indexing - Poland; All-Lithuania Database; All-Belarus Database; All-Latvia Database and JewishGen Family Finder is available at Culture of the country http://www-cat.ncsa.uiuc.edu/~zelenko/belarus/Ceramic.html Cyrillic Keyboard - See also my Ukrainian and Language web pages for more information on Russian and Ukrainian languages. Deliveries - Meest-Boston delivers US dollars, sea and air parcels, food parcels, equipment and electronics, letters and small packages to Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Moldova, Poland and other countries. More services are available Duma - The voter lists for all of the districts of Minsk Guberniya includes the Uyezds of: Minsk, Pinsk, Mazyr, Igumen, Novogrudok, Borisov and Slutsk East European Genealogy Society - lots of information East Europe Jewish Heritage Project - dedicated to the preservation and perpetuation of East European Jewish culture, Jewish monuments, buildings and cemeteries. To raise funds, the project offers genealogical services for a cost of $80.00 for a preliminary report and a family tree now costs in the order of $500. . The initial search checks relevant archives and record offices for documents relative to your family. You will then receive a report of the results. This group has negotiated with the Belarusian Committee for the Preservation of the Nation's Heritage, an agreement for the protection of Belarus' Jewish Cemeteries. Further research is quoted at this point to continue with the research. Contact: Eastern European Jewish History - "EEJH": European Jewish History, Religion and Culture / Eyropeyishe Yidishe Geshikhte, Religion un Kultur is a mailing list for the discussion of Jewish religion, culture and history in Europe. Discussions range from European Jews in ancient times to events in the 21st century. Special attention is devoted to topics dealing with Jewish Culture, Customs and Beliefs, Folklore and Folk Religion, Jewish-Christian Relations in Europe Estonia - there are approximately 28 thousand Byelorussians in Estonia. See the 1993 information from The First World Convention of Byelorussians at Europages - business 2 business company directory and business in Europe, yellow pages access, international and European business directory (professional services, addresses and business classifieds FEEFHS Belarus Research List - Genealogy (including Jewish Genealogy) in Belarus - http://www.geocities.com/albaruthenia/IA/history.html Genealogy resources at the Belarus National State Archive (a growing list, but in Russian) - GenWeb (World) - The Belarus GenWeb was started in 1999 by Charles Wardell. Belarus GenWeb is a part of the world-wide network A non-profit group of websites devoted to sharing free genealogical resources and assistance throughout the world. Guberniya District Maps, Grodno, Minsk, Vitebsk Guberniyas maps from the 1899 edition of Vsia Rossia - History of Byelorussian Jewry - Index of Kasaty offers many links dealing with Belarus. Most items are in htm format, though some are in zip format. Judaism - within Belarus - "At the turn of the century, over 50 percent of the population of Minsk (Mensk), Hrodna, Mogilev and Viciebsk were Jewish (98% of native Byelorussians lived in the countryside). Today, Jews constitute one percent of the national population." Information obtained from the Minsk in Your Pocket guide, Summer, 1997, page 30 and the 1997-98 guide, page 31. Also check out Latvia - there are approximately 120 thousand Byelorussians in Latvia in 1993 and approximately 97,000 in 2000. There are approximately 10 officially registered Belarusian organizations in Latvia. More information available at Lithuanian Database offers approximately 10,000 records which probably contain names that may have lived in Belarus which had been Lithuania http://www.jewishgen.org/litvak/all.htm Magnate - "Apparently, the country had an intensely feudal character for hundreds of years, the effects of which have not completely worn off. Polish landed gentry (often absentee landlords) from the joint Poland/Lithuania Commonwealth, which ruled the area for hundreds of years (1550-1795ish), actually *owned* whole towns, cities, and manorial estates; had private armies; and often offered protective charters for Jews whom they contracted with to run distilleries, inns, collect taxes from the Belarusian peasants, provide services like shoemaking, etc., and basically act as middlemen between the Poles and the natives. The landed gentry were called "magnates" and were often princes and counts and other kinds of lesser nobility. After the Czar took over this region (1795-ish), many Jews performed the same services for the Russian nobility who had simply exchanged places with their Polish peers. Interestingly, there was an unusual urban-rural split in Belarus: towns and cities were populated almost entirely by the landed gentry and Jews (the only groups allowed to travel in the region), while the countryside was populated almost exclusively by the native Belarussians who spoke their own language (Belarusian, rather than Polish or Russian) and had a different religion (Greek Orthodox, rather than Roman Catholic, Russian Orthodox, or Jewish), and were mostly involved in agricultural activities."
Map of Belarus - Old Belarus Maps online Detailed Maps of Belarus Cities Map of Grodno Guberniya 1834 - Map of Grodno Guberniya in 1890 Map of Lida Uyezd - as part of Lithuania Map of Minsk Guberniya Map 1834 - http://www.geocities.com/albaruthenia/IA/history.html Map of Minsk Guberniya from 1834 http://www.jewishgen.org/belarus/1834_minsk_gubernia_map.htm Map of Mogilev Guberniya 1834 - Map of Poland from 1921 to 1939 - included is Belarus http://www.polishroots.com/images/pol1921.gif Map portion of Vilna Guberniya from 1863 Maps of Russia and the FSU (Former Soviet Union) Republics - be prepared to stay online for quite some time, if you want to see one of the largest collections of different types of maps. This site is fabulous and offers a huge variety of maps that include such titles as: Map of Vitebsk Guberniya 1834 - Measurement of Land - a Desyatina is 1.09 hectares or 2.07 acres Military History of Belarus - Military Records - The RBVIA serves as the centralized archive for military records of the Russian Empire, consolidating the holdings from various pre-revolutionary Russian military archives and other repositories throughout the former Soviet Union. RGVIA retains documentation produced from the activities of highest, central, and local military administration and military agencies of the Russian Empire from the end of the seventeenth century until March of 1918. Rossiiskii Gosudarstvennyi Voenno-Istoricheskii Arkhiv (RGVIA) For records from 1918 - 1941 ... Rossiyskiy Gosudarstvenniy Voyenniy Arkhiv English translation ... (Russia, 125212 Moscow KGB Archive National Library of Russia National Library of Russia The National Library of Belarus Images of military papers with complete translations can be viewed at Mishpoha Magazine is published in Russian in Belarus by the Jewish Community, on a non-commercial basis. More information about this publication is available on the Belarus SIG Note, there is a seven hour time difference (East Coast). Arkady Shulman, Editor. Mishpoha Belarus 210001, Vitebsk, Box 22 Moving Here - trace your roots from Belarus to Britain and help in finding the relevant records in your search National Museum of Culture and History of Belarus - http://nacbibl.org.by/natart/en/branches.html
Researching Russian Roots How to begin, useful links, Archives in
Ukraine & Belarus Research in
Ukraine and Belarus Revision Lists In addition to the Revision Lists filmed by the LDS, there are other lists available in the Vilnius Archive that cover areas now in Belarus. According to the FHL Acquisition Department, these Revision Lists will not be filmed until after 2005. A list of Revision Lists for shtetls in Zarasai Uyezd, Minsk Guberniya and Lida , Vilna Guberniya is also available on the LITVAKSIG' S website. Also, Revision Lists and/or family and resident lists, as well as part of the 1897 Census for Grodno Guberniya re in the Grodno branch of the National Historic Archives of Belarus. These also have not been filmed. The National Historic Archive in Minsk, has Revision Lists, family lists, and resident lists for Mogilev and possibly Vitebsk Guberniya which have also not been filmed yet. Search Engines for Belarus The Belarus Special Interest Group now has a search engine that accesses the 246 static web pages at its site. They contain almost 130,000 names. The engine permits searching by surname, given name, town, Uyezd, and Guberniya. Each element can be searched by Starts With, Exactly, D/M Soundex, Contains, or Ends With. Click on "Search for your ancestors." Also, these sites are of value: Search telephone numbers, for free, in Belarus at Shtetls of Belarus www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/Shtetls Slavophilia
A comprehensive guide to Internet resources on Russia and Central/Eastern Europe Timelines of History: Belarus
http://www.jewishgen.org/BELARUS/borders_timeline.htm Translation Service - Click Here
A commercial site offering many language translating programs Just in case you didn't think of it, contact a nearby university or college's foreign language department. They may offer to write letters and translate letters into English. A nominal fee is usually charged. Union of Religious Congregations in the Republic of Belarus
Minsk 220002, Belarus Virtual Guide To Belarus
Vital and Marriage Records From Greek Catholic and Orthodox Parishes in
Former Austrian Galicia, Former Malo Rus, Ukraine, Poland, and Belarus (former Byelorussia) available through The Mormon Family History Library (FHL) Cities and Towns
Note: towns that are part of the Lida District Research Group Project have LDRG next to their names.
"A Few Words About Towns of Those Days", from Viachka Tselesh's book -
JewishGen offers a superb database to find information on your shtetl including the distance and direction from the capital city of the relevant country. Another site for selecting shtetls in Belarus http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/Shtetls/ Shtetls of Belarus - This easy-to-use web site contains the names of the shtetls (towns) of Belarus. For each Shtetl, the Uyezd (district) and Guberniya (province) is listed in the early 1900s. Alexandria (Alexandra) http://www.jewishgen.org/belarus/info_mogilev_gub.htm Amdur (Indura) The Shtetl is located near the city of Grodno (about 15 miles south) and in 1887 it had a population of 2,194 Jews, which was 82 percent of the total population. In 1931, the total population was engaged in brewing and distilling. A Yizkor Book has been written and a copy is in the library at Yad Vashem. The call number is T996. E-mail library@yad-vashem.org.il It may be of value to write to the library and request the name and address of the committee that wrote the book. Antopol (Antelpolie) "Sefer Zikaron" (Antopol Yizkor Book) http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/translations.html Antopoler Young Men's Benevolent Association - a database created by Jerry Seligsohn Asmjany
Contact is Joanne Saltman Azarichi Contact Carol McCloud - Regional Special Interest Groups http://www.jewishgen.org/Shtetlinks/Belarus.html Babruysk (Bobruisk) A Bobruisk History http://www.geocities.com/albaruthenia/IA/history.html Cemetery - Jews continue to be buried in the Jewish cemetery "Sefer Zikaron li-Kehilat Bobruysk u-Venoteha" (Memorial book of the community of
Bobruysk and its Surroundings) Baranovichi - (Baranowitsch, Baranowicze)
"Palonkeh and Baranovichi, Belarus, 1904 to 1922" - Memoirs by Rubin Kaplan Baranovichi in the History - Belitsa (LDRG) Regional Special Interest Groups http://shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Belarus.html Belsk (Bielsk) and Belsk Uyezd (district)
Available in the Grodno (Belarus) archive. These include Revision Lists, family lists and the 1897 Russian Census. These films have not yet been filmed by the FHL, they are planning to do so. Beresin Located near Minsk Bereza - located in the Pruzhany District of Grodno Guberniya and shares a website of reference material with the shtetl Pruzhany. Bereza Area Research Group includes all towns within a 25 mile radius of Bereza and is just off the main road from Brest to Minsk. "Pinkas Pruzhany ve-ha-Seviva; edut ve-Ziharon le-Kehillot she-Hushmedu ba-Shoa" (Memorial Book of Pruzhany and its Vicinity (Bereze, Malch, Pruzhany, Shershev, Seltz and Lineve) PURS includes research from the five major towns of the Pruzhany District in Grodno Guberniya, Russia now Belarus including Pruzhany, Kartuz Bereza (Bereza), Selets, Malch and Shershev. The website for PURS is A $25 a year paid subscription to PURS, allows complete access to the site and enables PURS to obtain more data from various archives in Belarus. Questions should be directed to Herb Maletz at purs@purs.org 1910 House Owners Inventory - Bereza Additional lists to be acquired: Township of Bereza-Kartuzskaia: List of residents 1929 From the Grodno archives, PURS is planning to obtain the Family List of Inhabitants of Bereza 1874 Page 36-270 Chronicle of six communities that perished in the Holocaust. "Kartuz-Berezah; Sefer Zikaron ve-edut le-Kehila she-Hushmedah Kartuz-Breze", (Our Town, Memorial Book) The Bereza (Kartuz Bereza) and Antopol website maintained by the BARG (Bereza Area Research Group) Bialystok - Archive Coordinators are Mark Halpern Willie46@aol.com and Sonia Hoffman SoniaHoff1@aol.com There is a massive amount of German Grodno Amtskommisar for Civil Administration records of the Bialystok Region that is being currently held in the USHMM (Holocaust Memorial Museum) but has not been released for research purposes at this time. Most of these records are in German, some in Polish and some in Russian. A Brief History of Bialystok - List of Names of 1200 Bialystok Children - Tilford Bartman bartmant@earthlink.net has created a web site that contains a list of names of children sent from the Bialystok Ghetto at it's final liquidation in August, 1943 to Theresienstadt, and then to Auschwitz in October, 1943. All of the children, and their adult caretakers (including Otla David - sister of Franz Kafka), who accompanied them from Theresienstadt to Auschwitz were gassed and burned on Erev Yom Kippur, 1943. One of the principal Russian Polish Jewish centers (in Russian: Belostok), incorporated into Russia between 1807 and 1921 and administrated by the U.S.S.R. between 1939 and 1941, reverting to Poland in 1945. Bielski Uyezd - Benjamin Eisenstein maintains a website for Drogichin http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/drogicin/drogicin.html Bildyugi - The Disna Uyezd Research Group announced the availability of the translation of the 1850 Revision List for the benefit of DURG members. Contact Batya Matzkin Olsen batya@netsynthesis.com for information. Translations are now available for Bildyugi, Diszna, Glubokoye, Postavy, Plisa and Sharkovshina. Bildyugi (Bilziugi) and Diszna are already in the ALD, Glebokie (Glubokoye) and Postavy will be added in the near future. Bobruysk (Bobroisk, Bobrinsk, Bobransk, Bobrowisk, Bobrnisk, Babrush, Babransh, Bolbrinsk, Mabrisk, Aurusk) - Bobruysk SIG http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/bobruisk/bobruisk.html Jews from Bobruysk in the 1816 Revision List 1906 Bobruysk Uyezd Duma List - Jewish Community of Bobruysk, President, Boris Gelfand, 31 Komsomolskaya St. Bobruysk 213826, Belarus Bobruysk Chronicle and Bobruysk Yizkor Book, Historical Monograph by Ye. Slutsky- Regional Special Interest Groups http://shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Belarus.html Borisov
Photo of Borisov Synagogue available from Boris Feldblyum's Collection at
Borisov - History of Borisov - Birth, Death, Marriage, Divorce and Revision lists records are currently being translated by the BelarusSIG http://shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Belarus.html Regional Special Interest Groups Bragin Region Nazi Victims List - available at the Belarus SIG site http://www.jewishgen.org/belarus/
Brest-Litovsk - in Yiddish it was known as Brisk by the people from Brest- Brisker. It is located in the lower southwestern Belarus border. Brisk or Brest-Litovsk, Russia (now called Brest, Belarus) is located in the former Grodno Guberniya, directly on the border with Poland. It was part of Russia until 1921. Then it became part of Poland until the German invasion in 1939. Brest-Litovsk, from The Jewish Encyclopedia - http://www.geocities.com/albaruthenia/IA/history.html Brisker and Grodner Benevolent Society - 1887, 1889 - Cleveland, Ohio available at the Belarus SIG site Census Records of 1897 - these records can be found in fond 100, opis 1, delo 66 through 109 of the Grodno branch of the NHAB. This inventory was done by Dimytri Panov and indicates the existence of the 1897 Russian census for portions of what was Grodno Guberniya in 1897 City of Brest is on-line with much information at History of Brest, from Brest Online - History of Brest Region - The Brest Ghetto Passport Archive A searchable database, titled "Phoenix Project" and created by Professor John Garrard, Professor of Russian Literature at the University of Arizona, is available at The database includes direct hyperlinks to the original source documents as retrieved from the archives, which are stored in scanned image files. The Brest passport photos are not digitized and are available at Yad Vashem and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. See also If you're ancestral search takes you to the City of Brest-Litovsk or Brisk, Brest-Litovsk shtetl website There is a Yizkor Book (not translated) Brona Gora - a forest between Brest and Minsk where some 50,000 Jews were shot by the Nazis in the fall of 1942. See above under Books, the book "Bashert: A Granddaughter Holocaust Quest" authored by Andrea Simon
Bryansk -
http://tinyurl.com/3p6jfy
Bychov (Bichev, Bischov, Bichor) Brysov - visited in 1999 by J M Krain Byten (Butern) Contact Hilda Dickoff Perlitsh, Regional Special Interest Groups Chareja -(Chereya,Girija) - located about 90 miles northwest of Minsk and is in the Minsk Guberniya Chernavchich (Czernawczyce, Chernavchitsy) located about 10 km from Brest. It had a Jewish presence. See Volchin for further information. Cherven (Igumen) - Regional Special Interest Groups http://www.jewishgen.org/Shtetlinks/Belarus.html Copys' - located in Goretskiy district. Jimmy Levine, a Belarus SIG member, received a report in Russian from the national Historic Archives of Belarus (Minsk Branch) in 1998 which was translated into English. This is what the report stated as translated "There are following documents related to genealogy of persons with the last name Lejtes who lived in town Copys' of Goretskiy district and town of Smol'yany of Orshunskiy district of Mogilev province and also others nearest settlements in archives Fonds 'Mogilev Government House'; 'Orshansy Municipal Board'; Jewish Societies of Mogilev Province;; Mogilev Province Office of Military Service'. Dashkovka - Birth, Death, Marriage, Divorce and Revision lists records are currently being translated by the BelarusSIG David Gorodok (David Horodok) Contact Moshe Shavit - Delyatichi (Delatich) Located in the Novogrudok Uyezd.
"Lubish ve-Delatitsch; Sefer Zikaron (Lubich and Delatich)"; In Memory of the Jewish Community http://groups.msn.com/germangenealogy/alsacelorraine.msnw Derechin (see Zelva) Disna (Dzisna) - there is a Disna Uyezd Research Group that offers the translation of the 1850 Revision List for the town of Druya to DURG members. Contact is Batya Matzkin Olsen batya@netsynthesis.com The Disna Uyezd Research Group announced the availability of the translation of the 1850 Revision List for the benefit of DURG members. Contact Batya Matzkin Olsen batya@netsynthesis.com for information. Translations are now available for Bildyugi, Diszna, Glubokoye, Postavy, Plisa and Sharkovshina. Bildyugi (Bilziugi) and Diszna are already in the ALD, Glebokie (Glubokoye) and Postavy will be added in the near future. Check out This web site has indicated that there is a comprehensive list of archival holdings. Divin - This shtetl was part of the Kobryn district of Grodno Guberniya from the time when the Great Principality of Lithuania annexed Russia and until the October Revolution of 1917. In the Fonds of the Central State Historical Archives of the Republic of Byelorussia (Grodno branch) such as" 'Grodno Chamber of Controls', Cobrin Notary N. I. Falin', 'Office of Grodno Civil Governor', 'Grodno Chamber of Criminal and Civil Court', 'Cobrin District Police Administration', 'Grodno Administration of Town Affairs' have documents concerning the families of Garfinkel and Tannenbaum who were living in Divin (now part of Cobrin District, Brest province, Republic of Byelorussia, according to Sandra Garfinkel Shapiro in an email to David M. Fox on 12/28/01 - Belarus SIG. The lists found include 6 pages of detailed family data from list of deserters (1817); family lists (1854- 1899); legal cases (1855-1913); census lists (1885); list of candidates and election data for the Jewish community (1877-1888); list of private buildings with owners name, property address, kind of building, building material, roof material (1910); and register of fines for not reporting for army service (1911) Dokshitsy (Dokshitz) Located 77 miles (120 km) north of Minsk. "On Foreign Soil", an autobiography by author Falk Zolf, offers additional information including many deeply shocking accounts of the Holocaust including the story of the town of Dokshitsy at "Dokshitsy Yizkor Book" - Regional Special Interest Groups There is a Yizkor Book available at Dolginovo (Dolhinov)
Located in Vileyka
Uyezd, Vilna Guberniya, it is a small town that passed from Poland to Russia in 1793; within Poland from 1921 to 1945 and now in Belarus. In 1847 the town had 1,194 Jewish inhabitants. In 1897 it was 2,559. In 1921, it had a Jewish population of 1,747 out of a total population of 2,671. There were nearly 5,000 residents in 1941 and the Jewish residents were killed by the Nazis in September 1942. Photos, a map, a list of Holocaust victims, comments by natives, descendants and other, and links are some of the features that are on the Dolginovo site a Eilat Gordon, the webmaster of this site also has archives with many notes from natives and researchers http://eilatgordinlevitan.com/dolgb/dolgb.html Regional Special Interest Groups Yizkor Book "Esh Tamid - Yizkor le-Dolhinow; Sefer Zikaron le-Kehillot Dolhinow ve-ha-Seviva" (Eternal Flame; In Memory of Dolhinow) Drogichin (Drohichin, Drahicyn, Drogichin - Drohiczyn, Drohiczyn, Drohitchin Drohiczhn)
Located 69 Km West of Pinsk (located 61.7 miles east of Brest) had a prewar Jewish population of 1,521. There is a Yizkor Book (the book, originally in Yiddish was about 500 pages and was basically prepared by Drogichiners in Chicago in the 50's) "Drohiczyn: Finf Hundert yor Yiddish Lebn" (Drohiczhn; 500 Yeas of Jewish Life) http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/Drohichyn/dro175.html Regional Special Interest Groups Druskeniki A web site is in development http://grodno.digging4roots.com/links/index.html Dudin - a primarily Lubavitcher community. Elaine Bush Carleolady@aol.com is interested in this shtetl Dunilovichi - located in the NW corner of Belarus Dvorets (Dvoretz) - Regional Special Interest Groups http://www.jewishgen.org/Shtetlinks/Belarus.html http://shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Belarus.html Dyatlovo (Djetl, Zhetl) (LDRG) - Regional Special Interest Groups http://www.jewishgen.org/Shtetlinks/Belarus.html http://shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Belarus.html Germanovichi - the Disna Uyezd Research Group plans to translate this Shtetlach. Further information can be obtained from Batya Olsen batya@netsynthesis.com Glubokoe (Glubokoye) - inmates offered armed resistance in the ghetto before being murdered by the Nazis. The Disna Uyezd Research Group announced the availability of the translation of the 1850 Revision List for the benefit of DURG members. Contact Batya Matzkin Olsen batya@netsynthesis.com for information. Translations are now available for Bildyugi, Diszna, Glubokoye, Postavy, Plisa and Sharkovshina. Bildyugi (Bilziugi) and Diszna are already in the ALD, Glebokie (Glubokoye) and Postavy are soon to be added. Golinka (Holinka) Located near Beresin which is near Minsk Golubicy The Disna Uyezd Research Group plans to translate this Shtetlach. Further information can be obtained from Batya Olsen batya@netsynthesis.com Gomel (Gonim, Klomel, Gouiel) 4,000 out of 40,000 Jews were murdered by the Nazis when they occupied the town on August 19, 1941. Gomel's History, from Gomel: Then & Now - http://www.geocities.com/albaruthenia/IA/history.html Contact Sherman Titens - Regional Special Interest Groups http://www.jewishgen.org/Shtetlinks/Belarus.html Goniadz - there was a Jewish presence here until WW II - mentioned at: Gorki - in the Mogilev Guberniya or oblast. Includes the nearby community of Gory. Gorodets (Horodets) - "Gorodets, (Horodets): A Geshikhte Fun A Shtetl, 1142-1942" (Horodec: History of a Town, 1142 - 1942) Gorodeya - located southwest of Minsk. On June 17, 1942, 1137 Jews were killed there in a single day. A memorial containing one stone for each killed was unveiled in 2004. Grodno Grodno still is a beautiful European city with many of the old, classic buildings surviving the war. There are two noble castles to visit and a beautiful theater along with an old town. Much of the Grodno ghetto is either preserved, or being renovated, although the gate to the ghetto has been vandalized and only one candle on the large iron menorah remains. A fund raising project has been initiated to translate the Yizkor Book for this shtetl "Grodno; Volume IX, Encyclopedia of the Jewish Diaspora; Memorial Book of Countries and Communities" For a 1890 Cyrillic language map of Grodno Guberniya with a thick green line indicating the borders of the Guberniya at: http://www.belarusguide.com/genealogy1/images/gdlsth.jpg Grodno Business Listings in Vsia Rossia, 1903 lists the Surname, Father's Name, First Name, Business Type, Address and number of workers http://grodno.digging4roots.com/data/vsiarossia_1903/index.html Grodno: Capital of Grodno Guberniya, Capital of Grodno District in the Russian Empire Grodno SIG - (aka Grodno Genealogy Group, Inc) http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/Grodno http://grodno.digging4roots.com/links/index.html Grodno Guberniya SIG: Among the many nice features of this particular SIG dealing with maps, research and Shtetl Study Groups, is the ease of working the site. Grodno (Grodnenskaya) Guberniya and The Origin of Grodnenskaya Guberniya- Grodno Guberniya Map - Grodno History - Grodno Oblast Archive Collection - http://www.jewishgen.org/belarus/info_grodno_oblast_archive.htm Grodno Regional Historical Archives - Director Ms. Karina Botrakova Grodno Regional ZAGS Archives - the Director is Ms. Irina Bolbat. Records that purportedly available include Births, Deaths and in some cases, Marriages after 1900 Civil registries from the Synagogue for the years 1850 -1924 and 1940 - 1944 have not survived according to a letter received by Robert Mandelbaum rmandelbau@aol.com Grodno once had three Jewish cemeteries. The main cemetery, nearest the city center, was destroyed in the early 1960s and replaced later by a sports complex. A second cemetery was also destroyed during the Soviet regime. The one Jewish cemetery used until 1970, is located across the Neman River in a forest on the opposite bank below the New Bridge (Nowy Most) Grodno Jewish Community Center - Chesed Nacho Jewish Welfare/Community Center is located at Bogdanovich St. #6. An English speaking Jew can be contacted through this center. His name is Girsch Chasid. Grodno's Main Synagogue is a very important building, that was built in the 16th century. At one time, before WWII, Grodno boasted nearly 45 synagogues. Grodno Oblast Archive Records are on 7 reels of microfilm, containing 17 Funds (record groups). These pages can be copied at the USHMM archives for 10 cents per page. Grodno Printing History - Grodno Yizkor Book - may be available from Robinson Books in Israel. E-mail rob_book@netvision.net.il
Brest Uyezd. Co-Coordinators Bernard & Phillip Rosinsky At one time, Grodno had three Jewish cemeteries. The main cemetery was destroyed by the Soviets in the early 1960 and the second later, but the third one still remains and is located across the Neman River and located in a forest, below the New Bridge (Nowy Most). The Synagogue is in disrepair but attempts are being made to restore the building when and if funds can be raised. More, excellent first person information, is obtainable by searching the archives of JewishGen Digest dated November 1, 1998, written by Eric Adler ea73@hotmail.com Grodno Town & Uyezd: web site under construction by Jim Yarn who can be contacted at Holinka (Golinka) - located near Beresin Horodetz - contact is Elise Friedman Indura (Amdur) - Regional Special Interest Groups http://www.jewishgen.org/Shtetlinks/Belarus.html http://shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Belarus.html Ivaniki is located 7 kilometers north of Pinsk. Chaim Weidman emigrated from this shtetl Ivenets - "Sefer Iwieniec; Kamien ve-ha-Seviva; Sefer Zikaron" (The Memorial Book of Iwieniec; Kamien and the Surrounding Region) http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/translations.html Ivye - (Iwje) (LDRG) "From Sefer Zikaron le-Kehillot Iwie" (In Memory of the Jewish Community of Iwie) Regional Special Interest Groups Jonava (Ivanovo, Yanovo) - located in the Kovno Uezd in southwestern Belarus. It is in an area that was Polish speaking and is west of Pinsk and east of Brest (on the current Polish border). In JewishGen's ShtetlSeeker, there are Yanovo's/Janowa's in Belarus, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania and Russia. There are also many towns named Janow in Poland, including a Janow Podlaski and a Janow Lubelskie. There is even another Yonavo in Lithuania other than the one in Kovno Uezd - today it is called Jokavai. Ada Green offered a listing of Jonava Societies and Associations associated with the JGSNY Cemetery Project in a message to the JewishGen Digest group on December 10, 2000 Kamen - Birth, Death, Marriage, Divorce and Revision lists records are currently being translated by the BelarusSIG "List of Kamen Holocaust Victims" - Kamenets (Kamenetz Litovsk) - In the ghetto an uprising occurred prior to the mass execution of Jews on September 9, 1942. Contact Miguel Kaplansky - Regional Special Interest Groups http://www.jewishgen.org/Shtetlinks/Belarus.html Kartuz Bereza (Bereza Kartuska) - located about 90 miles south of Skidel and was a market town in the Pruzhany District, Grodno Guberniya before its destruction in 1942 and was also on the main road from Warsaw to Minsk to Moscow. The railroad also stopped there. See also PURS (Pruzhany Uyezd Research Society) under Pruzhany below Contact for the Jewish Landmanschaften from Poland in Israel is Chaim Ben-Israel Yizkor Book Kelisy Located 29 miles SSW of Vitebsk. This town was part of the Mogilev Guberniya, Syenno (Senno) Uyezd (6.6 miles E of Syenno) Kholmich
Regional Special Interest Groups http://www.jewishgen.org/Shtetlinks/Belarus.html Kletsk (Kleck) In the ghetto an uprising occurred prior to the mass execution of Jews on July 21, 1943. There is an Association of individuals from Kletsk and it was not limited to woodsmen (perhaps carpenters). Approximately a third of the Jewish craftsmen in Kletsk were tailors, and the town had a reputation for fine quality men's wear. There is a building that used to be owned by the Kletskers at the corner of Canal Street and East Broadway in New York that still bears the name of the Kletzker Brotherly Aid Association. Bob Weiss RWeissJGS@aol.com stated in a posting of 12-7-02 that he believes the building is now an Asian mortuary. Knyazhitsy - Birth, Death, Marriage, Divorce and Revision lists records are currently being translated by the BelarusSIG Kobryn - inmates offered armed resistance in the ghetto before being murdered by the Nazis. Kobryn (Kobrin) Uezd: Co-Coordinators Gene Succor & David Subtask who can be contacted at "Kobryn; Zamlbukh (An Interblik Ibern Yidishn Kobryn)" - (Kobryn; An Overview of Jewish Kobryn) Kobryn - History of - Map of Kobryn at Kobylnik - "Sefer Kobylnik" (Memorial Book of Kobylnik) http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/translations.html Koidavov - Birth, Death, Marriage, Divorce and Revision lists records are currently being translated by the BelarusSIG Kopatkevichi (Kopatkevich) - Contact is Rachel Fisher Kopys (Kopis) -
Gorky Uezd, Mogilev Guberniya. It is located on the Dnieper River, 15 miles south southwest of Orsha. It is known for manufacturing cement. Surrounding shtetls: Shklov (Mogilev Uyezd, Mogilev Guberniya. Korelichi (Korelitz, Karelitz, Karelic, Kareliche, Karelicze, Korelitz, It has a pre WW II population of 535. It is located in the Baranovichi oblast, southwest of Minsk and 13 miles east of Novradok (Nowogrodek) It is mentioned in the Yizkor book "Pinkas Novradok" published in 1963. The area was known for lumbering and grew rye, wheat and potatoes. Contact Merle Horwitz - Regional Special Interest Groups http://www.jewishgen.org/Shtetlinks/Belarus.html Korelicze -
"Korelits; Hayeha ve-Hurban Shel Kehila Yehudit" (Korelitz; The Life and Destruction of a Jewish Community) Kossow http://www.actionreinhardcamps.org/occupation/kolomyja%20ghetto.html http://www.eilatgordinlevitan.com/kossovo/kossovo.html Kozhanhorodok - It was part of Poland from 1921-1940, is today in Belarus. Of all of the synagogues that were burnt by the Nazis around 1942-43, a part of the mikvah remains in the town. Krasnapoli - see Malastofki Krasne Krivichi - was in the Vileyka district of Lithuania but it is now in the Miadeli District, Minsk Guberniya. Another excellent site to look at is Kurenets - (Kurenits, Kurnitz, Juznitse) - a village located in the District of Minsk. Until WW II the town was in the District of Vilna, Poland. Jews lived here from the beginning of the 18th century and was surrounded by small towns having Jewish communities. In 1867 there were 1,325 Jews among a population of 1,955. The town had four synagogues.- http://shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Belarus.html A description of the lifestyle and information about the shtetl, including photos and maps is at Regional Special Interest Groups Kurzeniac - "Megilat Kurenets; Ayara be-Hayeha u-ve-Mota" http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/translations.html Lakhva - In the ghetto an uprising occurred prior to the mass execution of Jews on September 3, 1942. "My Iz Vosstavshei Lakvy" - a book, in the Russian language, authored by former survivor and Jewish partisan Boris Dolgopiaty (Ben-Zion Dagan) was published in Tel Aviv in 2001. The book contains interesting data about Jewish life in this shtetl in prewar years 1937-1941 Some of the scenes of the atrocities that Larry Gaum learned of when he visited Lakhva in 1994 from a former resident and survivor are included in this book. "From Belarus To Cape Breton And Beyond" - authored by Larry Gaum lgaum@total.net Lechowitz - Contact Susan Pollack-Haddad - Regional Special Interest Groups Lenin - "Kehillot Lenin' Sefer Zikaron" (The Community of Lenin; Memorial Book) Leonpol - the Disna Uyezd Research Group plans to translate this Shtetlach. Further information can be obtained from Batya Olsen batya@netsynthesis.com Lepel - "Translation of a list of Holocaust Victims" http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/translations.html http://shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Belarus.html Regional Special Interest Groups Lida
History of Lida District (Uyezd) - this site includes a history of the Jewish population, Eastern European boundary changes, maps and more at Lida District - was part of Vilna Guberniya and Grodno Guberniya (Lithuania and Russia) and part of Nowogrodskie district in Poland between WW I and WW II. Jewish Cemetery - there is a photograph of the Lida [now in Belarus] Jewish cemetery taken in 1916. The cemetery has been destroyed. Lida of the Past Century - photos - Lida Uyezd - a web site has been developed for the Lida Uyezd, which at various times, was in Lithuania, Poland, the Russian Empire and now in Belarus. Information, in varying degrees, are available for over 200 shtetls Map of Lida Uyezd - as part of Lithuania The Table of Contents and Necrology from "Sefer Lida" can be found by following the links at "Sefer Lida" The war crimes material in the book's appendix is from my English translation posted on the Lida District ShtetLinks; the URLs given in the book are long stale. It's quoted directly from the site & was not translated into French. There is a reference to this book on the Lida District ShtetLinks (LDRG) - Regional Special Interest Groups http://www.jewishgen.org/Shtetlinks/Belarus.html
War Crimes in Lida Lipnishki (Lipniszki) (LDRG)
"Sefer Zikaron le-Kehillot Iwie" (In Memory of the Jewish Community of Iwie) http://shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Belarus.html Lubcha
Located in the Novogrudok Uyezd, Minsk Guberniya. The 1784 census has information on 84 families and is written in Polish. Leonid Zeigler leonidze@iec.co.il has been translating the list from Polish. The Belarus SIG is working on the translation into English.
There is a Yizkor book http://ram1.huji.ac.il:83/ALEPH/ENG/SAS/BAS/BAS/FIND-ACC/0387353 Lunna (Luna, Lunno)
The City Hall Archives Department of the Ministry of Justice of
Grodno Province Municipal Court reported to Robert Mandelbaum Rmandelbau@aol.com, that civil registries from the Synagogue of the town of Lunno for the years 1850-1944 have not survived.
Lupolovo http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Lyakhovichi/lyakhovichi.html
Luzhek - The Disna Uyezd Research Group plans to translate this Shtetlach. Further information can be obtained from Batya Olsen batya@netsynthesis.com Lyakhovichi (Lachowicze, Lechowitz) -
Inmates offered armed resistance in the ghetto before being murdered by the Nazis. Follow the links at for several chapters from the "Lachowicze: Sefer Zikaron" (Memorial Book of Lachowicze) http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/translations.html Lyubcha - (See also Lubch)
"Lubtch ve-Delatitsch; Sefer Zikaron" (Lubtch and Delatich; In Memory of the Jewish Community) Malastofki (Malistovska, Krasnapoli, Krasnapole) - Located in the province of Mogilev. Malch - See also PURS (Pruzhany Uyezd Research Society) under Pruzhany below Melnitza - A 20 page list of the Jews who lived in this town is available at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. It is also spelled Melnitsah in Yiddish and Mielnica in Polish. Mikhalishki (Mikališkis [Lithuanian], Mikhalishki [Russian], Michalishok [Yiddish], Michaliszki [Polish], Mikoliskis) ... at one time in Belarus http://data.jewishgen.org/wconnect/wc.dll?jg~jgsys~shtetm~-1946252 http://data.jewishgen.org/wconnect/wc.dll?jg~jgsys~shtetm~-2616768
Minsk Ghetto Map Minsk
"The Minsk Ghetto 1941 – 1943: Jewish Resistance and Minsk was occupied on June 28, 1941. Its leadership secretly left the city on the evening of June 24, 1941, without declaring evacuation. As a result, nearly 100,000 Jews were killed. Minsk was mostly restored after WWII and the original beauty of the city has been replaced by post-war Soviet style architecture. A little History of Minsk - Minsk before 1917 and Minsk 100 Years Ago and Now 1906 Minsk
Uyezd Duma list contains 16,000 names 1912 Marriages from Minsk - 1919 Marriage Register from Minsk - while these records are after the peak migration period, they should provide the names of relatives who did not migrate and who perished during the "Great Patriotic War". Based on what was found in the 1912 marriage records, David Fox, the Belarus SIG Coordinator stated that "I suspect that many of the people who were married in Minsk originated from all over Belarus as well as other parts of the former USSR. 1913 Divorces from Minsk - Birth, Death, Marriage, Divorce and Revision lists records are currently being translated by the BelarusSIG Israeli Embassy - Partizansky Prospekt 6a, BelMed Building. Phone 230 44 44 Fax: 8 0172 10 52 70 and 230 42 98 230 34 79 Jewish Memorials - more than 700,000 Jews were killed in 163 ghettoes in Belarus during WW II. There is the Zaslavskaya Memorial, behind Hotel Yubileynaya and not far from the hotel Planeta (a few hundred meters (quarter of a mile), across the intersection in a park-like low area and at the base of several apartment buildings). The memorial stone commemorates some 5,000 Jews who were shot and buried, some still alive, in this gully in 1941. Another monument to Holocaust victims is to be erected on Sukhaya Street in Minsk. In part, the monument is to commemorate members of the 42 Belarusian families that saved Jews from executions. Minsk 1811 Revision List - Minsk - Belarus National Archive - offers their research services for about $80.00 dollars (payment in advance). Writing to the archive in English is o.k., but they will reply in Russian. There is a second archive located in Grodno operating under similar rules and regulations Minsk and Pinsk Belgium List - people Of the Belgian file Minsk Guberniya Jewish Population Information - obtained from the Table XXII of the Census 1897 in Russia is in a column format in JewishGen Digest Archives dated 12/12/1998 on page 4. The Vsia Rossi - "All Russia Business Directory of Minsk Guberniya in 1903 and the 1911" and Mogilev Guberniya as compiled by members of the Belarus SIG http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/vsiabelarus.htm http://www.jewishgen.org/belarus/intro_1897_russian_census.htm Minsk Guberniya from 1903 Vsia Rossia - http://www.geocities.com/albaruthenia/IA/history.html Minsk Guberniya Map - Minsk Guberniya Revision List - for 1816, and 1817 to 1819 are available on microfilms from LDS Minsk Guberniya Revision Lists Minsk History - the History of Belarus home page http://www.belarusguide.com/cities/minsk_DZ/minskhist.html Minsk Information Site Minsk Jewish Birth Records - 1852 is available on microfilm through the LDS Family History Centers. Minsk Jewish Cemetery - there is, at present, no Jewish cemetery, but the area of the old one is protected from development by the Minsk city government. Minsk Memorable Gardens for Holocaust Victims The Solomon Family Charitable Trust in Great Britain together with the Minsk Jewish Community are building a sculpture garden on the grounds of the Novinki Orphanage and Psychiatric Clinic in Minsk to commemorate the mentally handicapped individuals murdered by Germans during their occupation of the Soviet Union. One hundred and twenty mentally disable patients were murdered in early July, 1941. In August of the same year, a further 350 were killed; some were shot and others fell prey to experimental mobile gassing units. They were buried, together with Jewish victims and POWs in mass graves. For information and photos, contact Franklin J. Swartz eejhp@yahoo.com who is the Executive Director of the EEJHP (East European Jewish Heritage Project in Minsk. Minsk Main Synagogue is located at 13b Dauman Street, Minsk 220002 Phone/Fax: +375 (0) 17 234 33360/5612 E-mail: EEJHP@user.unibel.by Minsk Surnames Database - 1903 'Vsia Rossi' for
Minsk Guberniya Minsk
Uyezd (District) Historic/Economic Summary - Minsk Vedomosti Translation Center - http://www.geocities.com/albaruthenia/IA/history.html
The Minsk Vedomosti was the official newspaper for the Minsk Guberniya, an important region in the
Russian Empire, from 1838 to 1917. Here are some translations of Vedomosti legal notices, along with other translations and research resources. Please be aware that Norman Ross Publishing, the same company that publishes the Minsk Vedomosti microfilms, has also microfilmed the complete runs of the
Kiev and Warsaw Vedomosti Minsk Yizkor Book Name Index Occupations of Minsk Guberniya Jewish population - Information obtained from the "Table XXII of the census 1897 in Russia" is available.
Look for the Digest dated December 10, 1998 - page 4
Simcha Reform Congregation Telephone Directory for Minsk (in Russian) at http://194.158.195.224/Server/MinskTelefon/MTel.htm Mir
The town of Mir is located about 88 km southwest of Minsk. In the ghetto an uprising occurred prior to the mass execution of Jews on August 9, 1942. 1795 Revision List is available at the BelarusSIG page
The Mir web site has more than
1300 names of people buried in the New York cemetery plots owned by
the Mir Landsmanshaft (Young Men's Mirer Society). The list also includes
names of people who probably have bought plots from the society. Mount Hebron
Cemetery - Block 65, Flushing, NY Mount Hebron
Cemetery - Block 67, Flushing, NY Mount Hebron
Cemetery - Block 5, Flushing, NY Mount Zion
Cemetery, Queens, NY
Mir History - "Mir - and The History of the Mir Yeshiva" - written in Hebrew http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~rkimble/Mirweb/MirYindex.html http://groups.msn.com/germangenealogy/alsacelorraine.msnw Mir, Novogrudok Uyezd, Minsk Guberniya 1816 Revision List http://www.jewishgen.org//belarus/info_mir.htm "Sefer Mir" (Mir Memorial Book) Regional Special Interest Groups Miory
Located 17 miles southwest of Drissa (Verkhnedvinsk) Mogilev (Michelon, Molow, Mohilov) In the 1890s, Mogilev was a city and a Guberniya unto itself and was part of Russia. By 1910, or so, Mogilev Guberniya was absorbed into Minsk guberniya.10,000 out of 20,000 Jews were murdered by the Nazis when they occupied this town on July 27, 1941. Tip: Many Mogilev families had branches in Bobruisk and in Gomel, according to Schelly Talalay Dardashti.
Birth, Death, Marriage, Divorce and Revision lists records are currently being translated by the BelarusSIG History of Mogilyov Oblast & Region - http://www.geocities.com/albaruthenia/IA/history.html Update on List of Mogilev Guberniya Records as found in the National Archives of Belarus (Minsk) Mogilev Birth Index
- Vital records before 1925, and documents before 1917 were earlier transferred to National Historical Archives of Belarus in Minsk. Concerning the Mogilev archives, in 1941, they were destroyed and 90 percent of the documents were lost. According to the rules currently in force, all documents are preserved in local archives for only 75 years, and after that are transferred to Minsk. Mogilev Jewish Cemetery - Jews continue to be buried in the Jewish cemetery. Leonid Plotkin (plotwa@tut.by) created a list of Jewish names on tombstones in the Mogilev cemetery. Mogilev - the Mormons have filmed the Index to Mogilev Boy Births from 1864-1894. The films are not easy to use without a familiarity of handwritten Cyrillic and/or Yiddish. The films include all births (both boys and girls) as well as deaths and marriages. Mogilev community leaders report that new burials are made each day over Jewish bones. Researchers around the world are uniting to battle cemetery desecration. More at: Historical Essay about Mogilev - Mogilev Vital records Contact Schelly Talalay Dardashti - Regional Special Interest Groups http://www.jewishgen.org/Shtetlinks/Belarus.html Molchad (Molchadz, Maytchet) - "Sefer Zikaron le-Kehillot Maytchet" - http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/translations.html Molodechno - History Monastyrshchina - a primarily Lubavitcher community. Elaine Bush @ Carleolady@aol.com has an interest in this town as well as Dudin. Motele (Motol) - located in the southern area of Grodno, Chaim Weitzman was born here. There is a web site dedicated to the 'Destruction of Motol' at Sam Fine's web page. You will need to scroll down a bit. Motol - Yizkor Book translation "Hurban Motele" (The Destruction of Motol) http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/translations.html Contact Vicki Polin - Regional Special Interest Groups http://www.jewishgen.org/Shtetlinks/Belarus.html Mozyr Uyezd 1907 Duma List - available at the Belarus SIG site http://www.jewishgen.org/belarus/ Mscibow - a small town, not far from Ruzhany, that shared a rabbi with Wolkovysk and Amstibov. There is a Yizkor Book which includes a hand drawn map - http://shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Belarus.html List of Immigrants to America You will also find 'Maps of Grodno Guberniyas' and a 1930 Map of the Mscibow Area along with pictures of families that immigrated to Moisesville, Argentina and other important links. Mscislaw - History when in Poland Mstislavl is in the Mogilev Guberniya and is called "Byelorussian Suzdal". It was one of the towns of Smolensk Principality. Until 1772, it was part of Poland/Lithuania. Myadel - this shtetl has been added to the ShtetLinks site http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/documentation/Policy.htm http://shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Belarus.html Nadyapreh, Mogilev is, in fact, Mogilev na Dniepre, i.e. Mogilev-on-Dnieper. It is not the Mogilev city located in the Podolia and is known as Mogilev Podolsk(y) Narach (Kobylnik) - contact is Nancy Holden Navahrudak - History of Nesvizh (Niesvizh, Neshviz ) - In the ghetto an uprising occurred prior to the mass execution of Jews on July 22, 1942. First hand information about this shtetl The Jewish Cemetery is located in the middle of the city and has no wall around it for protection. For a map of the area http://www.expediamaps.com/results.asp? Synagogue Photo "Sefer Nesvizh" - Regional Special Interest Groups Novo Aleksandrovsk aka Zarasai District Research Group - includes Novogrudok (Novogroduk, Nowogrodek, Navaredok) - Both strong Zionist and Bund groups originated and prospered in the town. The area shtetls include Baranovichi, Delyatchi, Gorodea, Lubtch, Lyakhovichi, Lyubcha, Nova Muzh, and Novogrudok. http://region.grodno.by/en/region/regions/Novogrudok http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=358&letter=N http://groups.msn.com/germangenealogy/alsacelorraine.msnw Inmates offered armed resistance in the ghetto before being murdered by the Nazis. Anatoly (Tuvya) Belsky was the principal behind the idea of organizing the escapes from many Western Belarusian ghettoes to Naliboki Forest. The main objective was not only resistance to the Nazis, but also to saving Jews. Information on the Jewish History of Lithuania, the Lida district (Uezd) and a photo of the former Great Synagogue of Novogrudok, maps, http://home.sprynet.com/~bernie06//famtree/fam-main.html Photo of the Great Synagogue http://www.webinfonet.net/heritage/polsynagog.htm
Touring
Yizkor Book - "Pinkas Navaredok"
[Navaredok Memorial Book) edited by E. Yerushalmi in Tel Aviv, includes
maps, portraits, facsimiles, in Hebrew and Yiddish. The book has been translated
http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Soc/soc.genealogy.jewish/2007-10/msg00027.htmlb
http://www.eilatgordinlevitan.com/novogrudok/novogrudok.html Susan Kulick and Richard Harkavy are the Shtetl Research Leaders for Novogrudok slkulick@mindspring.com and harkavyr@ajc.org The 1818 data is awaiting translations according to Marlene Bishow mlbishow@mindspring.com , Shtetl Research Project Manager Belarus Sig. Novyy Dvor (Nowy-Dwor) (LDRG) - "Sefer Zikaron le-Kehillot Szczuczyn, Wasiliszki, Ostryna, Nowy-Dwor, Rozanka" http://shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Belarus.html Regional Special Interest Groups Olita - The Grodno Archives is included in "Dokumentalnye materialy po istorii evreev v arkhivakh SNG istran Baltii: predvaritelnyi spisok arkhivnykh fondov" published by Akropol in St. Petersburg in 1994 - Olita is mentioned. Orel - Orlowa - "Sefer Zoludek ve-Orlowa; Galed le-Zikaron" (The Book of Zoludek (Zhelodok) and Orlowa; A Living memorial) Orlya (Orle) (LDRG) - The RTR (Routes to Routes) database indicated that there are Kahal/Jewish Community Records 1897 to 1900, however, the quoted price is $80 according to a posting by Rhoda Miller http://shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Belarus.html http://www.jewishgen.org/belarus/intro_1897_russian_census.htm Regional Special Interest Groups Orsha - halfway between Mogilev and Vitebsk. A young Jewish community is developing there according to a report from Eliyahu Tavger. Oshmiany (Oshmyany, Oshmina, Oszmiana) - located west of Molodetchno and 28 miles southeast of Vilna, Lithuania. In 1931, this was an agricultural processing center and had a population of 7,334. Residents were employed in hides, grains, hops and potatoes as well as making bricks and milled wood. There are ruins of a 17th century church. It was an old Rus settlement, which was captured successively by Lithuanians, Teutonic Knights and Poles. In 1795, it passed from Poland to Russia. In 1921, it reverted to Poland, and was ceded to Russia in 1945. An Oshmiany Association of the survivors from this town and surrounding area exists in Israel. They have erected a grave stone on the destroyed Jewish cemetery in Oshmiany in memory of the holocaust victims of this community. There is a Yizkor book "Sefer Zikaron le-Kehilat Oshmana" published in 1969 and is in English and Hebrew/Yiddish. Selma Neubauer SelmaN@aol.com has a copy of the English section. The 'Oshmiany Yizkor Book' is in English and Hebrew/Yiddish. There is a list of the types of genealogical records available at the State Archives of the Grodno region for the Oshmiany District from 1942-1944 at http://www.president.gov.by/gosarchives/egobl/eRoshmian_r.htm There is some information about the National Museum of Oshmiany "A Personal Journey" by Cheryl Pinkus, a first grade teacher who stopped at her grandmother's home town and took photographs at http://www.gfsnet.org/Publications/Winter% Photo of the Oshmiany synagogue is at http://www.ushmm.org/research/library/bibliography Postcards can be ordered from Boris Feldblyum and Tomasz Wisniewski Ossipovich (Issopovich, Assipovich) - a small village where my wife's Smolkin family emigrated from. The family owned an apple orchard. Ostrovets (Ostrovec, Astravec) - located about 26 miles East of Vilnius and nearly 14 miles North of Oshmiany in Vilna Guberniya, now in Belarus. There is a Oshmiany Research Group in JewishGen. Ostryna (Ostrin) (LDRG) - "Sefer Zikaron le-Kehillot Szczuczyn, Wasiliszki, Ostryna, Nowy Dwor, Rozanka" - http://shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Belarus.html Regional Special Interest Groups Ozery - located in Grodno Province. Civil registries from the Synagogue for the years 1850-1944 have not survived according to a letter received by Robert Mandelbaum rmandelbau@aol.com Parafianov - located 6 miles west of Dokshitz on a rail line and information may be included in the Dokshitz-Parafianov Yizkor Book http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/dokshitsy/Dokshitz.html http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/dokshitsy/dok195.html Piaski (Piesk) - located in Piesk township, Volkovysk district capital, now in Grodno Oblast. A Yizkor book has been updated "Pyesk ve-Most; Sefer Yizkor" - Update from "History of the Jews in the Bukowina," ("Geschichte der Juden in der Bukowina,") Pinsk Pinsk - a well done history of The Jewish Community of Pinsk in English http://www.geocities.com/albaruthenia/IA/history.html Dorshei Tov Anshei Pinsk - later changed to Ezras Achim Bnei Pinsk. From a posting by Jerry Seligsohn on JewishGen jselig3460@aol.com Pinsk Cemetery is now only a fenced-off area. See Belarus Law above. Pinsk Landsmanshaftn name lists There is a 1906 Pinsk Uyezd Duma List and a 1906 Pinsk City Duma List Pinsk Records from the Soviet Extraordinary Commission: Contact Adam Davis - Regional Special Interest Groups http://www.jewishgen.org/Shtetlinks/Belarus.html Plisa - The Disna Uyezd Research Group announced the availability of the translation of the 1850 Revision List for the benefit of DURG members. Contact Batya Matzkin Olsen batya@netsynthesis.com for information. Translations are now available for Bildyugi, Diszna, Glubokoye, Postavy, Plisa and Sharkovshina. Bildyugi (Bilziugi) and Diszna are already in the ALD, Glebokie (Glubokoye) and Postavy will be added in the near future. Plotnitsa - the cemetery site is mostly under water. See Belarus Law above. Pogost - located near Disna and is still occupied. There is the towns of Novy Pahost and Stary Pahost nearby. Polatsk (Polatsk) Polotsk) History, Princedom, Map http://www.geocities.com/albaruthenia/IA/history.html Jerome Seligsohn jselig3460@aol.com is researching this shtetl Polotzker
Workingman's Benevolent Society Regional Special Interest Groups - Contact Dan Garnitz http://www.jewishgen.org/Shtetlinks/Belarus.html http://www.jewishgen.org/belarus/shtetls/shtetl_detail.php?filename=spolotskpv Societies
at Mount Zion Cemetery Porozow
Porzwye, among
others, is a small town
located at 52° 56' north
latitude, 24° 22' east
longitude in modern-day
Belarus. It is located 17
miles SSW of Wolkowysk (Volkovysk),
a city in West Belarus.
There's a lot of information
at this site.
Translations are now available for Bildyugi, Diszna, Glubokoye, Postavy, Plisa and Sharkovshina. Bildyugi (Bilziugi) and Diszna are already in the ALD, Glebokie (Glubokoye) and Postavy will be added in the near future. Propoisk (Prapoisk) Now known as Slawharad Pruzhany
Located near Antopol and Bereza. Their is a resource site for this shtetl and the surrounding area. Pruzhany is in the Grodno Province and includes: Pruzhany, Shershev, Kartuz-Bereza, Selts, Lineve, Marlch and a few other small towns. E-mail cpsa@iname.com http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~cpsa/cpsa.htm
A Historical-Genealogical Project in Pruzhany, Belarus - History of Pruzhany - "Pinkas Me-Hamish Kehillot Harevot" (Memorial Book of Five Destroyed Communities) - PURS (Pruzhany Uyezd Research Society) that they have added to their website: 1910 House Owners Inventory - Bereza and the 9th and 10th Revision Lists from Bereza. They are also acquiring these lists:
Township of Bereza-Kartuzskaia: The data listed above and the data already on the PURS website is made possible through a paid subscription ($25 a year) to PURS. PURS includes research from the five major towns of the Pruzhany District in Grodno Guberniya, Russia now Belarus, including Pruzhany, Kartuz Bereza (Bereza), Selets, Malch and Shershev. The web site for PURS is Puchavitchi - Contact is Elaine Weinstein Nippo Radoshkowitz (Radoshkovichi Radoshkovich)- located in the Vileyka Uyezd, Vilna Guberniya. There were 455 Jews in 1765, 1,701 in 1847; 1,519 (58.9% of the total population) in 1897 and 1,215 (49.4%) in 1921. At the beginning of WWI I there were about 1,200 Jews. Litvak Genealogy Mailing List Discussion Group "Sefer Yizkor le-Kehillot Radomsk ve-ha-Seviva" (Memorial Book of the Community of Radomsk and Vicinity) - There is an excellent site with a lot of detail at http://eilatgordinlevitan.com/radoshkovichi/radoshkovichi.html Radun (LDRG) - Regional Special Interest Groups http://www.jewishgen.org/Shtetlinks/Belarus.html http://shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Belarus.html Rakhov (Rahachow) - located about a 20 minute drive from Minsk. There is a large cemetery with an estimated 500 intact stones. Three tombstones are made out of millstones. There is a wall around it, and a foundation stone in the wall has a date of 1922 on it. A recent report states that the cemetery is being used as a soccer field. Many tombstones have been overturned and goalposts placed on the territory of the cemetery. Burials have taken place in the cemetery as recently as the 1980s. Official protests have been made to Belarus officials. Bruce Kahn has a searchable photographic database of this and many other cemeteries at Birth, Death, Marriage, Divorce and Revision lists records are currently being translated by the BelarusSIG Rechitsa Region - Rezhitsa - (Recki, Reczki, Rechki, Rzhechki) map coordinates 5435-2706, 50.8 mi NNW of Minsk, 6.4 mi from Kurenets, 14.0 mi. from Ilya. If that is the reference, I have more information. There are about 9 Rechitsas in Belarus and besides a Rezhitsa Rogachev - formerly in Ukraine, but now in Belarus. It is 94 km northwest of Gomel. Romanova - a list of the 1874 Revision list Romanovo - Contact Sherry Warman - Regional Special Interest Groups Rozenoy - a small shtetl in Grodno Guberniya. Yizkor Book information can be found in the Grodno SIG site Rozhanka (Rozanka)
Located about 120 miles West of Minsk. It
had a small Jewish population of about 550 people. http://shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Belarus.html Jewish Vital Records for certain towns in Lida District are available from the Mormons for particular years including the 1899 Death Records. It did not have many deaths in that year.
"Sefer Zikaron le-Kehillot Szczuczyn, Wasiliszki, Ostryna, Nowy Dwor, Rozanka (Community of Rozanka) - Regional Special Interest Groups Rubezhevichi -
Birth, Death, Marriage, Divorce and Revision lists records are currently being translated by the BelarusSIG Ruzhany (Rozinoi) - A transliteration of 2,780 Jews who perished in and around Ruzhany and environs has been completed. In addition to name, additional details may include maiden name, sex, marital status, father's name, mother's name, spouse, residence, children and other comments. Environs include Liskovo, Kalazuby, Kolyany, Sheypyak, Konstantynowo and Pavlova. There is no search engine, Polish spellings are recommended Samokhvalovichi - A small dorf
located just south of Minsk. http://www.maplandia.com/belarus/minsk/samokhvalovichi/
http://www.traveljournals.net/explore/belarus/map/m2719336/ Scadryn - Regional Special Interest Groups http://www.jewishgen.org/Shtetlinks/Belarus.html Selets - See also PURS (Pruzhany Uyezd Research Society) under Pruzhany above Seliba (Seriby) Jewish Farmers and the Laws http://www.jewishgen.org/belarus/shtetls/shtetl_detail.php?filename=sselibaim Resources
Senno (Syenno) - located in the Syennot Uyezd 6.6 miles East of Syenno. Birth, Death, Marriage, Divorce and Revision lists records are currently being translated by the BelarusSIG The Senno Uyezd, including the town of Senno and these shtetls: Tolochin, Bobr, Krupki, Tchereja, Lukoml, Ostrovna, Zarechny, Obchugi/Obchugi. To join the group contact Vivian Levensohn, WI vivian@nconnect.net Sharkovshina - The Disna Uyezd Research Group announced the availability of the translation of the 1850 Revision List for the benefit of DURG members. Contact Batya Matzkin Olsen batya@netsynthesis.com for information. Translations are now available for Bildyugi, Diszna, Glubokoye, Postavy, Plisa and Sharkovshina. Bildyugi (Bilziugi) and Diszna are already in the ALD, Glebokie (Glubokoye) and Postavy are to be added Shchedrin - (Schedrin, Shedrin, Shchedrino, Scadryn, Shchedryn, Shtchedrin, Zhedrin, Chedrin, Schzedvin, Liedrin, Czedrin) located in Minsk Guberniya. There is quite a bit of information, not only about this shtetl, but also about families from this town and other genealogical information. Also, there is a link to the Shchedrin e-mail list http://shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Belarus.html Shchuchin (Stuchin) (LDRG) - information may be available at http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/translations.html http://shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Belarus.html Regional Special Interest Groups Shershev PURS (Pruzhany Uyezd Research Society) was investigating the possibility of restoring the cemetery. "Old vertical stones were found here and in Vysokoe. Here more than a thousand Jewish stones are in good condition".
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ http://www.ianwatson.org/personal_genealogy.html http://www.pruzhanydistrict.com.ar/people_sub/zazulyer%20shershev.htm Shilovich - Located in Slonim Province. Civil registries from the Synagogue for the years 1850-1944 have not survived according to a letter received by Robert Mandelbaum rmandelbau@aol.com Shklov - A town in the
Mogilev Province of
Belarus,
located 35 km north of
Mogilev on the
Dnieper river. It has a railway station on the line between
Orsha
and
Mogilev. The population is 13,282 (2007estimate) Skidel - located in Grodno Guberniya. Civil registries from the Synagogue for the years 1850-1944 have not survived according to a letter received by Robert Mandelbaum rmandelbau@aol.com http://shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Belarus.html Regional Special Interest Groups Slonim - located in the greater vicinity of Bialystok in the region formerly known as White Russia and now in western Belarus The Slonim Synagogue, listed by the World Monument Fund as the most important Jewish structure in East Europe requiring restoration, has long been in a state of disrepair. It is still standing in the center of the city. It was spared from destruction by both the Luftwaffe and the Soviet Air Force because of its utility as a landmark for aerial navigation. After the war it was used as a warehouse and for the past two decades it has been empty. The entire Jewish population of 39,000 people, plus 2,000 Jews from surrounding areas were murdered during the war. For further information, contact Franklin J. Swartz, Executive Director, East European Jewish heritage Project, eejhp@yahoo.com Civil registries from the Synagogue for the years 1850-1944 have not survived according to a letter received by Robert Mandelbaum rmandelbau@aol.com Regional Special Interest Groups Slovatyche (Slovatichi) Located SE
from Volkovysk. The town was once in Poland prior to
WW II. Once at this site, search for Slovatyche Slutzk (Slutsk) At one time, this town was Polish, another time Lithuanian and now is in Belarus. It has been a prominent center of Jewish life since the 16th century and the home of many prominent rabbis. In the late 1890s, 77 percent of the town's population were Jews. There is a Jewish cemetery in this town located about 60 miles south of Minsk, the capital city. In 2002, a mass grave with the remains of up to 12,000 people killed during WW II has been found on a military base in Slutsk. Residents of the area stated that Nazis executed Jews from Slutsk and prisoners from a nearby concentration camp at the site from 1942 to 1944. http://shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Belarus.html Birth, Death, Marriage, Divorce and Revision lists records are currently being translated by the BelarusSIG Further information may be available at Slutsk - Yizkor Book translation "Pinkas Slutsk u-Benoteha" (Slutsk and Vicinity Memorial Book) - http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/translations.html Records of Real Estate Possessors, 1905-06, Nesvizh, Slutsk Uyezd, Minsk Guberniya Slutsk 1816 Revision List - Contact Margot Tutun - Regional Special Interest Groups http://www.jewishgen.org/Shtetlinks/Belarus.html Smolyany 22 km northwest of Orsha which is exactly halfway between Mogilev and Vitebsk. Smorgon (Polish Smorgonie)
A town in the Vileyka region between Minsk and Vilna. The history of the shtetl can be found at It is now located in the Grodno Oblast. It was passed from Poland to Russia in 1793; between 1921 and 1945 it was within independent Poland. From the 16th century until the second half of the 19th century, the town was the private property of the princes of Radziwill. Jewish settlement in Smorgon is believe to date from the early 17th century. From 1628, the Jews of Smorgon paid their taxes to the community administration of Grodno. In 1631, the community of Smorgon became the center of a Galil (Province) within the framework of the Council of Lithuania. The autonomous status of the community was confirmed in 1651. In 1765, there were 649 Jews who paid their poll tax. During the 1830s, a Jewish agricultural settlement, Karka, with 30 farmsteads, was established near the town. On the eve of WWI, 40 Jewish families worked on the land. In 1847 there were 1,621 Jews in the city. In the 1860s, a tanning industry was begun in the town as a result of Jewish initiative. In addition, the Jews earned their livelihoods from carpentry, the knitting of socks, the baking of bagels (famous throughout Russia), retail trade and peddling. From 1899, a Zionist organization was active in the town and in 1905, a branch of the SS (Zionist Socialist Workers' Party) was established. In 1897, there were 6,743 Jews (76% of the population). On the eve of WW I, there were two battei Midrah, seven synagogues, three elementary Yeshivot and a Jewish hospital in the town. a part of the town's Jewish population were Chabad Chasidim. In 1915, during WW I, many of the Jews were expelled to the Russian interior. Jewish refugee tanners from Smorgon, founded the tanning industries in Kharkov, Rostov and Bogorodsk. When Smorgon reverted to Independent Poland after WW I, the Jewish refugees began to return to their destroyed homes. Between the two World Wars, a Hebrew Tarbut school; a Drama Circle (Bamati), sports clubs; Zionist youth circles and branches of Po'alei Zion, He-Chalutz and Betar function in the town.
During the fall of 1915, there was a pogrom. The Jews were forced to leave. Jews without funds to emigrate were allowed to take the train east, in the direction of Siberia and Harbin. Regional Special Interest Groups The spiritual leaders of the community during the early second half of the 18th century included the Rabbi of the community, R. Chayim Cohen. In 1827-28, the town Rabbi was the renowned Manasseh B. Joseph of Ilya, a native of Smorgon. Subsequently, a dynasty of rabbis descended from R. Leib Shapira, established themselves in the town. From 1910 to 1917, Judah Leib Gordin, the author of Teshuvat Yehudah, held rabbinical office in the town. Nahum Slouschz, the author of Aaron Abraham Kabak, the Yiddish poet Moshe Kulbak, and David Raziel, commander of the Irgun Tzevai Le'ummi, were natives of Smorgon. In September 1939, the Red Army entered the town and a Soviet Administration was established until the outbreak of the German-Soviet War in June 1941. When the Germans occupied the town, they established two ghettos in different places there. In the summer of 1942, some Jews were sent to Kovno (Kaunas) and shared the fate of that community, while the others were sent to Ponary (near Vilna) and were killed there. After the war, the Jewish community of Smorgon was not reconstituted. An organization of former residents of Smorgon was formed in Israel. From a posting by Samuel Arutt. Snitkov - (Snitkiv)
A former Podolia shtetl, now a Ukrainian town located east of Kamenets-Podol'sk and southwest of Vinnitsa and Zhmerinka. You can locate it at Mapquest, A Snitkov web page is being developed. Contact is Michelle Frager Sopockin (Sopotskin) - Regional Special Interest Groups Sopotkin - "Korot Ayara Ahat; Megilat ha-Sigsug ve-ha-Hurban Shel Kehillot Sopotkin" (Sopotkin; In Memory of the Jewish Community) http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/translations.html Stolbsty (Steibst) - before 1917 Regional Special Interest Groups Suchowola (Souchowolny) - located near Bialystok in Grodno Guberniya Svir - The cemetery in Svir is now restored. The East European Jewish Heritage Project in cooperation with the Restoration of Eastern European Jewish Cemeteries Project, Inc provides this restoration service at cost. For more information eejhp@voluntas.org Svisloch - there are two Svisloch s in Belarus. One is about 40 miles north of Bobruysk and at the junction of the Svislich and Berazina rivers. The other Svisloch is closer to Pinsk. Both are also known as Svislovitch or Svislich. One Svisloch, located near Mscibow, shared a rabbi. Szczuczyn - (Shtutshin) there is a Yizkor Book - "Sefer Zikaron le-Kehillot Szczuczyn" - Telekhany - the Yizkor Book has been completely translated - "Telekhany" (Telekhan Memorial Book) - Tolochin - Located about 44 miles northwest of Mogilev and near Orsha. Read "Irving Berlin: American Troubadour", authored by Edward Jablonski in 1999, which opens with a description of how a Jewish Family was able to emigrate to America in 1893 and includes a detailed itinerary mapped out by the Pris based Alliance Israelite Universelle included. The "Temporary Rules" on Jews instituted by Czar Alexander III is also discussed in the book. Tolochin is one of the shtetls under the umbrella of the Senno Shtetl Research Group. The Senno Uyezd, including the town of Senno and these shtetls: Tolochin, Bobr, Krupki, Tchereja, Lukoml, Ostrovna, Zarechny, Obchugi/Obchugi. To join the group contact Vivian Levensohn, WI vivian@nconnect.net Traube - a small one road town. It is mentioned in "A Personal Journey" authored by Cheryl Pinkus, a first grade teacher who travel there and took photos of her trip. She mentions that the remains of the synagogue and the old Jewish cemetery are viewable Traby (LDRG) - "Sefer Zikaron le-Kehillot Iwie" (In Memory of the Jewish Community of Iwie) http://shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Belarus.html Regional Special Interest Groups Tsikhovolya (Tichovlia, Tsikhovolya, Chichavolja) - was located in Grodno Guberniya, about 20 miles SW of Vaukavysk and about 20 miles NW of Pruzhany. It is very close to the Polish border. Volkavisk Administrative District. Tuchinka - In the ghetto, an uprising occurred prior to the mass execution of Jews on September 23, 1942. Turov - before the 1917 revolution, it was a shtetl of the Mozyr District (Uyezd) of the Minsk region (Guberniya). Now it is a little town of the Zhitkovichi district (Raion) of the Gomel region (Oblast). There is a Mozyr Regional Archive and a Turov Town Museum. Tykocin (Tiktin) - a village in the province of Bialystok. There is an early Baroque masonry synagogue built in 1642 and restored between 1974 and 1978. The synagogue was not destroyed during WW II, although the Nazis did ruin the interior and the women's section according to the Encyclopedia Judaica, No. 15. It is now a museum. A memorial book, Sefer Tykocin, was published in Tel-Aviv in 1949. Archive Coordinator Mark Halpern Willie46@aol.com and Richard Hoffman RHHOFFMAN@WORLDNET.ATT.NET Ulla - our Minneapolis Rabbi, David Aronson was born here. The shtetl is still in existence. Genealogical records for Ulla District, 1928, 1930 - 1931 Do a Google (see the top of this page) for Ulla, Belarus and you will find a number of interesting links Regional Special Interest Groups Ushachi (Ushatz) - Regional Special Interest Groups http://www.jewishgen.org/Shtetlinks/Belarus.html Usvyaty (Ushatz) - located in Vitebsk Guberniya. Usvyaty vital records http://shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Belarus.html Valozyn - Contact Abraham Seno Bril - Regional Special Interest Groups Vashki Vasilishki (Wasiliszki, Vasiliski) (LDRG) - located in the Lida Uyezd, Vilna-Grodno Guberniya, Belarus. In 1920 it had 1,223 inhabitants. Information can be found at http://shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Belarus.html http://groups.msn.com/germangenealogy/alsacelorraine.msnw "Sefer Zikaron le-Kehillot Szczuczyn, Wasiliszki, Ostryna, Nowy Dwor, Rozanka" Regional Special Interest Groups Vetka - Vetka Gomelski is Vetka - (a little town) - near - Gomel. Vetka is at 52 degrees 32 minutes North, 31 degrees 10 minutes East, or 11.6 miles northeast of Gomel (5225 N, 3100 E) . Vidz (Vidzy/ Widze/ Vidge )
Located about 125 miles north of Vilna,
a Yizkor book has been published which contains over 500 pages of which,
about one half is in Yiddish, and the rest in Hebrew, with some English. It
is now part of Belarus
"Sefer Vidz; Ayara Be-Hayeha uve-Khilayonah" (Widze Memorial Book) - Vileyka -
Located in the Vileyka Uyezd, Vilna Guberniya. Photos and information with some names are available at this site. Check out this site http://eilatgordinlevitan.com/vileyka/vileyka.html Vishnevo (Vishnova, Vishnevo- see also Vishnive) ("Pamiat")
A shtetl in the District of Novogrudok and between the World Wars, was part of Poland. There is an informative and interesting site where you will find history of the shtetl, old photos, stories, links and a list of Vishnevo Martyrs. 500 out of a total of 712 in 1907 were Jews that lived here at the time. There is a Yizkor Book available (in English) at http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/vishnevo/vis159.html Shimon Peres (Shimon Perski) was born there in 1912. Jewish Cemetery of Vishnevo - a clean up effort is underway. If interested, contact: Ms. Zane Buzby, cbmail@earthlink.net or Dvora & Uri Helberg helberg@netvision.net Regional Special Interest Groups Vishnive (Vishnevo, Vishnev, Wishnev, Wiszniev) - located in the district of Novogrudok, Byelorussia, between the two world wars. It was founded in the 14th century on the banks of the River Olshinka. "On Sunday, Elul 17th, 5702, (8/30/1942), the Vishnive ghetto was annihilated. The church bells began ringing early in the morning, announcing to the gentiles of the surrounding villages about the slaughter. By the thousands, they poured into town, filled its streets and gathered near the synagogue. They watched the victims burning, some still alive." (from the Vishnive Memorial Book), published in Israel, 1972. A web site, based on the memories about this shtetl, was the basis entitled "The Shtetl and I", which I found very interesting at Another interesting site, including photos, burial information, map and comments by former residents is at Vitebsk - some 20,000 out of 37,000 Jews were killed by the Nazis after the town was occupied on July 11, 1941. Vitebsk Guberniya - North of Minsk. The city of Vitebsk sits by the western Dvina River. It was the capital of the Vitebsk Guberniya, one of the districts which had been divided up by the Russian Tsarist. The population, at one time had around seventy thousand with a substantial portion being Jewish. This made it the tenth largest Jewish city in the Pale. Much is available about this area and city and can be found at: http://lide.pruvodce.cz/federn/dy/vitebsk.htm http://beljewhist.virtualave.net/Vitebsk.htm
Old Vitebsk - Vitebsk Cemetery available at the Belarus SIG site Vitebsk Guberniya Map - Regional Special Interest Groups Volchin Located about 35 kilometers northwest of Brest and a nearby village of Chernavchich (Czernawczyce, Chernavchitsy) which is 10 kilometers from Brest. "Bashert: A Granddaughter's Holocaust Quest" - authored by Andrea Simon and published by University Press of Mississippi Willie Morris Books in Memoir and Biography American Jewish writer exposes Brona Gora massacre and Holocaust tragedy. When Andrea Simon separated from her American tour group to hunt for ancestral traces in the village of Volchin in Belarus, she met a tragedy no one had written about. $28.00, hardback, Volkovysk Jewish records have been found in three different countries - Poland, Russia and Belarus and five different archives.
www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0020_0_20488. http://archives.gov.by/eng/index.php?id=689300 Volntzach - Located in Dryssenskogo Uyezd in the province of Vitebsk Volojin Contact Eilat Levitan Regional Special Interest Groups http://www.jewishgen.org/Shtetlinks/Belarus.html www.varchive.org/dy/vitebsk.htm www.eilatgordinlevitan.com/volozhin/vol_pages/vol_gb_archive1.html Volozhin (Voloshin and in Polish, Wolzyn) Now located in the south Molodechno oblast. It is about 31 miles south of the city of Molodechno ,and west of Minsk and northeast of Nowogrodek. Jews were living in this shtetl from the 16th century. In 1766 there were 383 Jews and in 1921 there were 1,434 out of a total population of 5,600. Industry of the area consisted of tanning, flour milling, cement block manufacturing, and bricks. In 1793 it was acquired by Russia and in 1921 it was returned to Poland, but in 1945 it became part of mother Russia. From 1802 until 1939 it had a yeshiva. The yeshiva was closed by the Russian government. The Orthodox Jewish Archives of Agudath Israel of America, located at 84 William St., New York, NY 10038 may have some information about the yeshiva. There is a Yizkor Book available at A excellent and informative site, offering photos, maps and stories of the shtetl is available at www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/volozhin/vol962.html Contact Eilat Levitan - Regional Special Interest Groups http://www.jewishgen.org/Shtetlinks/Belarus.html Volpa - a web site is in development Voronovo (Voronova, Woronow, Worenowo) (LDRG) - Lida District. On May 8, 1942 the Nazis killed most of the Jews. Chaim Goldman is head of the Lida Survivors Association of Israel and lives in Netanya, Israel. http://shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Belarus.html Regional Special Interest Groups Yanow - "Janow al Yad Pinsk; Sefer Zikaron" (Yanow near Pinsk; Memorial Book) - Zaludok (Zheloudek/Zheludok/Zholodek/Zholudok/Zoludek/Jelawdik) is located in the former Lida Uezd - second Uchastok, formerly the Vilna Guberniya, later the Grodno Guberniya. There is a Yizkor book "Sefer Zoludek ve-Orlowa: Galed le-Zikaron. The English title is: Book of Zoludek and Orlowa; A Living Memorial. Editor was A. Meyerowitz and published in Tel-Aviv in 1967. Included is a necrology ... a listing of the dead. "Sefer Zoludek ve-Orlowa; Galed le-Zikaron" (The Book of Zoludek (Zhelodok) and Orlowa; A Living memorial) - Zaslavi - During February 2003, while cleaning town dump of Zaslavi (a former shtetl which is located 35 km far from Minsk), 26 Jewish monuments were found. It was determined that before the war the Zaslavi Jewish cemetery was located where the dump is now located. At present the cemetery is considered as completely destroyed. According to local citizens who gave this information and brought some pictures, there is a good possibility that a larger number of monuments can be found when the weather conditions improve in the spring. Zaverezhye - located across a narrow dirt road from Vorotinschitina and very close to Mogilev. Zeitel (Zetil) - the Jewish cemetery was destroyed during the Soviet period. Zelva - (Polish Zelwa) - is located east of Bialystok and close to Volkavisk (Volkovysk) and Derechin and in the Grodno area. Its inhabitants engaged in dairying, flour milling, sawmilling and were also involved with lime and brickworks. It has a train station. Zembin is a small shtetl. A website indicating the translations of headstone in the Zembin cemetery Zheludok (Zoludek) (LDRG) - Regional Special Interest Groups http://www.jewishgen.org/Shtetlinks/Belarus.html http://shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Belarus.html Zhirmuny (Zyrmuny) - Zhlobin - formerly Mogilev Guberniya in the 19th century. Alex Friedman has been working on an article of this shtetl Alex_Friendman@softhome.net Zhuprany - is located near to Oshmiany. Zhirmuny (Zyrmuny) (LDRG) - Regional Special Interest Groups http://www.jewishgen.org/Shtetlinks/Belarus.html
See also my 'Traveling Roots' page Click Here Airfare Information - try some of these sites, if you are planning a trip to Europe: Belarus Travel Mailing List - if you would like to make a personal contact, Joe Walker can put you in touch with some of his friends in Bobruysk, Gomel and Minsk. e-mail joe_walker_2000@yahoo.com To subscribe: BelarusTravel-subscribe@onelist.com Car Rental Information - it is impossible, (as late as 1998) to rent a car in Belarus Cheat Sheet for Travelers to obtain currency exchange rates along with FAQs East European Jewish Heritage Project - offers assistance in independent travel including accommodations, transportation, guides and interpreters. Contact: Frank Swartz, Executive Director, East European Jewish Heritage Project, 13b Dauman Street, Minsk 220002, Republic of Belarus. Phone/Fax: +375 17 234 5612/234 33 60 Green Castle Agency - consultations are free of charge. The company offers their services, which include genealogical researches in various archives, photographs and or videos and CDs of the village of interest as well as providing excursions. They have excellent contacts with genealogists in Belarus, Russian and Ukraine Guide - Unless you can read or understand Russian, you most definitely need a guide. In Your Pocket Guide - a wonderful, detailed commercial travel site that offers much information about the history and current traveling conditions in the country, along with city map information Money - Travelers checks should be exchanged at banks for cash. There are a few ATM machines in Minsk and there are places that will accept credit cards including many banks, stores and restaurants. The currency is the Belarusian ruble (BR). The ruble is the money used in Belarus. Warning, be careful of street people approaching you to exchange rubles for dollars. You risk big problems with the police. Bring one dollar bills along with $20 dollar bills. They both are quite acceptable currency. There are legitimate currency exchanges opened in larger cities. You can also get rubles from a bank that accepts credit cards as there are no ATM machines. I ran into an experience in Ukraine, that may be happening in Belarus. It has to do with exchanging $100 bills for rubles. Unless the $100 are fairly new, the banks, and the street exchangers frown on accepting them, especially the older bills. Those were easier to copy. I brought mostly $20 bills along with many singles. Personal Services available - Anatoly Neverov offers his services for a variety of considerations of a traveler, including providing an invitation to visit Belarus, a guide, delivering parcels, and a whole lot more at his web site http://belarus.virtualave.net/neverov.htm There are four direct trains from Minsk to Grodno. There is also a direct bus route connecting these towns. It takes about five hours by bus to Grodno. It is also possible to go from Poland to Grodno and Minsk from Poland, but it is more expensive and takes longer. Train Schedules can be searched at Deutsche Bahn web site Routes To Roots - Miriam Wiener's outstanding and informative site offers travel advice and also visits to your shtetl on your behalf at Visa Information - you will need an invitation to visit Belarus, along with a current visa. Contact the nearest Belarusian Embassy for obtaining your invitation. A phone call first to the Embassy would be in order to verify that you will be invited. A Visa is required as is an "Invitation" to visit Belarus from a friend, business, hotel. You can request an Express single-entry visa, which can be processed within an hour, but costs about $120. The regular visa processing time takes longer. Vyttours - located in New York City, often seems to have better pricing than the larger web companies 718 423 6161 or vyttours@earthlink.net Yulik Guvitch offers his services as a guide. He has helped guide some well known celebrities touring Belarus and Lithuania. Yulik speaks fluent Hebrew, Yiddish and English. Though I have not met Yulik, or used his services, I have been in correspondence with him
Note: Please let me know if there is a favorite link of yours that is not included in my site and I will be happy to add it to Jewish Web Index | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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