International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies - Cemetery Project

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BELARUS


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THE CEMETERIES L


LACHOWICZE: see LYAKHOVICHI
LACKOVICHI: see LYAKHOVICHI
LACHW: see LAKHVA

LAHISHYN:
[Source: Swartz fjs@voluntas.org ] Located at 5220 2559 in 126.5 miles SSW of Minsk, formerly Pinsk uezd, Minsk guberniya. Alternate names: LOGASHIN, LOGICHIN, LOGISHIN, LOGISHYN, LOHISZYM

LAKHVA:
Located at 5213 2706, 117.8 miles S of Minsk. Alternate name: LACHWA. Lachwa has a memorial with the names of those that perished at the hands of the Nazis. Source: Larry Gaum; e-mail: lgaum@total.net
http://www.jewishgen.org/belarus/newsletter/luninets.htm [October 2000]

LENINO:
[Source: Swartz fjs@voluntas.org ] Gomel Oblast

LENINSKIY RAYON:
Located at 5354 3021, 113.2 miles E of Minsk in Mogilev Oblast, formerly Mogilev uezd, Mogilev guberniya. Alternate names: MOGILEW, MAHILYOW, MOHILEV, MOGILEV. Also see Vorotinschina, which is 18 km SW. Source: Charlotte Guthmann Opfermann.
     Recent visitors [date?] report that the Jewish cemetery is in terrible condition and that graves are routinely disturbed. Two former synagogues in the town, which once had forty Jewish houses of worship, remain in the hands of sports clubs despite efforts for the past nine years by the local Jewish community to obtain their return. The only Jewish cemetery in Mogilev is in the very center of the town. The local authorities take no care of the cemetery; and the Jewish organizations have no money to put it in order. It was officially closed some 15 years ago [date] but nowadays a lot of people of different backgrounds get permission to be buried there at a price. The old graves are opened. Bodies are thrown out of them; and new coffins are put in. It is not unusual to see bones around the site. Source: Bella Nayyer via Dave Fox fox@erols.com via Samuel Gruber at sdgruber@mailbox.syr.edu .
     Mogilev cemetery was destroyed during the war. After the war, Jews were buried in main Mogilev cemetery. I am trying to get a description from recent Mogilev émigrés. Source: Schelly Dardashti, JGS of Southern Nevada: dardasht@barak-online.net [2000]
     "Today, however, it is has been almost emptied of Jews through emigration in the first half of the 20th century, decimation during the Holocaust and renewed emigration since the fall of communism./ Only some 3,500 Jews remain in the Moghilev, about 1 percent of the total population./ Endemic anti-Semitism at the state level does not help the situation./ Authorities refuse to return former synagogues to the Jewish community, and Moghilev's Jewish cemetery has repeatedly been desecrated. The remaining members of the Jewish community walk past the remnants of their architectural heritage — which now serve as leisure centers — and can only imagine their past./...Nevertheless, Moghilev's Jewish community is slowly reviving its traditions. ...Victor Shpuntov's [head of Jewish community] ...the first Shabbat service held in Moghilev in seven decades, organized by a British charity, Jewish Chernobyl Children, an organization that works to help Jewish children living in the areas affected by the 1986 nuclear disaster in nearby Ukraine./...Jewish Chernobyl Children can be contacted in Britain by telephone at 44-208-368-7782 or 44-208-209- 0031." Source: © Jewish Telegraphic Agency Inc. Jewish Telegraphic Agency Inc. to see complete article entitled"AROUND THE JEWISH WORLD After communism and Chernobyl, Belarus Jews struggle for rebirth by Niki Austin. [15 Jan 2001]

LEPEL: see LYEPYEL'

LIDA:
http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/lida/lida.html
Yizkor Book [October 2000]
http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Lida-District/lida-dist.htm [July 2001]
http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Lida-District/lida-city/postcards.htm Old postcards including one of the former cemetery. [September 2002]
http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Lida-District/lida-city/stone.htm Photo of last gravestone in Lida. [September 2002]
http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Lida-District/lida-city/cemetery.htm Photos of the cemetery, now a park       "Right after the occupation of the city of Lida by the Germans, the liquidation of the Jewish Cemetery began. Farmers from the neighborhood began to pasture their cows and later began to the smash gravestones and take stones for their private use. It went on like that also after the war with no interference.
      In the mid-1950s, the city council forbade the few Jewish families that resided in Lida to bury their dead there. With no other alternative, they had to carry them to the cemetery in the town Ivye. The fast liquidation of the cemetery in Lida started at the beginning of the 60s. First, they destroyed the section closest to the shore of Lidzhika River with digging machinery. They dug [foundations] and built warehouses and various constructions for boats, speedboats and services for the artificial lake that was made with the waters of the Lidzhika River at the end of Postovska Street. After that, they also destroyed the section of the cemetery bordered on Postovska Street and broke the gravestones that still remained. All of this was done despite the protest of the Jews who still lived in the city. Many human bones were scattered on the surface of the ground. The Jews picked them up into a sack and buried them in the cemetery section that still survived at that time. At the end of January 1966, only a few gravestones were left at the center of the cemetery and even those were destroyed later.
    Thus, the last remaining sign that evidenced the existence of a large and flourishing Jewish community in the city Lida was destroyed and obliterated."
    Source: http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/lida/lid374.html [May 2001]
    UPDATE: http://www.jewishgen.org/belarus/newsletter/centerpiece.htm Scroll down to find cemetery and mass grave information and photo. [October 2003]

LIPNISZKI:
http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Lida-District/lip-cem.htm
    UPDATE: http://radzima.org/pub/pomnik.php?lang=en&nazva_id=hrniulipn03 has photos of the Jewish cemetery. [March 2007]

LOGISHIN: see LAHISHYN

LUBAN:
Alternate name: Lyuban. Located at 5237 2908 E in Minsk Oblast, formerly Bobruisk uezd, Minsk guberniya, about 40 km due S of Babroisk and 109.7 miles SE of Minsk. In 1992, Bernard R. Moskowitz visited Luban and the one living Jew in town. He visited the mass grave and the Jewish cemetery. This cemetery was desecrated and destroyed by German tanks. He saw some twenty to thirty graves with gravestones, all post-World War II. The Jewish community numbered 1,500 out of a town with a population of 3,000 in 1940. Source: Bernard R Moskowitz; bm007@csc.albany.edu
     Lyuban Jewish cemetery has two corners with protected gravestones. One corner dates from WW1 with Yiddish/Hebrew inscriptions and the second corner from post-WW2 in Belarussian and Yiddish. Source: Anatolio Kronik kronik@post4.tele.dk , who wrote an article for Belarus SIG dated 3/1999 [August 2000]
     See http://www.jewishgen.org/belarus/newsletter/lyuban.htm including map. [October 2000]

LUNINETS: see LUNINYETS

LUNINYETS:
Located at 5215 2648, 118.3 miles SSW of Minsk, formerly Pinsk uezd, Minsk guberniya. Alternate names: LUNINETS, LUNINIEC, LUNINIEZ. Has a W.W.II memorial but no list of names. Source: Larry Gaum; e-mail: lgaum@total.net
      http://members.aol.com/hghoover/genealgy/Luninets.htm [October 2000]

LUNNA:
Located at 5327 2416, approximately 30 km S of Grodno, Grodno uezd, Grodno guberniya, 138.5 miles WSW of Minsk. Alternate name: LUNNO. The cemetery is extensive. Since the town is very small, many nearby towns may have used the cemetery. This cemetery was not destroyed but is overgrown with many stones lying on their sides. Inscriptions were decidedly undecipherable due to age and elements. 11 May 1999 visit during incredible rain prevented good photographs. Source: Harvey and Harriet Kasow; Rehov Kubovy 27-7, Ramat Danya, Jerusalem, Israel; e-mail: mskasow@mscc.huji.ac.il
      UPDATE: A group of Dartmouth College Hillel students is involved in a service project to Lunna, Belarus. They plan to rebuild, restore, and document a Jewish cemetery abandoned since World War II. For 2004 trip: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~hillel/belarus2003/index.htm. Source: Madeline.K.Hwang@Dartmouth.EDU [January 2005]
      UPDATE: The restoration of the old Jewish cemetery in Lunna, 25 miles south of Grodno, was completed. Representatives of the U.S. Embassy and the Belarusian State Committee on Religions and Nationalities spoke at the dedication ceremony. Perhaps the most moving speech was given by Grigory Chosid, former head of the Jewish Community in Grodno and member of the legendary Bielski Brigade of Jewish Partisans. Grigory has participated in all of our past restoration projects in the Grodno region.
This is the fifth cemetery that the East European Jewish Heritage Project has coordinated with Project Restoration. Four of these cemeteries were restored in cooperation with the students of Dartmouth University. This is an inter-religious, inter-racial project. In every case (Sopotskin, Kamenka, Svir, Indura (Amdur) and Lunna) the members f the local Belarusian community, from collective farm chairmen to high school students have directly assisted in the restoration. The American students stay for part of their trip with Belarusian host families. If you would like more information please feel free to contact me. Source: Franklin J. Swartz, Executive Director, East European Jewish Heritage Project, P.O.Box 97 Minsk, 220074 Republic of Belarus. fjs@voluntas.org http://eejhp.netfirms.com [June 2005]

LUNNO: see LUNNA

LYAKHOVICHI:
Located at 5302 2616, 80.2 miles SW of Minsk in Slutzk uezd, Minsk guberniya, now Minsk Oblast. Alternate names: LACHOWICZE, LYAKHOVICHE. The Jewish cemetery in Lackovichi was converted by the government into an off-road area for driving instruction during the communist regime, ended in 1991. Such desecration could not happen now under the present government. Source: Swartz fjs@voluntas.org
     A farmer's field now occupies the land that formerly was the cemetery. Russian Orthodox Church Cemetery holds the 1991 graves of Maier Maierovich and his wife, Maria Vinograd. They have a joint headstone with pictures in beautiful condition. I have pictures of their gravesite. Theirs is the only one without a cross that I could find there. There are memorials at the sites of two mass graves in the town also. He visited May 5-9, 1977. Source for Lyakhovicki: Larry S. Goldblatt, M.D.: BGoldblatt@aol.com [1999]
      http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/Lyakhovichi/Lyakhovichi.html and http://www.jewishgen.org/belarus/newsletter/risatrip.htm [October 2000]

LYEPYEL': {10904}
Located at 5453 2842 in Vitebsk Oblast, formerly Lepel uezd, Vitebsk guberniya, 81.8 miles NNE of Minsk. Mr. Lazar Yankelevitch Guryevitch, who lives in Lepel, through the donation of Mr. Avraham Chesakov, prepared a burial list. Source: Rav Eliyahu Tavger: eliyahu@tekhelet.co.il
http://www.jewishgen.org/belarus/newsletter/senno.htm [October 2000]
http://www.eilatgordinlevitan.com/kurenets/kurenets.html [October 2000]
http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/kamen/kamen.html [October 2000]

LYUBAN: see LUBAN

M

MAZYR:
Located 146.0 miles SSE of Minsk at 5203 2916, the alternate name is Mozyr.
      Jewish cemetery I: In the 1960's, the Mozyr Jewish cemetery in which the bones of about forty Jews, who supposedly chose suicide by fire rather than surrender to the Nazis were interred, was covered over by a sports field. In 2003, that field was excavated for a gas line.
      Jewish cemetery II: In 2003, a second Jewish cemetery of Mozyr was being excavated in order to lay the foundations for someone's home. Protests about these disturbances were characterized by Mozyr's deputy to the national parliament as being those of Jews who just wanted to sow "ethnic discord." A contruction worker at the site said that "the remains are collected, put into bags and taken somewhere.' See: September 14, 2003 AP report. [July 2004]

MIKHALISHKI:
[Source: Swartz fjs@voluntas.org ] Grodno Oblast

MIKHANOVICHI:
Located at 5345 2744, 12.4 miles SSE of Minsk. Pictures available. Source: Barry Hantman: hantman@acm.org

MINSK:
      UPDATE: "Unidentified assailants have smashed dozens of Jewish tombstones in Belarus, prompting Jewish activists to accuse Belarusian authorities Friday of inaction amid a string of anti-Semitic incidents. ... 19 tombstones destroyed at one cemetery in ... Minsk. ... Last week, more than 70 tombstones were desecrated in the city of Borisov east of Minsk, and police arrested some teenagers suspected of committing the attack... " Source: Ha'aretz English Edition: July 22, 2002-Av 13, 5762 at http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=188741&contrassID=1&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=0 [July 2002]
      UPDATE: “The remains of 21 Jews who died of natural causes two centuries ago have been reburied, a few weeks after they were found beneath the central square in Minsk, Belarus. The remains of 11 men and 10 women were found by workers rebuilding the square on the site where a Jewish cemetery, closed since 1846, once stood.” Source: Dateline World Jewry, November 2002. [December 2002]

MIR:
Located at 5327 2628, 54.7 miles SW of Minsk in Novogrudok uezd, Minsk guberniya. Mir was 73% Jewish. June '42 uprising against Germans was bloodily suppressed: Source: Charlotte Guthmann Opfermann.
     17th century cemetery: The stones with broken wooden branches symbolize the pogrom in 1905. Source: Irene Kudish: kudish@netcom.ca
http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~rkimble [October 2000]
     "If there is any indication that Jews once lived here - a 1921 census showed they comprised 55 percent of the town's population of 4,000 - it is of course the cemetery, but that too is vanishing. Surrounded by a 150-cm. stone wall and measuring three football fields in length, the earth here grows wild, except in the corner closest to the street, which shows evidence of once having been a vegetable garden. By climbing over the wall and walking across the middle of the field, one can see faint Hebrew writing on some headstones; and those that are even visible have only a few centimeters left before they too will be buried by time." Source: Jerusalem Post article dated 3 January 2001, http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2000/12/28/JewishWorld/JewishWorld.18154.html

MOGILEV: see LENINSKIY RAYON
        Names on tombstones recorded in Russian and transliterated to English: http://www.jewishgen.org/belarus/mogilev_cemetery.htm [October 2002]
        UPDATE: In 2000, the Jewish Community of Mogilev found foreign sponsors and began Jewish cemetery restoration and changes: non-sanctioned Orthodox burials are prevented, a new concrete fence surrounds the entire cemetery, and a building for guard staff was constructed. The cemetery contains 25 old graves restorations. Leader of the Jewish community is Mr.Nakhum Ioffe. [Source: Leonid Plotkin, February 2003]
        UPDATE: “On a visit to the Mogilev Jewish Cemetery in August 1999, I personally saw Jewish graves dug up and Jewish head stones discarded in piles among the weeds to make room for Christian burials. While there, I worked with leaders of the Jewish community in Mogilev as well as the Chief Rabbi of Belarus and the leader of the Jewish community of Belarus to stop the desecration of the Mogilev cemetery. Subsequently, I received word that a fence had been built around the cemetery, a guard house had been built, and plans were being made to hire a guard to protect the cemetery.  About two weeks ago (four years later), I received a report and digital photos from Alexander Litin in Mogilev that showed Jewish graves were still be dug up and replaced with Christian burials. It was very disturbing to say the least and I felt compelled to try and do something. I forwarded the report and photos from Mr. Litin to our fellow SIG member Schelly Dardashti who is a correspondent for the “Jerusalem Post” and asked Schelly if she could write an article and get the world out to the JTA, which she obviously did, as can be seen from Andrews message. I also contacted Mr. Jeffrey Farrow, the Executive Director of the United States Commission for The Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad.” Source:  Belarus SIG Digest, 13 June 2003/David Fox.  Belarus SIG Coordinator. [June 2003]
        UPDATE: See http://tinyurl.com/dzuo for a story about a dispute over Jewish and Christian burials in the supposedly closed Mogilev Jewish cemetery, from the JTA. Source: Belarus SIG Digest, 11 June 2003. [June 2003]

MOLCHADZ: see MOLDCHAD

MOLCHAD: {10942}
Located at 5319 2542, 86.4 miles WSW of Minsk in Grodno Oblast. Alternate names: Maytchet, MOLCHADZH, MOLCZADZ, MOLCHADZ. In 1995, we found a Jewish cemetery at the edge of town alongside a farm where children were playing among the burial stones. It looked like only time and neglect has caused this cemetery to be in poor condition. Most of the stones were lying on their sides, covered with heavy underbrush. We attempted to clean some of them so that we might be able to read them. We would have needed days and scores of people to really accomplish anything. We recorded five names. We hiked into the woods and found two stones in memory of the 3,500 Jews from Molchadz and the surrounding areas killed by the Nazis in July 1942. A survivor, Rachmiel Bar, currently living in Tel Aviv, put up the second stone written in Hebrew in 1994. He added the words "and their collaborators" after the word Nazis and "Jews" killed instead of townspeople. Every year the mayor sends him a dated picture showing that this stone has not been removed. Source: Myrna Siegel; ssi448@nwu.edu
      http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/Lyakhovichi/Lyakhovichi.html [October 2000]

MOZYR: see MAZYR

MSCIZ:
Located approximately 55 miles NE of Minsk [?MOSTISHCHE 5433 2845?] Borisov district, Minsk gubernia. Alternate name: Mstizh. "I had a driver and interpreter, and we found a cooperative local official who knew most of the current residents. We visited the oldest people of the village, asking if anyone remembered any Poliakoffs or any Jews at all (no Jews live there now). Finally, we found an old man who said he remembered about the Jews. He led us a mile or so out of town, down a dirt road, and then up a slight slope on a field. He began trembling and sobbing uncontrollably, and it took him several minutes to regain composure. Finally, he said that when he was a young boy, in 1942, the Germans came to the town. They rounded up all the Jews, about 120 of them, and led them all to this spot, and shot them all, including children, and then buried them in a ditch there. No marker has ever been placed there." Source: Gary Poliakoff ( AttyPoliko@aol.com )on JewishGen's Yizkor Digest [19 February 2001]

MSTIBOVO:
Alternate name: MSTIBUV. [Source: Swartz fjs@voluntas.org ] Located at 5307 2415 in Vitebsk Oblast, 146.5 miles WSW of Minsk.

MYADEL:
[Source: Swartz fjs@voluntas.org ] Located at 5453 2657 in Minsk Oblast, 72.3 miles NNW of Minsk

MYSH: see NOVAYA MYSH

N

NARACH:
Located at 5456 2641, 79.7 miles NNW of Minsk, in Minsk Oblast. Alternate names: NAROCH, KOBYL'NIK, KOBYL'NIKI. KOBYLNIK was officially NAROC since the 1950's. However, a 1994 German map still called Kobylnik. To get to the cemetery, go to the only crossroads in town and turn east. Travel about two km. Pass some small wooden houses to a small wood about 150 meters south of the road. A dirt road leads to the gate of the cemetery. A priest living nearby currently is entrusted with overseeing the Jewish cemetery affairs as a representative of Mayer Svirsky, an Israeli engineer. (Mayer Svirsky, 53 Holland Street, Haifa, Israel, telephone +972 4 825 7888). Mr. Svirsky, formerly of that town near the Lithuanian border, has paid to fence off the cemetery, put in iron gate, and place a memorial tablet.
     I visited this cemetery in May [sic: date> ] and found no listing of persons interred there. Many of the gravestones are in bad condition. It would probably be next to impossible to decipher even half of them. I did, however, find the stone of an Asher Hayyim HADASH, died about 1917. North of the village and just east of the highway is a fenced off area and plaque marking the site of the murder of the local Jews by the Germans in W.W.II. Source: Yosef Sa'ar, ysaar@actcom.co.il

NAROC: see NARACH

NAROVLYA:
Located at 5148 2930 in Gomel Oblast, 165.9 miles SSE of Minsk

NAVAHRUDAK:
Located at 5336 2550 in Novogrudok uezd, Minsk guberniya-Minsk Oblast, 73.7 miles WSW of Minsk. Alternate names: NOVOGROUDOK, NOVOGRUDEK, NOVOGRUDOK, NOWOGRODEK. Source: Charlotte Guthmann Opfermann.
     Jewish community dates from 1529. Source: Irene Kudish: kudish@netcom.ca
     See http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Lida-District/lida-dist.htm [July 2001]
    UPDATE: http://radzima.org/pub/pomnik.php?lang=en&nazva_id=hrnanava09 has photos of Navahradak cemetery. [March 2007]

NESVIZH:
Located at 5313 2640, 59.9 miles SW of Minsk in Slutzk uezd, Minsk guberniya-Minsk Oblast. Alternate names: NES'VEZH, NIESWIEZ. Source: Charlotte Guthmann Opfermann.
      http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/nesvizh/nesvizh.html [October 2000]

NOVAYA MYSH:
Located at 5308 2554 in Brest Oblast? Minsk guberniya? 86.5 miles SW of Minsk. Alternate names: MYSH, NOVA MUZH. Remains of the Jewish cemetery are in a wooded area. There are several round stones, which are quite old. One is face up so the inscription might be obtainable. There are also mounds in rows which look to be graves, but without stones. Not far from there is the mass grave and a memorial built by Schmuel Kaplan of Baranovichi with the names of the families and the number of members of each family who were executed and buried there. He obtained this from a woman I met, who still lives in Mysh. Although it was strictly forbidden, she followed the group and watched the executions and later wrote down with a friend the information that survives. He visited May 5-9, 1977. Source: Larry S. Goldblatt, M.D.: e-mail: BGoldblatt@aol.com

NOVOGRUDOK: Grodno Oblast, see NAVAHRUDAK
NOWOJELNIA: see Kocki

NOVY SVERZHEN:
Located at 5327 2644 in Minsk Oblast, formerly Minsk uezd, Minsk guberniya, 46.1 miles SW of Minsk. Alternate name: NOVY S'VERZHEN', SVERZHEN In 1976, I found an old Jewish cemetery near the village of Novy Sverzhen near Stolbtsy, Minsk Oblast, Belarus. It was completely covered by woods with just few graves visible under moss and grass. I cannot read Hebrew/Yiddish but I am 100% sure it was a Jewish cemetery. Source: Vcharny@aol.com

NOWY DWOR:
Lida District. Map.
Shtetl site: http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/nowydwor/nowydwor.html

O

ODELSK: see SOKOLKA, POLAND
OKTYABR'SKIY RAYON:
     Located at 5512 3011 in Vitebsk Oblast, 138.0 miles NE of Minsk. Alternate name: VITEBSK, WITEBSK.
     (Mark Chagal's hometown): Source: Charlotte Guthmann Opfermann.
     Burials are made on previously used burial sites. Source: Irene Kudish: kudish@netcom.ca

ORSHA:
Located at 5431 3026, 123.3 miles ENE of Minsk in Orsha uezd, Mogilev guberniya-Mogilev Oblast. The stones with broken wooden branches symbolize the pogrom in 1905. Source: Irene Kudish: kudish@netcom.ca
      http://www.jewishgen.org/belarus/newsletter/epstein.htm and http://www.jewishgen.org/belarus/newsletter/luninets.htm [October 2000]

OSHMIANY: see ASHMYANY
OSHMYANA: see ASHMYANY

OSTROSHITSKI GORODOK:
Located in 5404 2742 in Minsk Oblast, 12.7 miles NNE of Minsk. Alternate name: OSTROSHITSKI GORODOK. http://www.jewishgen.org/belarus/oggravestones.htm for photos and burial list. [October 2000]

OSTROVY:
Located at 5344 2742 in Minsk guberniya, 12.7 miles SSE of Minsk. He visited May 1992 and May 1994. Source: Barry Hantman; Email: hantman@acm.org

OSTRYNA:
Located at 5344 2432 in Grodno Oblast, 124.2 miles W of Minsk.Ostryna formerly was part of Lida District, Vilna Guberniya (Lithuania) and then the Grodno Guberniya, and Lida uezd, Nowogrodek Woj., Poland between WWI and WWII, now Grodno Oblast. Alternate names: Ostrin, Ostrino, Ostrina. The only extant house known to have been occupied by a Jewish family is a two-story brick house on the main east-west street marked with a wrought iron symbol that was placed as a reminder that Jews had lived in the house. A cemetery is at the east-end of town with no Jewish gravesites. An older man (in his 80¹s?) remembered much about the Jews of Ostrina. The remaining information about them and the cemetery I acquired was from him via translation.
     The three houses that were next to the market were the homes of Jewish families. He motioned to the left to point them out. I was told that the synagogue was nearby the houses at the end of the street. It was larger than the houses with a facade that were similar to the other synagogues that I had seen in the older parts of cities in the Baltic Oblast. A facade with an arch softened the sharp lines of the roof. I walked around the synagogue and examined the building. The brickwork on the sides and back of the structure were more elaborate (and costly to build) than the style used for houses. Currently, the building is used as a small local theater. There are some brass plaques indicating the current use of the building by the front door. There was another large two story brick house that was near the synagogue, also was the home of a Jewish family. Two brick houses and three wooden ones belonged to Jewish families. The last Jew in Ostrina was named Rosenberg. He died recently. His children had moved away some years ago.
     The helpful old man knew the location of the Jewish cemetery on the north end of town in a large, level field that had a pile of wood stacked near the road. The following is the old man's story: The field was the site of the Jewish cemetery. About 15 years ago [date?], a Soviet commissar noticed that the place had become overrun with vegetation. As was common in the Soviet Union, the conclusion reached was that no one cared about the individuals buried there. They seemed to overlook the facts that the Nazis took all the Jews and that travel into the country was severely restricted. The commissar had the land cleared and leveled. He ordered new houses built on the site. Then, a most amazing thing happened. The citizens of Ostrina refused to enter any building that might be built on the site. They were stubborn; and the commissar backed down. Now, the land is vacant, save for the pile of wood. The grass was cut. I suspect that maybe children play there. The site was at least twice as large as the only other cemetery in Ostrina. I asked why and was told that Jews from all over the Oblast used the cemetery as well as the synagogue. The only thing left to do there was to cry. Source: Carl Smith smith@cs.umd.edu visited the cemetery in the early 1990's.
     For more information, see http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Lida-District/lida-dist.htm [July 2001]
http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/szczuczyn-belarus/szczuczyn.html [October 2000]

OSZMIANA: see Oshmiany


P-Q

PARAFIANOV: see DOKSHITZ

PASTAVY:
Located at 5507 2650 in Vitebsk Oblast, 89.0 miles NNW of Minsk, Alternate name: POSTAVY, POSTAWY (the 19th century) Source: Irene Kudish: kudish@netcom.ca

PESKI:
Alternate name: Piesk, Piaski. Located at 5321 2438.
      http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/Piaski/piesk.html : "The cemetery was very large, contained hundreds of graves and was proof of the existence of the community for many centuries. At the beginning of the 20th century, an additional piece of land was purchased and the cemetery enlarged. Thus, enough space was prepared for the next two hundred years. Indeed, the Jews of Piesk believed that they would go on living, and dying, in their town. …" Piesk & Most: A Memorial Book , p. 19. See website for citation. [October 2000]

PIASKI: see PESKI
PIESK: see PESKI

PINSK:
Located at 5207 2607, 137.1 miles SSW of Minsk.
      http://www.pinskjew.com/e/4.htm [November 2000]: "On the eve of the First World War (1914), the number of Jews in the town reached 28,000 which translated into 72% of the city's overall population. During the first few days of the Polish occupation of the city (April 1919) 5 Nisan "Tarat", 35 of the Jewish community's public leaders were summarily executed without trial, and with the sole accusation that they were Bolsheviks. Their bodies were secretly buried in the old cemetery on Zavalna Street. This event shocked the entire modern world, and the United States sent an investigative team to Pinsk lead by the Minister-Morgentau. The monument, which should have been erected on this mass grave with the names of the victims who were murdered, does not exist at this infamous sight. There is only a recreation of said monument at the memorial for the Pinsk Jewish community at Kibbutz Gvat near the monument sight for those who perished during the Holocaust."
     "On 27 October, 1942, an order was issued by the Reichsf?hrer SS Heinrich Himmler, and it included the following: "I hereby issue the order for the destruction of the Pinsk Ghetto even though it has some economic advantages". … and after two days, Thursday, the 29th of October, just before dawn, the ghetto was surrounded by companies from the special destruction forces. For three days afterwards, the Jews of Pinsk along with members of the Judenrat were escorted just 5 kilometers from the town to the village of Dobrovolie where mass graves had already been prepared. They were murdered and buried there. … At this fateful mass gravesite, a memorial was erected in 1993 by the Association of the Jews of Pinsk, and …. Another 3 memorial tablets commemorating the Jewish victims were installed near the villages of Posenich [IVANIKI], (8,000 men), Kozlakovich (3,000 men), and next to the Jewish cemetery in Karlin (there is no memorial there) where the last 123 remaining Jews from the 'little ghetto' (mainly the shoemakers and tailors that filed private orders for the Germans) were exterminated on Christmas eve December 23, 1942. The Tablets' text is written in three languages: Bellorussian, Hebrew and Yiddish." POLATSK:
Located at 5529 2847, 119.6 miles NNE of Minsk in Polotsk uezd, Vitebsk guberniya. Alternate name: POLOTSK, POLOZK. Hasidic center. http://www.jewishgen.org/belarus/newsletter/antin.htm [October 2000]

POLOTSK: see POLATSK
POLOZK: see POLATSK
POSTAVY: see PASTAVY
POSENICH: see PINSK 5211 2605. Alternate name: IVANIKI, POSENICHE, POSIENICZE
POTOKI: see ROZANKA

PRUZHANY:
Located at 5233 2428 in Pruzhany uezd, Grodno guberniya, now Grodno Oblast, 158.4 miles SW of Minsk. Alternate name: Pruzhana, Pruzany
http://users.i.com.ua/~pruzany/ [October 2001]

R

RADOSHKOVICHE:
Located at 5409 2714 in Minsk Oblast, 21.9 miles NW of Minsk in Minsk uezd, Minsk guberniya, now Minsk Oblast. Radoshkovichi was in the Zaslavskaya volost'. (Courtesy of Vcharny@aol.com ) Alternate name: Radoshkovichi, Radoszkowice, Radozkowicze, Rodoszowice
    UPDATE: On September 1, 2003 our employee visited the Jewish cemetery of Radoshkovichi. Radoshkovichi town is situated 35 km (22 miles) to the north-west from Minsk. We would like to inform you that a new fence has been put around the cemetery. The cemetery has been completely cleaned from the garbage.  The number of preserved tombstones comes to 200. They are in a good state and inscriptions are readable on half of them. The last burial is dated by February, 2003. At present only three Jews live in the town.  [Source: Yuri Dorn September 2003]


RADUN:
Located at 5403 2500 in Grodno Oblast. Alternative names: Radin/Radunj/Radun/Raduny/Radunskaya. Radun was in the second uchastok of Lida district, which was Vilna Guberniya of Lithuania and then Grodno Guberniya of Russia, and Nowogrodskie Powiat of Poland between WWI and WWII. There is memorial at the mass grave and a reconstructed Jewish cemetery in Radun, which contains the matzeva of the Chafetz Chaim, as well as dozens of other gravestones. Source: Judy Baston: JRBaston@aol.com .
     See more for information about the towns and Lida District see http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Lida-District/lida-dist.htm [July 2001]

RAKOV:
[Source: Swartz fjs@voluntas.org ] Minsk uyezd, Minsk guberniya. Rakov was in the Rakovskaya volost'. (Courtesy of Vcharny@aol.com ) 
        UPDATE: While I have no know connection to Rakow (Rakov), I did visit there in 1999 and walked through the cemetery, taking my photographs. While I did not see any overt vandalism, the cemetery was not adequately protected by a fence and young children were playing soccer in the cemetery. There were many readable stones, but there were also stones that had fallen over face down and others that had sunken below ground level that were not readable. As will most cemeteries in Belarus, overgrown vegetation made it difficult to reach certain parts of the cemetery. 
        About three years ago, the Union of Religious Jewish Congregations of the Republic of Belarus with the financial help of sponsors from South Africa and Israel built a new fence around the Jewish cemetery in Rakov. There are more then 100 tombstones in the cemetery and the Union would like to carry out a restoration of the tombstones. If you have any interest in seeing this cemetery restored, please contact Yuri Dorn.
        For a little more information about Rakov, please read http://www.jewishgen.org/belarus/Economic/RAKOVSUM.html. Rakov is on the road to nearby Volozhin, the site of a very famous yeshiva which has been returned to the Jewish community of of Belarus. I also visited Volozhin in 1999 and walked through the old yeshiva which had not get been restored. I also saw the Jewish cemetery in Volozhin, which like most of the remaining Jewish cemeteries in Belarus need major restoration. Unfortunately, there are no Jews living near these cemeteries and there is no one to care for them and no funds to restore them.  [Source: David Fox, March 2003]

RATCHEV: see Rogachev
RECHITSA: see Rechytsa

RECHYTSA:
Located at 5222 3023 in Rechitsa uezd, Minsk guberniya, 157.5 miles SE of Minsk. Alternate names: RYECHITSA, RECHITSA. The Rechytsa local newspaper described this case (the author of article is I. Vasilieva): "An act of vandalism has been committed once again in the Jewish cemetery in Rechytsa. It happened on the night of February 9-10, 1999. Under the cover of darkness, 35 tombstones were overturned, and seven were totally destroyed. According to the deputy director of the investigative department of GROVD (Translator's note: GROVD is the local office of the Department of Internal Affairs), S.V. Rebko, the motives of these vandals are unknown. There are two versions explaining what has happened. But one of them, which actually states that a satanic ball was held that night in the cemetery, reflects that there are no doubts in the law enforcement organs. Workers of the city maintenance office have counted the cost of the damage caused by the criminals. The amount is more than 21 million old rubles (about US $550). But the moral damage, not only to the people whose relatives' graves were desecrated, but to the whole community, cannot be reflected in this figure. According to the chief engineer of the city maintenance office, G.K. Solonets, the cemetery has turned into the shortcut. In order to shorten their way, some of the more ardent inhabitants of Rechitsa not only walk through the open gates of the cemetery, but break the cast-iron decorative fencing... The police have not disclosed any prior similar crimes." [Date submission is unknown.]

ROGACHEV:
[Source: Swartz fjs@voluntas.org ] Located at 5305 3003 in Gomel Oblast, formerly Rogachev uezd, Mogilev guberniya. Alternate names: Rogatschew and Ratchev

ROZANKA:
Located at 5332 2444, Grodno oblast but Formerly Lida uezd, Vilna guberniya. Alternate name: Rozhanka and Ruzhanka.
See: http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Lida-District/lida-dist.htm [July 2001] and http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/szczuczyn-belarus/szczuczyn.html [October 2000]

ROZHANKA: see ROZANKA

ROZINOI: see Ruzhany

RUBEZHEVICHI:
[Source: Swartz fjs@voluntas.org ] Located at 5341 2652 in Minsk Oblast, formerly Minsk uezd, Minsk guberniya, 32.2 miles WSW of Minsk.
Rubezhevichi was in the Velikoselskaya volost'. (Courtesy of Vcharny@aol.com )
SEE ALSO: IVENETS

RUZHANKA: see ROZANKA

RUZHANY:
Located at 5252 2453 in Pruzhany uezd, Grodno guberniya, now Grodno Oblast, 131.5 miles WSW of Minsk. Alternate name: RUZHANA, ROZANA, ROZINOI Apparently the stones are intact although worn. Source: Everett Leiter
    UPDATE: Photo of cemetery: http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Ruzhany/cem.html [June 2002]
    UPDATE: http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/shtetls/sruzhanyg.htm has cemetery photos for Ruzhany at 52°52' 24°53 [December 2002]

S

SAMOHKVALOVICHI:
Located at 5344 2730, 11.8 miles SSW of Minsk in Minsk uezd, Minsk guberniya, now Minsk Oblast. Samokhvalovichi was in the Samokhvalovicheskaya volost'. (Courtesy of Vcharny@aol.com ) and Source: Barry Hantman; hantman@acm.org

SCHEDRIN: see SELIBA

SCUCYN:
Located at 5336 2445 in Grodno Oblast, Scucyn was in Lida District, Vilna Guberniya, Lithuania; Lida District, Grodno Guberniya, Russia; and Lida District, Nowogrodek woj., Poland between WWI and WWII.. Alternate names: Szczuczyn, Shtutchin, Suicin. 2,000 Jews and Belarussians were buried in a marked mass grave with an area 30 meters by 4 meters. There is a fence around the site and a stone marker. Carl Smith visited the site in the early 1990's. Source: Carl Smith: e-mail: smith@cs.umd.edu
For more information, see http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Lida-District/lida-dist.htm [July 2001] and http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Lida-District/sz-trip.htm
     "We met a Jewish woman who showed us around. We saw the central square that did not change much since old times. Nearby, were streets where Jews used to live. I have a picture of one of the streets. Then, the woman showed us a small building [have photo] that was once Alte Shule, the old synagogue. Today, it is used as a kind of insurance office. She told me that not far from there was once a big and impressive New Synagogue, but it was destroyed. Afterwards, she took us to a big field, with a very high grass, which was once the Jewish cemetery. Jews were buried there until about 20 [1975] years ago. There is very high grass and only few gravestones still exist, in a very bad condition. Then, the woman took us to the place were over a thousand of the local Jews and those from the near towns (like Wasilishki and so on) were shot to death by the Nazis. For many long years, until the Perestroika, this place was forbidden to visit because nearby was an enormous strategic airfield of the Soviets. The place all around was forbidden to enter or to take photos. Soldiers shot without warning anyone coming near the place. We could see the big hangers and the very wide and long asphalt runways. So, the mass grave was abandoned for years. Only recently, a Jewish donor from Europe, with great devotion of this Jewish woman and some help of few locals built a high gravestone that I photographed from near and far perspective. Even today the fence around does not contain the entire actual grave, which was much bigger. Our visit in Szczuczyn was very emotional and sad." The anonymous source regarding a 1995 visit requested that you see http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Lida-District/lida-dist.htm for more information [June 2001]
http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/szczuczyn-belarus/szczuczyn.html/szczuczyn.html [October 2000] has photos of cemetery. [July 2001] http://www.polishroots.org/slownik/szczuczyn.htm [November 2000]
    UPDATE: "I found the Jewish cemetery, which is about 50 meters wide and 50 or 60 meters long. Quite a few of the tombstones are weathered and have fallen or been toppled. But many are still standing and have readable inscriptions. As there were about 40, I photographed them all. Right next to the graves are garages. The owners use the cemetery as a garbage dump, and bottles and other rubble are scattered about. As I approached the first grave, I could not believe what I saw! On the grave was a dead dog, in an advanced state of decay. The person who profaned the cemetery will rot in Hell! Where is his respect of the dead? A cemetery is sacred ground, regardless of who is buried there – Jew, Pole, German, Russian, whatever! Also, the poor dog, also one of G-d’s creations, deserves more respect. This was not the first time carrion had been tossed into the cemetery, as I found several skeletons of animals and chickens. The cemetery is partly covered in uncut brush, weeds, nettles, grass, and thistles. I stung my hands uncovering tombstones. But it was the right thing to do! The dead should be remembered. In a dozen or so years, the cemetery will slide completely into oblivion. My photographs will preserve its memory. Grass hides the tombstones. As I was leaving, I looked back, and couldn’t see any of the graves. Source: Jan Sekta- May 2000.
http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Lida-District/szjs1.htm
see http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Lida-District/1.jpg [February 2002]

SELIBA:
Alternate names: Shchedrin, Schedrin, Shedrin, Shchedrino, Scadryn, Zhedrin, Chedrin
[Source: Swartz fjs@voluntas.org ] Located at 5330 3002 in Igumen uezd, Minsk guberniya, 60.4 miles ESE of Minsk, north of Bobrusk and east of Chervon. The Jewish cemetery is at the S end of the town on the road that leads to Zlatin, near where a creek used to be.
http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Scadryn/ [October 2000].

SENNO: see LYEPYEL'

SHARKOVCHINA:
Located at 5522 2728 in Vitebsk Oblast. Alternate names: Sharkovshchyzna (19th century) Source: Irene Kudish: kudish@netcom.ca [Source: Swartz fjs@voluntas.org ]

SHATSK:
[Source: Swartz fjs@voluntas.org ] Located at 5325 2741 in Igumen uezd, Minsk guberniya, now Minsk Oblast, 33.7 miles S of Minsk

SHCHADRYN:
[Source: Swartz fjs@voluntas.org ] Located at 5253 2933 in Mogilev Oblast, 107.7 miles SE of Minsk. Alternate name: SHCHEDRIN

SHCHEDRIN: see Shchadryn
SHCHEDRIN: see Shchadryn
SHCHEDRIN: see SELIBA

SHCHENETS:
5342 2425 N 129.2 miles W of Minsk [?] REFERENCE: Possibly another town: Szeniczer Ladies Sick and Benevolent Society (New York, N.Y.) Records, 1942-1974. Description: .9 linear ft. Notes: Landsmanshaft organized by Jewish immigrant women from Szczeniec, BelorussiaIt was dissolved in 1974. … YIVO collections are in Yiddish, Russian, Polish, English, Hebrew, and other European and non-European languages. Location: YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, New York, NY. Control No.: NXYH89-A756 [December 2000]

SHERESHEVO:
Located at 5233 2413 in Pruzhany uezd, Grodno guberniya, 166.9 miles WSW of Minsk. Alternate name: Szereszow. Old vertical stones were found here and in Vysokoe. Here, more than a thousand Jewish stones are in good condition. Source: Irene Kudish: kudish@netcom.ca

SHKLOV:
Located at 5413 3018 in Mogilev uezd, Mogilev guberniya, now Mogilev Oblast, 112.9 miles ENE of Minsk Jewish printing house: Source: Charlotte Guthmann Opfermann. (17th century)
Source: Irene Kudish: kudish@netcom.ca
http://www.jewishgen.org/belarus/newsletter/shklov.htm [October 2000]

SHTUTCHIN: see Scucyn

SKIDEL:
Located at 5335 2415, 137.2 miles W of Minsk. Only one headstone survives. All others were stolen to build roads and houses. Ilya Alexandrovich Borisov of Skidel located one and restored it to the site of the former cemetery.
Source: http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/skidel/burials.htm
Shtetl site: http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/skidel/skidel.htm [October 2000]

SLONIM:
Located at 5306 2519 in Slonim uezd, Grodno guberniya, now Grodno Oblast, 107.7 miles WSW of Minsk. 73% of population was Jewish before the Nazis. Slonim has a 9th century synagogue: Source: Charlotte Guthmann Opfermann [2000].
Just outside Slonim are two mass burial gravesites where approximately 45,0000 Jews were murdered within a 3-month period in 1942. I did not see or know of any remaining Jewish cemeteries from before the Shoah in Slonim. Visited in 1995; Source: Myrna Siegel: ssi448@nwu.edu [2000]
      http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/slonim/Slonim.htm [October 2000]
     QUOTE: Minsk, 8 January 2001. The East European Jewish Heritage Project announced today that the first steps to assuring the preservation of the historic Slonim Synagogue will be taken next week. The historic building, 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 and jeopardy. Franklin J. Swartz, Executive Director of the EEJHP, has lobbied for years for support to renew the building. Finally with the support of Samuel Gruber, Director of the International Survey of Jewish Monuments in the United States, the World Monument Fund, also in the U.S., the U.K. based Conference of European Rabbis, the Belarussian Government's Commission for the Preservation of the Nation's Heritage and the Slonim Local Government conservation will move ahead.
     A WMF conservator and his team have already visited to begin work. 'I am very heartened by this development,' said Mr. Swartz. Sam Gruber's organization and the WMF have an excellent track record. I hope that what they were able to do in Krakow will be duplicated in Slonim.' Located in the city centre the 16th century Synagogue was spared 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 has been empty. 'I was concerned that unless work was begun rapidly we would have nothing to preserve', said Mr. Swartz 'It is a great relief to me that work is finally beginning.'
     The entire Jewish population of Slonim, 39,000 people, plus 2,000 Jews from surrounding areas were murdered during the war. 'In many ways this restoration will be a monument to a way of life which largely vanished because of genocide, it is a monument that functions at many levels,' said Mr. Swartz.
     The Slonim Local Authority passed the title to the building over to the Union of Religious Jewish Congregations of the Republic of Belarus in November 2000. 'I am especially satisfied with this development', said Mr. Swartz. 'We can be assured that the project will be in safe hands. There has been an unfortunate history in Belarus of old line Soviet apologists in the community misusing funds for memorials for their own benefits. By passing the title to the building over to an organisation run by a new generation in the Jewish community we can assure Western donors of the integrity of the project. 'Mr. Swartz pointed out that former Communist Party Members who had actively supported repressive measures during the Soviet period had attempted to prevent the restoration of the synagogue as recently as last year. 'This was a disturbing development but the failure of these attempts proves that the era of the 'Party Jew' is coming to an end. This is another example of why the Slonim Synagogue is not only a symbol of the past but a beacon of light for a renewed Jewish future in East Europe.'
     For more information about the Slonim Synagogue and other restoration projects please contact: Franklin J. Swartz, Executive Director, East European Jewish Heritage Project Ltd (USA), East European Jewish Heritage Project (UK), Jewish Revival Charitable Mission (Republic of Belarus), 13b Dauman Street, Minsk 220002, Belarus. Tel/Fax: +375 17 234 3360. fjs@voluntas.org . http://eejhp.tripod.ca [8 January 2001].
http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/slonim/Slonim_Picture_Gallery.htm
       UPDATE: "The first Jewish cemetery dates back to the 15th century." Source: http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/slonim/Slonim_Ledger.htm [October 2002]
       http://shacham.net/slonim/ has cemetery pictures and more information [October 2002]

SLUTSK:
        UPDATE: "Authorities in ... Belarus have discovered a mass grave outside of Slutsk, with the remains of as many as 12,000 people murdered during World War II. Between 1942 and 1944, Jews from Slutsk and prisoners from a nearby concentration camp were executed by Nazi troops and buried at the site.” Source: Dateline World Jewry, November 2002. [December 2002]

SMILOVICHI:
Located at 5345 2801 in Minsk Oblast, formerly Igumen uezd, Minsk guberniya, 21.1 miles ESE of Minsk. Smilovichi was in the Smilovichskaya volost'. (Courtesy of Vcharny@aol.com )
Pictures of the Jewish Cemetery in SMILOVICHI, Belarus can now be found in the Genealogy section of my web site at http://www.hantman.net. The pictures may take a few minutes to download. In addition to the cemetery, I have included a picture of the monument that stands next to a mass grave of Jews killed by Nazis. The mass grave is not near the cemetery. Source: Barry Hantman: hantman@acm.org [2000]

SMOLEVICHI:
Located at 5402 2805, 22.9 miles ENE of Minsk. Alternate name: SMOLEWITSCH. [Source: Swartz fjs@voluntas.org ] Minsk Oblast

SMORGON:
Located at 5429 2624, 62.0 miles NW of Minsk. See http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Smorgon/SMORGON.HTM [October 2000]

SOPOTKINNIE: see Sopotskin
SOPOCKIN: see Sopotskin
SOPOTKIN: see Sopotskin

SOPOTSKIN:
Located at 5350 2339, about 35 km from Grodno and 159.5 miles W of Minsk in Grodno Oblast. Alternate names: Sopotkin, Sopockin, and Sopotkinie. There are two Jewish cemeteries in Sopotskin; however, both may not be found. The Nazis destroyed the headstones and anything identifiable during World War II. The older cemetery was hard to find even before the War. It was said to be very old even in the 1930's. The older one was closer to the center of town and the newer one at the very end of Synagogue Street, past where the Gentile houses were. This information was provided by Judy Goldman, Delray Beach, Florida, USA. She was born in Sopotskin and lived there through her teenage years until 1941. Source: Alfred Neil Kramer; al@kramerlaw.com
http://www.kramerlaw.com/Sopockin.htm [October 2000]

STAROBIN:
Located at 5244 2728, 80.7 miles S of Minsk. Alternate name: Starobino. http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_42/b3703038.htm : "Seeking Roots in Chernobyl's Shadow" by Paul Starobin, Business Week Moscow bureau chief. October 16, 2000. "Our first stop was an abandoned Jewish cemetery, where mossy gravestones lay toppled in a field of grass and pines dotted with wild mushrooms and strawberries…A census taken in 1897 recorded 1,494 Jews in a total population of 2,315 people. …On the outskirts of town … is a monument that commemorates the Nazi massacre of the town's Jews. … [Erected in 1967] … The Germans arrived in Starobin just days after their invasion of Belarus in June 1941. With help from local collaborators, the soldiers lined up the town's Jews, as many as 1,000 men, women, and children, and had them dig a pit. Then the victims were lined up and shot, the bodies shoveled into the hole and covered with sand. A botched job: The sand, Trushinskya said, moved for three days."

STOLBTSY: see Stowbtsy

STOLIN:
http://shacham.net/stolin/index.htm [January 2001]
Bor ("mass grave"), map, and town information can be seen at http://shacham.net/stolin/index.html [April 2001]

STOWBTSY:
Located at 5329 2644 in Minsk uezd, Minsk guberniya, 44.6 miles SW of Minsk. Alternate names: Also known as Steibst, and Steibtz, Stolptse, Stolptsy, Stolpce. http://tunicks.com/Stolbtsy.html

SURAZH:
[Source: Swartz fjs@voluntas.org ] Located at 5525 3044 in Vitebsk uezd, Vitebsk guberniya, 164.2 miles NE of Minsk

SVIR:
Located at 5451 2624 in Vitebsk Oblast, 80.6 miles NW of Minsk. Alternate names: Swir. This enormous Jewish graveyard has been clearly catalogued. Each gravestone has an identification marker on it. An American group may have been responsible for the cataloguing. Source: par9@columbia.edu. The Svir Cemetery is on Lake Svir, about 65 kilometers ENE of Vilnius. Source: Yosef Sa'ar ysaar@actcom.co.il
http://www.jewishgen.org/belarus/newsletter/swir.htm [October 2000]
   UPDATE: The lakeside Svir cemetery was restored by East European Jewish Heritage Project in cooperation with the Restoration of Eastern European Jewish Cemeteries Project, Inc. Binghampton University Hillel and the citizens of Svir coorperated in the restoration. See http://eejhp.netfirms.com/SvirCemetery.htm for photos. For more information, contact Franklin J. Swartz at fjs@voluntas.org. [June 2004]

SVISLOVICH:
In his 1929 autobiography, Shmarya Levin, described the approximate location of the cemetery that served the townlet of Svislovitch at 48º41 28º52. He wrote that the Beth Olam was not in the town but 2 km from the town, beyond the peasants' fields on the road to Minsk. The Town of Svislovitch is or was surrounded by two rivers, the Beresina and the Svislo. This was described in the book (Forward From Exile) translated by Maurice Samuel in 1967. Source: Michael M. Miller; 2680 O'Grady Street, VSL, QC Canada, H4M 2W5; millermm@videotron.ca
"UPDATE: I met an American while visiting Belarus last summer. He was very generous in making available his time and his staff members to help me locate the Jewish cemetery in Stolbtsy and some other sites near Novogrudek. His name is Mark Rose. He has lived for the past seven years in the village of Ratamka, on the oustskirts of Minsk where he operates a number of social service programs funded in part by the US Agency for International Development, and in part by a group of Baptists in Georgia. Mark moves around Belarus a lot as part of his work. Recently, he was in Svislovich. He wrote:
      "Recently I traveled to the oldest village in Belarus. I thought of you there because in this village is a 300-400 year old Jewish cemetery. The village is called Svislatch and it is at a place where the Berizino and Svislatch rivers join. This is near Bobrusk. The cemetery is a very large one, and I saw hundreds of Jewish headstones. Each was carved with Hebrew writing so I could not read them. The cemetery overlooks the river from a bluff that rises 200 feet above the water. Below, the water has cut into the bank over the years and many of the graves are literally falling into the water.
      Steve, this is tragic and the village people, some of the poorest around, could care less. Nobody seems to care. I would do anything if we could somehow fix that bank so as to stop the erosion. Then, clean out all the old trees and weeds that have grown up over the years and bring this back to its original beauty. It is one of the most beautiful spots I have ever seen in this part of the world. Some of the guys I was with went down along the shore and literally picked up human bones and a skull from one of the graves. I know you are a good organizer and I hope you can help me find a way to clean up the cemetery and prevent its further deterioration. I can put together a team here, if you can find some resources.
      Mark Rose
      President
      Russia Inland Mission
      Ratamka, Belarus
      Phone: 011-37517-502-4815 (office);
      011-37517-502-4816 (home)
      E-mail: lrose25607@aol.com
Feel free to contact me or Mark Rose directly. I live in Boston, Massachusets. My phone here is 617/325-9386. Steve Landrigan Source: sent by David Fox, Belarus SIG. [October 2001]

SVISLOVITZ:
Alternate name: Svislovich. In Minsk Oblast. http://www.jewishgen.org/belarus/newsletter/svislovitch.htm [October 2000]

SWIR: see SVIR
SZCZUCZYN: see Scucyn

T

TIMKOVICHI:
Located at 5304 2659 in Kopylskiyi district/Slutsk uezd, Minsk guberniya, 62.3 miles SSW of Minsk. Timkovichi was in Timkovichskaya volost'. (Courtesy of Vcharny@aol.com ) Large Cemetery where most stones are covered by mud from soil movement is not fenced and is used for grazing animals. Source: Gayle Riley, 612 Live Oak # A, San Gabriel, CA 91776. 19th century cemetery origin. Source: Irene Kudish: kudish@netcom.ca
See photo: http://www.jewishgen.org/belarus/newsletter/cemeter.htm [November 2000]

TRABY:
Located at 5409 2555, 69.1 miles WNW of Minsk Cemetery is in woods right off the highway. We (driver and Leon) turned over many gravestones to read them as they were face down. We were: Regina Kapilevich (regina@pub.osf.Et) 370-2-342488 Antakalnio 118-48 Vilnius 2040 Lithuania) the wonderful guide who read the inscriptions with the strong and nice driver. Source: Helaine Greenberg, Leon Shoag, and Cheryl Pincus (siblings) [June 2000]
http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Lida-District/lida-dist.htm [July 2001]
http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/ivye/ivye.html [October 2000]
    UPDATE: http://radzima.org/pub/pomnik.php?lang=en&nazva_id=hrniutrab03 has photos of the Jewish cemetery. [March 2007]

TUROV:
      The cemetery is 2.5 km from Turov on the road to Khil'chitsy (52 02'N 27 38'E). The alternate Polish name is Turew, in Mozyr province at 52 04'N 27 44'E. Present total town population is 1,000 - 5,000 with fewer than ten Jews.
      The earliest known Jewish community in town dates from the seventeenth century. The isolated Orthodox cemetery on a hillside has no sign or marker. The cemetery is reached by turning directly off a public road with access open to all. A broken fence with no gates surrounds the site. 100 - 500 stones are visible. No special sections. The nineteenth and twentieth century rough stones or boulders, flat shaped stones and finely smoothed and inscribed gravestones, some with metal fences around graves, have Russian and Hebrew inscriptions. A Holocaust memorial exists. The cemetery contains marked mass graves. The present owner of the cemetery property used for Jewish cemetery only is unknown. The cemetery is visited occasionally by private visitors (Jewish or non-Jewish) and local residents. Maintenance has been stones re-erected and cleaned by Jewish individuals abroad in August 2005. Current care is occasional clearing or cleaning by individuals. No structures.
      Donald Szumowski (DSzumowski@aol.com) completed the survey 7 October 2005. He visited the site with Yuri Dorn. No interviews.[October 2005]

U

ULLA:
5514 2915 N, 114.1 miles NE of Minsk
REFERENCE: Uller Benevolent Association (New York, N.Y.) Records, 1950-1977. Description: .2 linear ft. Landsmanshaft, which served as a mutual aid society, organized in 1906 by Jewish immigrants from Ulla, Belorussia. It was dissolved in 1977. …. YIVO collections are in Yiddish, Russian, Polish, English, Hebrew, and other European and non-European languages. Location: YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, New York, NY. Control No.: NXYH90-A55

URECHYE:
http://www.angelfire.com/or/yizkor/urechye.html [October 2000]

USHACHI:
http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/ushachi/ushatz.html [October 2000]

USKROM'YE: see DOKSHITZ

UZLYANY:
[Source: Swartz fjs@voluntas.org ] Located at 5337 2743 in Igumen uezd, Minsk Oblast, 20.5 miles SSE of Minsk. Uzlyany was in the Perezhirskaya volost'. (Courtesy of Vcharny@aol.com )

V

VALOZHYN:
Located at 5405 2632 in Minsk Oblast, 43.8 miles WNW of Minsk. Alternate names: Wolozyn, Volozhy'n, Volozhin Source: Charlotte Guthmann Opfermann. 16th century cemetery: Source: Irene Kudish: kudish@netcom.ca
http://www.jewishgen.org/belarus/newsletter/wolozyn.htm [October 2000]
     "Before the war there were 3,500 Jews who lived in the town, over half its population, but the yeshiva building, now locked, is all that remains of what was once Jewish, except for the cemetery in the middle of town. There, along its inside border, there is garbage strewn about, having been tossed over the wall from the surrounding streets; but there are many gravestones that still stand straight, with the common names of Jews that can easily be read: here is Pollack, here Ginsburg, there Rogovin, and Kagan. There are many graves of the Persky family, relatives of Shimon Peres and Lauren Bacall. There is a memorial tombstone to the Jews who died in the Holocaust, and in the middle of the field stands the grave of Reb Haim Volozhin. And that is all that remains. Source: Jerusalem Post, http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2000/12/28/JewishWorld/JewishWorld.18154.html [3 Jan 2001]

VASILEVICHI:
[Source: Swartz fjs@voluntas.org ] Located at Gomel Oblast? Or Rechitsa uezd, Minsk guberniya, Alternate name: Wasilewicze

VASILISHKI:
Located at 5347 2451 in Lida District, Vilna Guberniya, Lithuania; Lida District, Grodno Guberniya, Russia; and Lida District, Nowogrodek woj., Poland between WWI and WWII. 111.0 miles W of Minsk. The cemetery is located along one of the main streets and is fenced. At one side is a path that leads to a Holocaust memorial that was originally placed by the Soviets but updated more recently to indicate that the victims murdered here were Jews. The open field of the cemetery is used to graze cattle and has an extremely uneven surface, with periodic mounds and depressions indicating graves. Close inspection of the land reveals a number of tombstones, just at or below the surface. The Hebrew letters are quite evident, but not enough of any one inscription was sufficiently legible for us to record. This cemetery visited by Dan Kirschner & Davida Sky (with guide Regina Kopilevich & driver Dina Kopilevich) in August 1994. Contact person: Dan Kirschner, 135 Winchester St. #2, Newton, MA 02161, Tel: 617-965-6839, email: kirschnd@bc.edu .
      UPDATE: Two plaques on a monument mark the site of the Jewish cemetery. The older one, written in Russian, mentions "Russians" killed there and states the date as 1943 (incorrect.) The second plaque in Russian and Hebrew was erected on the 50th Anniversary of the slaughter of the Jews of Vasilishki in May 1942 and mentions Jews as the victims. [May 2002]
http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Lida-District/lida-dist.htm [June 2001]
http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/szczuczyn-belarus/szczuczyn.html [October 2000]

VAWKAVYSK:
5310 2428. Alternate name: Wolkówysk, Volkovysk
REFERENCE: Wolkowisker Relief Society (New York, N.Y.) Title: Records, 1920-1980 (bulk 1920-1922) Description: .1 linear ft. Notes: Landsmanshaft founded in 1917 by Jewish immigrants from Volkovysk (formerly Wolkówysk, Poland), Belorussia, to aid Jews in Volkovysk. It was dissolved in 1923. … YIVO collections are in Yiddish, Russian, Polish, English, Hebrew, and other European and non-European languages. Location: YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, New York, NY. Control No.: NXYH90-A11 [December 2000]

VELKAVES:
     5342 2448 south of Scucyn/Szczuczyn. Alternate names: Zelwa, Zelva, and Bol'shoye Selo formerly in Vilna guberniya, Lithuania; Grodno guberniya, now Belarus; and Nowogrodskie woj,. Poland between WWI and WWII (not a town in former Kovno guberniya). See Lida District Researchers: http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Lida-District/lida-dist.htm [June 2001]

VIDZY:
Postavsky Oblast, Vitebsk district at 5524 2638, 110.1 miles NNW of Minsk. Alternate name: Vidze Cemetery is in the midst of farmland, completely abandoned with no enclosure or sign. Many stones have sunk into the ground. Many lean while others are missing. Used until the Holocaust, the site was probably at least 150 years old. About 20