Svislach Explained

Svislach
Native Name:Belarusian: Свіслач
Settlement Type:Town
Flag Size:150
Pushpin Map:Belarus
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:Belarus
Subdivision Type1:Region
Subdivision Name1:Grodno Region
Subdivision Type2:District
Subdivision Name2:Svislach District
Established Title:First mentioned
Established Date:1256
Area Total Km2:4.28
Population As Of:2024
Population Footnotes:[1]
Population Total:6,008
Timezone:MSK
Utc Offset:+3
Coordinates:53.0333°N 30°W
Postal Code Type:Postal code
Postal Code:231960-231969
Area Code:+375 1513
Blank Name:License plate
Blank Info:4

Svislach or Svisloch (Belarusian: Свiслач|Svislač, in Belarusian pronounced as /ˈɕvislatʃ/; Russian: Свислочь; Polish: Świsłocz; Yiddish: סיסלעוויטש) is a town in Grodno Region, Belarus.[1] It serves as the administrative center of Svislach District.[1] It is connected with the town Vawkavysk by a railroad branch and with Grodno city by a highway. As of 2024, it has a population of 6,008.[1]

History

Within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Svislach was part of Nowogródek Voivodeship. In 1795, Svislach was acquired by the Russian Empire in the course of the Third Partition of Poland.

In 1927, Rabbi Chaim Yaakov Mishkinsky, whose wife Chaya was the granddaughter of Rabbi Naftali Hertz Halperin of Bialystok, was appointed the rabbi of Svislach. He led the community until the Nazis entered in November 1942 murdering the entire Jewish community. Prior to the war, Rabbi Mishkinsky sent his sons and to Israel (Palestine). Rabbi Mishkinsky's great-granddaughter, Batya Friedman, serves as rebbetzin of Hampstead Garden Suburb Synagogue, London. His great-grandson is Rabbi Yochanan Ivry of Congregation Toras Emes of Staten Island, New York.

Svislach was part of the Second Polish Republic from 1921 until 1939. In September 1939, Svislach was occupied by the Red Army and, on 14 November 1939, incorporated into the Byelorussian SSR. In 1939, there were around 3,000 Jews living in Svislach, along with refugees from western Poland who had settled there after the invasion of Poland. From June 1941 until 17 July 1944, Svislach was occupied by Nazi Germany and administered as a part of Bezirk Bialystok. In July 1941, a ghetto was established in the old Jewish neighbourhood, in the northwest of Svislach. In that area, Jews were also gathered from the village of Golobudy. It was an open ghetto, and the western border of the ghetto's territory ran near the Svislach River. On November 2, 1942, the ghetto was liquidated when the Jews were sent by train to the Vawkavysk transit camp where many massacres occurred. The remaining Jews, mostly elderly and sick, were killed in the Visnik Forest, just outside Svislach.[2]

Notable people

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Численность населения на 1 января 2024 г. и среднегодовая численность населения за 2023 год по Республике Беларусь в разрезе областей, районов, городов, поселков городского типа. https://web.archive.org/web/20240402055418/https://www.belstat.gov.by/ofitsialnaya-statistika/solialnaya-sfera/naselenie-i-migratsiya/naselenie/statisticheskie-izdaniya/index_89355/. 2 April 2024. belsat.gov.by. 11 May 2024.
  2. Web site: YAHAD - IN UNUM.
  3. Book: Smith , Cameron . Unfinished Journey: The Lewis Family . Summerhill Press . 1989 . . 9–19, 93 . 0-929091-04-3 . registration.