Bykhaw ( be, Бы́хаў,

Łacinka The Belarusian Latin alphabet or Łacinka (from be, лацінка or łacinka, BGN/PCGN: ''Latsinka'', ) for the Latin script in general is the common name for writing Belarusian using Latin script. It is similar to the Sorbian alphabet a ...

: ''Bychaŭ'', ) or Bykhov (russian: Бы́хов, pl, Bychów, yi, italic=yes, Bihov, , lt, Bychavas) is a town in the eastern Belarusian Mogilev Region. It is located 44 km south of Mogilev (M on the Dnieper River (Dniapro), and is the administrative center of the

Bykhaw District Bykhaw District ( be, Быхаўскі раён, russian: Быховский район, Bykhovsky raion) is a raion (district) in Mogilev Region, Belarus, the administrative center is the town of Bykhaw Bykhaw ( be, Бы́хаў, Łacinka: ''By ...

. As of 2009, its population was 17,031.

History

In the early modern times Bykhaw was an important fortress known for hard battles. Bykhaw is known for its 17th-century

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

. During World War II, Bychaw was occupied by the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

from 5 July 1941 until 28 June 1944 and placed under the administration of the '' Generalbezirk Weißruthenien'' of ''

Reichskommissariat Ostland The Reichskommissariat Ostland (RKO) was established by Nazi Germany in 1941 during World War II. It became the civilian occupation regime in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and the western part of Byelorussian SSR. German planning documents initia ...

''. The Jews of Bykhov were killed in two mass shootings in September and November 1941. According to the German and Soviet archives, there were 4600 Jews from Bykhaw who were shot in Voronino. Bykhov-1 Heroes Square 01

There is an abandoned military airfield, inside a military town called , which is now a microdistrict of Bykhaw.

References

External links

Bykhaw. Synagogues

Jewish Encyclopedia

The murder of the Jews of Bykhaw
during World War II, at Yad Vashem website. Bykhovsky Uyezd Holocaust locations in Belarus Populated places in Mogilev Region Populated places on the Dnieper in Belarus Towns in Belarus {{Belarus-geo-stub