Sharkawshchyna or Sharkovshchina ( be, Ша́ркаўшчына, Šarkaŭščyna; russian: Шарковщина; pl, Szarkowszczyna; yi, שאַרקוישטשינע, Sharkoyshtchine) is an

urban-type settlement Urban-type settlementrussian: посёлок городско́го ти́па, translit=posyolok gorodskogo tipa, abbreviated: russian: п.г.т., translit=p.g.t.; ua, селище міського типу, translit=selyshche mis'koho typu, ab ...

Vitebsk Region Vitebsk Region or Vitebsk Oblast or Viciebsk Voblasts ( be, Ві́цебская во́бласць, ''Viciebskaja voblasć'', ; rus, Ви́тебская о́бласть, Vitebskaya oblast, ˈvʲitʲɪpskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a region (oblast ...

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

, and the administrative center of

Sharkawshchyna District Sharkawshchyna District ( be, Шаркаўшчынскі раён; russian: Шарковщинский район) is a district (raion) of Vitebsk Region in Belarus. The administrative center of the district is the town of Sharkawshchyna. Nota ...

. It has a population of 6,900 (2010).

History

Within the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Li ...

, Sharkawshchyna was part of

Vilnius Voivodeship The Vilnius Voivodeship ( la, Palatinatus Vilnensis, lt, Vilniaus vaivadija, pl, województwo wileńskie, be, Віленскае ваяводства) was one of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania's voivodeships, which existed from the voivodeship's ...

. In 1793, the town was acquired by the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

as a result of the

Second Partition of Poland The 1793 Second Partition of Poland was the second of three partitions (or partial annexations) that ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. The second partition occurred in the aftermath of the Polish–Russian War ...

. From 1921 until 1939, Sharkawshchyna was part of the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...

. In September 1939, Sharkawshchyna was occupied by the Red Army and, on 14 November 1939, incorporated into the

Byelorussian SSR The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, or Byelorussian SSR; be, Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Savieckaja Sacyjalistyčnaja Respublika; russian: Белор� ...

. From 30 June 1941 until 1 July 1944, Sharkawshchyna was occupied by Nazi Germany and administered as a part of the ''

Generalbezirk Weißruthenien Generalbezirk Weissruthenien (General District White Ruthenia) was one of the four administrative subdivisions of ''Reichskommissariat Ostland'', the 1941-1945 civilian occupation regime established by Nazi Germany for the administration of the th ...

'' 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 ...

''. In October 1941, 1,900 Jews of the town and surroundings were kept imprisoned in a

ghetto A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished t ...

. Many died of disease and starvation. On July 17, 1942, 1200 Jews were murdered in a mass execution perpetrated by an

einsatzgruppen (, ; also ' task forces') were (SS) paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, during World War II (1939–1945) in German-occupied Europe. The had an integral role in the im ...

, some managed to escape when the Judenrat instructed them to run through the lines of the police coming at them. Several days later, most of the survivors, even though they knew their ultimate fate, joined the Jews of the nearby ghetto at Glebokie. This was used by several Holocaust researchers from the "Israel school" of holocaust research, as a study case showing the futility of Jewish resistance in those years.''The Holocaust and its Aftermath'' Samuel Kassow, page 665, chapter 23 i
The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume VIII The Modern World

References

External links

* Disnensky Uyezd Holocaust locations in Belarus Jewish Belarusian history Populated places in Vitebsk Region Sharkawshchyna District Urban-type settlements in Belarus Vilnius Voivodeship Wilno Voivodeship (1926–1939) {{Belarus-geo-stub