Svislach or Śvislač ( be, Свiслач, ; russian: Сви́слочь, Svisloch; pl, Świsłocz; yi, סיסלעוויטש or ''Sislevitch''; lt, Svisločius) is a
town in the South-West of
Grodno Region,
Belarus, an administrative center of the
Svislach district.
It is connected with
Vaŭkavysk by a railroad branch and with
Grodno
Grodno (russian: Гродно, pl, Grodno; lt, Gardinas) or Hrodna ( be, Гродна ), is a city in western Belarus. The city is located on the Neman River, 300 km (186 mi) from Minsk, about 15 km (9 mi) from the Polish b ...
by a highway. International phone number prefix: 375-15-13.
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
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
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
Batya Friedman is an American professor in the Information School, adjunct professor in the Department of Computer Science, and adjunct professor in the Department of Human-Centered Design and Engineering at the University of Washington where she ...
, serves as rebbetzin of Hampstead Garden Suburb Synagogue, London. His great-grandson is Rabbi
Yochanan Ivry Yohanan, Yochanan and Johanan are various transliterations to the Latin alphabet of the Hebrew male given name ('), a shortened form of ('), meaning "YHWH is gracious".
The name is ancient, recorded as the name of Johanan, high priest of the Sec ...
of Congregation Toras Emes of
Staten Island, New York.
Svislach 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 ...
from 1921 until 1939. In September 1939, Svislach 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 ...
. 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.
Residents
Notable residents include:
* Rabbi
Aharon Kotler
Aharon Kotler (1892–1962) was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and a prominent leader of Orthodox Judaism in Lithuania and the United States; the latter being where he founded Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood Township, New Jersey.
Early life
Kotler w ...
* Rabbi
Samuel Belkin
*
David Lewis (Losz),
Canadian Rhodes Scholar
The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom.
Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...
and federal
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic:
*
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*
*
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* t ...
leader.
References and notes
External links
Photos on Radzima.org
{{Authority control
Towns in Belarus
Populated places in Grodno Region
Nowogródek Voivodeship (1507–1795)
Volkovyssky Uyezd
Białystok Voivodeship (1919–1939)
Belastok Region
Holocaust locations in Poland
Svislach District