Molchad ( be, Моўчадзь, pl, Mołczadź, yi, מייטשעט ''Meytshet'') is a village located on the Molchad River in the

Baranovichy District Baranavichy District is a district of Brest Region, in Belarus. Its administrative center is Baranavichy. Demographics At the time of the Belarus Census (2009), Baranavichy District had a population of 41,902. Of these, 86.9% were of Belarusia ...

of the

Brest Region Brest Region or Brest Oblast or Brest Voblasts ( be, Брэ́сцкая во́бласць ''(Bresckaja vobłasć)''; russian: Бре́стская о́бласть (''Brestskaya Oblast)'') is one of the regions of Belarus. Its administrative cen ...

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 ...

. It is located in 33 km north-west from Baranovichi. The population of Molchad is 950 people and includes 330 households.

History

The village of Molchad has appeared in written sources as early as 1486 with the founding of the local Holy Trinity Church, which no longer stands, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus 201
Tourist Mosaic of Belarus page 65
/ref> it was listed as part of the Slonim povet of 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 Lit ...

. During the

Russo-Polish War Armed conflicts between Poland (including the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth) and Russia (including the Soviet Union) include: Originally a Polish civil war that Russia, among others, became involved in. Originally a Hungarian revolution ...

in 1654 the village was razed by Russian invaders but latter rebuilt.

Under the Russian Empire

As a result of the

third partition of Poland The Third Partition of Poland (1795) was the last in a series of the Partitions of Poland–Lithuania and the land of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth among Prussia, the Habsburg monarchy, and the Russian Empire which effectively ended Polis ...

in 1795 Molchad became part of 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. ...

. In 1879, the village suffered a large fire which destroyed most of the buildings in Molchad. In 1880, the St. Peter and Paul Church was completed. In 1884 a railway was built through the village connecting it to the nearby city of

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...

. In 1886 Molchad was reported to have 2 churches, 3 synagogues, a brewery, a railway station , a school and a bazaar.

20th Century

In 1921, the

Peace of Riga The Peace of Riga, also known as the Treaty of Riga ( pl, Traktat Ryski), was signed in Riga on 18 March 1921, among Poland, Soviet Russia (acting also on behalf of Soviet Belarus) and Soviet Ukraine. The treaty ended the Polish–Soviet Wa ...

transferred Molchad to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. Following the

Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

in 1939, Molchad was incorporated into the Byelorussian SSR. Between June 1941 and July 1944, Molchad was occupied by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, From June through August 1942, 3600 Jews from Molchad and the surrounding area were massacred by the native Polish population with the support of German troops. Many Jews were buried alive.Jewish Heritage Research Group in Belarus
/ref>

Historic Populations

In 1830, the population was 363 people: 183 were Jewish, 169 were middle class Christians and farmers, 6 were

gentry Gentry (from Old French ''genterie'', from ''gentil'', "high-born, noble") are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. Word similar to gentle imple and decentfamilies ''Gentry'', in its widest c ...

, 2

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

and 3 poor.
In 1865, the population was 737.
In 1886, the population was 479.
In 1921, the population was 1483.
In 1998, the population was 882.

References

Molchadz (Maytchet), In Memory of the Jewish Community (Molchad, Belarus)
Villages in Belarus Populated places in Brest Region Nowogródek Voivodeship (1507–1795) Slonimsky Uyezd Nowogródek Voivodeship (1919–1939) Jewish Belarusian history Holocaust locations in Belarus {{Belarus-stub