Church of Saint Mary in Vishneva, Belarus

Vishnyeva ( be, Ві́шнева, Višnieva; russian: Вишнево, ''Vishnevo''; pl, Wiszniew; lt, Vyšniavas; yi, ווישנעווע, ''Vishneve'') is an

agrotown An agro-town is an agglomeration in a rural environment with a population of several thousands but whose workforce's main occupation is agriculture. An agro-town also lacks the administrative, commercial and industrial functions that are usually ...

in the

Valozhyn District Valozhyn District is a second-level administrative subdivision (raion) of Belarus in the Minsk Region Minsk Region or Minsk Oblast or Minsk Voblasts ( be, Мі́нская во́бласць, ''Minskaja voblasć'' ; russian: Минская о́ ...

of Minsk Region, Belarus, near the border with

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

History

The town was probably established in the 14th century. In 1859, it had 72 households, totalling 900 people, of which 500 were Jews. In 1897, it had a population of 2650, including the rural neighbourhood, of which 1463 were Jews. The population of Vishnyeva in 1907 was 2,650, of which 1,863 were Jews. In World War II, the Vishnyeva Ghetto included 1,100 men, women, children and infants, and all were burnt alive by the Nazis and their local collaborators in the Vishnyeva Synagogue on 22 September 1942. Among those killed on that day was the grandfather of

Shimon Peres Shimon Peres (; he, שמעון פרס ; born Szymon Perski; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the ninth president of ...

, who later became President of Israel. Some Jews were taken to the ghetto in the nearby town of Valozhyn and killed there. Remains of a

Jewish cemetery A Jewish cemetery ( he, בית עלמין ''beit almin'' or ''beit kvarot'') is a cemetery where Jews are buried in keeping with Jewish tradition. Cemeteries are referred to in several different ways in Hebrew, including ''beit kevarot'' ...

can be located in the town. A few survivors have emigrated to Israel and to other countries.

People

The small town was the place of death of Symon Budny. Four centuries later, it was the birthplace of Shimon Peres, the former President of Israel, who emigrated to Mandatory Palestine with his family in 1934, Vishnyeva was also the birthplace of Yehoshua Rabinovitz, who served as the Finance Minister of the State of Israel and the Mayor of Tel-Aviv; of

Nahum Goldman Nahum Goldmann ( he, נחום גולדמן) (July 10, 1895 – August 29, 1982) was a leading Zionist. He was a founder of the World Jewish Congress and its president from 1951 to 1978, and was also president of the World Zionist Organization from ...

, who was the founder and president of the World Jewish Congress, and of the Dudman family, of which

Yadin Dudai Yadin Dudai (born December 8, 1944) is a neuroscientist, Professor (emeritus) of Neurobiology at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, and the Albert and Blanche Willner Family Global Distinguished Professor of Neural Science at Ne ...

is an internationally renowned leader in neuroscience.

Landmarks

* Church of Saint Mary, built in 1637—1641, is an example of

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

style and listed as Belarus Cultural Heritage object.

References

External links

Vishnevo
at KehilaLinks *

Populated places in Minsk Region Valozhyn District Vilnius Voivodeship Oshmyansky Uyezd Nowogródek Voivodeship (1919–1939) Holocaust locations in Belarus {{Belarus-geo-stub

History

People

Landmarks

References

Further reading

External links