Belarus

DISCOVER JEWISH BELARUS!

Jewish life in Belarus dates back to the 14th century, when Jews were allowed into the region then known as Belorussia by Grand Price Vytautas of Lithuania. The region was also settled by Jewish merchants traveling between Poland and Russia. By the early 19th century, roughly 200,000 Jews lived in Belarus, comprising 5% of the total population.

The region was home to a number of prominent yeshivas starting at the end of the 16th century. As Hasidism began to spread during the 18th century, Belarus became the site of a tense struggle between the Hasidim and the Mitnagedim, a term that literally means “the opposition” and refers to those who opposed Hasidism. Belarus later became an important region in the Jewish socialist and Zionist movements.

The Holocaust struck the Belarussian Jews hard, with most of the ghettos deported or destroyed by 1942. Jews returned after the war but the population shrunk under Soviet control and in the face of anti-Semitism. Perestroika led to a revival of Jewish life that is visible in the numerous community organizations active today.

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