Kletsk is a city in the Minsk voblast of
BelarusBelarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel , Mahilyow and Vitebsk...
, located on the
LanŁan , in Polish means "field," and is a unit of land measurement used in Poland. Since the 13th century, its value has varied from one location to another. A Franconian łan consisted of 43.2 morgs = 23 to 28 hectares...
river. , it had ca. 10,000 inhabitants.
The town was founded in 11th century by the
DregovichsThe Dregovichs were one of the tribal unions of Early East Slavs, and inhabited the territories down the stream of the Pripyat River and northern parts of the right-bank Dnieper river...
, who erected a large fort and a tribal centre there. In 14th century the town became part of the
Grand Duchy of LithuaniaThe Grand Duchy of Lithuania was an Eastern and Central European state from the 12th /13th century until 1795. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the pagan Baltic tribes from Aukštaitija...
and then part of the
Polish-Lithuanian CommonwealthThe Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was formed by the union of the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1569. The new Commonwealth was one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th and 17th-century Europe....
in the wake of the
Polish-Lithuanian UnionThe term Polish–Lithuanian Union sometimes called as United Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania refers to a series of acts and alliances between the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that lasted for prolonged periods of time and led to the creation of the Polish–Lithuanian...
s. In the 1506 Battle of Kleck, the Polish-Lithuanian forces under Michał Gliński defeated the Tartar armies and saved the town from being pillaged.
Kletsk is a city in the Minsk voblast of
BelarusBelarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel , Mahilyow and Vitebsk...
, located on the
LanŁan , in Polish means "field," and is a unit of land measurement used in Poland. Since the 13th century, its value has varied from one location to another. A Franconian łan consisted of 43.2 morgs = 23 to 28 hectares...
river. , it had ca. 10,000 inhabitants.
History
The town was founded in 11th century by the
DregovichsThe Dregovichs were one of the tribal unions of Early East Slavs, and inhabited the territories down the stream of the Pripyat River and northern parts of the right-bank Dnieper river...
, who erected a large fort and a tribal centre there. In 14th century the town became part of the
Grand Duchy of LithuaniaThe Grand Duchy of Lithuania was an Eastern and Central European state from the 12th /13th century until 1795. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the pagan Baltic tribes from Aukštaitija...
and then part of the
Polish-Lithuanian CommonwealthThe Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was formed by the union of the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1569. The new Commonwealth was one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th and 17th-century Europe....
in the wake of the
Polish-Lithuanian UnionThe term Polish–Lithuanian Union sometimes called as United Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania refers to a series of acts and alliances between the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that lasted for prolonged periods of time and led to the creation of the Polish–Lithuanian...
s. In the 1506 Battle of Kleck, the Polish-Lithuanian forces under Michał Gliński defeated the Tartar armies and saved the town from being pillaged. Soon afterwards, the town became a property of the Radziwiłł
magnateMagnate, from the Late Latin magnas, a great man, itself from Latin magnus 'great', designates a noble or other man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or other qualities...
family, who started to attract Jewish settlers to the area.
The earliest known mention of the local Jewish community is a document dated September 5, 1522, issued by King
Sigismund I the OldSigismund I the Old of the Jagiellon dynasty reigned as King of Poland and also as the Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 until 1548...
of Poland. In it, the monarch awarded for three years to Isaac Jesofovitch, a Jew of Brest, for the sum of
300 times sixty groszGrosz may refer to:
* Grosz, a coin used in Poland as a hundredth part of 1 złoty. Złoty is Polish currency* Groschen, a coin used in various statesGrosz or Grósz is the surname of:* Elizabeth Grosz, an American philosopher....
a lease of the inns and other sources of revenue in Kletsk. The next mention of the Kletzk community, as it was known in Yiddish, is found in a document dated January 21, 1529, which imposes military duties on its inhabitants, as well as on those of other towns. On June 15, 1542, the boyar Grishko Kochevich brought suit against Zachariah Markovich, a Jew of Kletzk, the latter's oxen having broken into Grishko's field and injured the growing grain; the court awarded to Grishko twelve "ruble groschen" damages.
A census taken in 1552-55 shows that the Jewish householders lived chiefly on Wilna street, on the Sloboda, and owned gardens in the suburbs. Kletzk is mentioned in the assessment on the Lithuanian communities in 1566, and from its small proportionate assessment it appears that the community was not important at that time.
In 1586 the town became the capital of Radziwiłł's
ordynacja, which sparked the gradual development of the town into a regional centre of commerce. By the end of the following century the number of Jews grew significantly; the town was also one of the notable centre of
CalvinismCalvinism is a theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
, sponsored by the Radziwiłł family.
The first rabbi of Kletzk was Judah ben Löb, who also had under his jurisdiction the community of Mechit. He was succeeded by Michael ben Meïr Eisenstadt, who in turn was followed, about 1762, by his son Moses Eisenstadt (d. Oct. 25, 1795). According to a local legend, the philosopher
Salomon MaimonSalomon ben Josua Maimon was a German philosopher born of Jewish parentage in Belorussia.-Early years:...
had lived there for several years, and was intimate with Moses Eisenstadt.
Until 1623 the town was a part of the
powiatA powiat is the second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland, equivalent to a county, district or prefecture in other countries. The term powiat is most often translated into English as "county", although other terms are also sometimes used...
of Brześć; after that date it was transferred, together with the neighbouring towns, to the district of
PinskPinsk , a town in Belarus, in the Polesia region, traversed by the river Pripyat, at the confluence of the Strumen and Pina rivers. The region is known as the Marsh of Pinsk. It is a fertile agricultural center. It lies south-west of Minsk. The population is about 130,000...
. According to tradition, the town originally was located on the opposite bank of the river, on the road leading to Lyakhovich; but after the destructive fire of 1705 it was rebuilt, at the instance of the Voivode, on its present site.
Annexed by the
Russian EmpireThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia, and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
after the
partitions of PolandThe Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The partitions were carried out by Prussia, Russia and Habsburg Austria dividing up the Commonwealth lands...
, the town was repeatedly destroyed by fire in 19th century, including in 1817, 1845, 1865, and 1886. In 1903 Kletzk had a total population of about 8,000, of which about 6,000 were Jews. After the Polish-Bolshevik War the town was restored to Poland, only to be annexed by the
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
in 1939 and then by
Nazi GermanyNazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...
in 1941.
During the German occupation a large massacre of local Jews took place in the town on October 6, 1941, with circa 4,000 people murdered. The remaining Jews of the area (approximately 2,000 people) were massed in a local
ghettoOriginally used in Venice to describe the area where Jews were compelled to live, a ghetto is now described as a "portion of a city in which members of a minority group live; especially because of social, legal, or economic pressure." - Etymology :...
and then sent to various German concentration camps by August 21, 1942. The Holocaust brought an end to a vibrant Jewish life. Among the monuments of the Jewish past destroyed during the
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
were a Jewish cemetery, a large synagogue founded by Prince Radziwiłł in 1796; a
bet ha-midrashMidrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
built in early 18th century and fifteen smaller houses of prayer.
After the war the town was a part of the Belorussian SSR. Since 1991, is has been a part of
BelarusBelarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel , Mahilyow and Vitebsk...
.
Architecture
Before the last war, the town's oldest building was the mid-16th-century Trinity cathedral. It was seriously damaged during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and eventually blown up by the Soviets in the 1950s. Its ruins are still visible, however. Currently, the town's main architectural landmark is the Church of the Resurrection, which was built in the provincial Baroque style in 1683.
People
- Michał Hieronim Radziwiłł
- Dominik Mikołaj Radziwiłł
- Józef Mikołaj Radziwiłł
- Dregovichs
The Dregovichs were one of the tribal unions of Early East Slavs, and inhabited the territories down the stream of the Pripyat River and northern parts of the right-bank Dnieper river...
External links