Project «Voices of Jewish settlements. Vitebsk region.»פיתוח קשרי התרבות בין העמים של ישראל ובלרוס
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Alexander RosenbergDUBROVNOToday Dubrovno is a regional center of Vitebsk region. Before the war it used to be a typical Jewish shtetl with set traditions and ways of life.The first reference to Jews in Dubrovno dates back from 1685. At the time the place belonged to Poland. In the 18th century it already played a significant role in the social life of Belarusian Jews. In 1766 the Jewish population in Dubrovno constituted 801 people, in 1847 – 4,481 people. In 1909 Dubrovno had its own Jewish religious school “Talmud Torah” and a private Jewish college. From the 18th century the main occupation of the local Jews was weaving and the town had whole dynasties of weavers. In 1898, 300 families were engaged in weaving and Dubrovno was known as the center of tallit production, the tallits being exported to Russia and other countries. In spite of that weavers were not rich people. Their salary at the end of the 19th century constituted 1-2 rubles per week. That attracted the attention of “Jewish Colonization Society”, founded by M. de Girsh. They established “Joint stock Company of Dnieper cotton-spinning and weaving manufacture”, which started working in 1902. The basic capital of the factory constituted 1,010,000 rubles. 800,000 rubles were given by “JCS”, the rest – by private sponsors: baron Ginzburg, I.A. Vavelberg, A.T. Rosenblum. That was the first factory with exclusively Jewish workers and days off on Sabbath. In 1904 the factory employed 400 people on 168 machines. The average salary was 9 rubles. In 1908 the number grew to 559 people and the average salary – 17 rubles. The events of 1905-1907, the so-called first Russian revolution, were reflected on Dubrovno Jews, too. Some of them joined the Social-democratic movement (Jewish labor party “Bund”). People feared pogroms, which were becoming more and more frequent and happened in Dubrovno as well. The city had its Jewish self-defense brigade, which also helped Jews in Orsha. In 1917 the new authorities started changing the traditional ways of life all around the country: they closed synagogues and opened Soviet schools. Some schools still held classes in Yiddish, however. The factory still existed. The war brought a lot of suffering to Dubrovno. When fascists came, they prohibited Jews to leave the town and declared a curfew, which started at 6 p.m. Jews were to wear black bands with a yellow Magen David on it. In the early spring of 1942 the mass execution of Dubrovno Jews took place. It took place near a flax-mill, next to the Jewish cemetery (now Vitebskaya Street). All in all there were 1,985 Jewish victims. Very few former dwellers returned to the town after the war, and today there are practically no Jews left here. All we have is the memory of the victims, the graves and old photographs, which tell the story of the fate of a typical Jewish shtetl on the Dnieper River. Newspaper «Berega», August-September, 2003 |
Shtetls of Vitebsk regionVitebsk • Albrehtovo • Babinovichi • Babynichi • Baran • Bayevo • Begoml • Beloye • Beshenkovichi • Bigosovo • Bocheikovo • Bogushevsk • Bolbasovo • Borkovichi • Borovuha • Braslav • Bychiha • Chashniki • Chereya • Disna • Dobromysli • Dokshitsy • Druisk • Drutsk • Druya • Dubrovno • Dunilovichi • Dvorishe • Germanovichi • Glubokoye • Golubichi • Gomel • Gorodok • Ikazn • Iody • Kamen • Kohanovo • Kolyshki • Kopys • Koziany • Krasnoluki • Krasnopolie • Kublichi • Latygolichi • Lepel • Liady • Liozno • Lukoml • Luzhki • Lyntupy • Matiyevo • Miory • Новый Погост• Obol • Oboltsy • Opsa • Orehovsk • Orsha • Osintorf • Ostrovno • Osveya • Parafianovo • Plissa • Podsvilye • Polotsk • Postavy • Prozorki • Rossony • Senno • Sharkovshina • Shumilino • Sirotino • Slavnoye • Slobodka • Smolyany • Surazh • Svecha • Tolochin • Trudy • Ulla • Ushachi • Verhnedvinsk • Vetrino • Vidzy • Volkolata • Volyntsy • Voronichi • Vorontsevichi • Yanovichi• Yezerishe • Yuhovichi • Zhary • |
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