Motal or Motol (;
Russian
Russian(s) may refer to:
*Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*A citizen of Russia
*Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages
*''The Russians'', a b ...
and
West Polesian
West Polesian (захыднёполіськая мова, ''zakhydnyopolis'kaya mova'') is the East Slavic dialect group (or variety) spoken in southwestern Belarus, in northwestern Ukraine and adjoining regions of Poland. There is controver ...
: Мотоль; ; ''Motele'') is an
agrotown in
Ivanava District
Ivanava district (; ) is a district (raion) of Brest region in Belarus. Its administrative center is Ivanava. As of 2024, it has a population of 35,097.
Demographics
At the time of the 2009 Belarusian census, Ivanava district had a population ...
,
Brest Region,
Belarus
Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...
. It is located about 30 kilometres west of
Pinsk
Pinsk (; , ; ; ; ) is a city in Brest Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Pinsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. It is located in the historical region of Polesia, at the confluence of t ...
on the
Yaselda River
The Yaselda (, alternative transliteration ''Jasieĺda'', , ) is a river in Brest Region in south-west Belarus. It is linked via the Dnieper–Bug Canal to the city of Pinsk. It is a left tributary of the Pripyat. The Yaselda is connected to the ...
.
History
Founded as a
royal city
Royal may refer to:
People
* Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name
* A member of a royal family or royalty
Places United States
* Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
* Royal, Illinois, a village
* Royal ...
of the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1554 by
Queen Bona Sforza. A part of the Pinsk ‘ekonomia’ or royal land, in the late 18th century it was also part of the Pińsk
of the
Brest Litovsk Voivodeship
Brest Litovsk Voivodeship (; ) was a unit of administrative territorial division and a seat of local government (voivode) in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth) from 1566 until the May Constitution in 1791, and from ...
.
After the Partitions of Poland, Motal became part of the Russian Empire. It was in the
Kobrinsky Uyezd
Kobrinsky Uyezd () was one of the nine subdivisions of the Grodno Governorate of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the southeastern part of the governorate. Its administrative centre was Kobryn (''Kobrin'').
Demographics
At the time of the R ...
of
Grodno Governorate
Grodno Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Northwestern Krai of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Grodno. It encompassed in area and consisted of a population of 1,603,409 inhabitants by 1897. Gro ...
until the collapse of the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
in 1917. Between
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
and
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
it was in the
Drohiczyn
Drohiczyn () (, ) is a town in Siemiatycze County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland. The town has a population of 2,110 and is situated on the bank of the Bug River. Drohiczyn has a long and rich history, as in the past it was one of the most impo ...
powiat of the Polish
Polesie Voivodeship
Polesie Voivodeship () was an administrative unit of interwar Poland (1918–1939), named after the historical region of Polesia. It was created by the Council of Ministers of the Second Polish Republic on February 19, 1921, as a result of peac ...
. It is near the center of
Polesia
Polesia, also called Polissia, Polesie, or Polesye, is a natural (geographic) and historical region in Eastern Europe within the East European Plain, including the Belarus–Ukraine border region and part of eastern Poland. This region shou ...
which constituted an irregular rectangle of roughly from east to west and from north to south.
Motal was a
Shtetl
or ( ; , ; Grammatical number#Overview, pl. ''shtetelekh'') is a Yiddish term for small towns with predominantly Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi Jewish populations which Eastern European Jewry, existed in Eastern Europe before the Holocaust. The t ...
. In 1937, Motal had 4,297 inhabitants, of whom 1,354 were Jews. (Reinharz, 1985).
During the war an
Einsatzgruppen
(, ; also 'task forces') were (SS) paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, during World War II (1939–1945) in German-occupied Europe. The had an integral role in the imp ...
perpetrated a mass execution of the local Jewish community in the
Motal Ghetto
Motal Ghetto or Motol ghetto (summer 1941 – spring 1942) was a Jewish ghetto established during the Holocaust in the town of Motal, located in the Ivanava Raion of the Brest Region, Brest region, Belarus. This ghetto was a site of forced reloc ...
.
''The Destruction of Motele'' (Hurban Motele) was published in Hebrew by the Council of Motele Immigrants in Jerusalem in 1956. It was edited by A.L. Poliak, Ed. Dr. Dov Yarden. The book has 87 pages and contains memoirs and events leading up to the destruction of the Jews of Motele in 1942.
Anshe Motele Congregation, an Orthodox Jewish synagogue, was founded in Chicago on Sept. 3, 1903, by 14 immigrants who named it after Motel.
[
]
Economics
The largest company in Motol i
Agromotol
Education
Motol has 2 secondary schools and an art school.
Notable people
*
Chaim Weizmann
Chaim Azriel Weizmann ( ; 27 November 1874 – 9 November 1952) was a Russian-born Israeli statesman, biochemist, and Zionist leader who served as president of the World Zionist Organization, Zionist Organization and later as the first pre ...
, Israel's first President
*
Saul Lieberman
Saul Lieberman (; May 28, 1898 – March 23, 1983), also known as Rabbi Shaul Lieberman or, among some of his students, the ''Gra״sh'' (''Gaon Rabbeinu Shaul''), was a rabbi and a Talmudic scholar. He served as Professor of Talmud at the Jewish T ...
, rabbi and a scholar of Talmud
*
Leonard Chess
Leonard Samuel Chess (born Lejzor Szmuel Czyż; March 12, 1917 – October 16, 1969) was a Polish-American record company executive and the founder of Chess Records alongside his brother Phil. He was influential in the development of the recor ...
(Lejzor Czyż) and
Phil Chess
Philip Chess (born Fiszel Czyż; March 27, 1921 – October 18, 2016) was a Polish-born American record company executive, the founder of Chess Records alongside his brother Leonard.
Early life
Chess was born to a Polish-Jewish family in the ...
(Fiszel Czyż), founders of
Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock an ...
*
Étienne Wasserzug
Wasserzug Étienne Bronislaw (1 August 1860 in Motol – 1888)Etienne Wasserzug (1860-1888) Notice biographique et travaux scientifiques, Sceaux, Imp. Charaire et Fils, 1889, 75 p. was a French biologist of Polish origin.
Biography
1863–187 ...
, French biologist
*
David Bartov, Israeli judge and the head of Nativ
*
Serguei Palto, Russian physicist
Motal in literature
*
The Slaughterman's Daughter by
Yaniv Iczkovits
Yaniv Iczkovits (; born May 2, 1975) is an Israeli writer known for his novels, essays and philosophical work. His 2015 fantasy-historical adventure novel '' The Slaughterman's Daughter'', with an unlikely assortment of Jewish characters on a que ...
References
Sources
*
Jehuda Reinharz
Jehuda Reinharz (; born August 1, 1944) served as President of Brandeis University from 1994–2010. He was the Richard Koret Professor of Modern Jewish History and Director of the Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry at Brandeis. He i ...
, ''Chaim Weizmann: The Making of a Zionist Leader'' (1985).
* Itzhak Epstein,
pdf Jewish Motol: Genealogical and Family History Bibliography'
External links
Photos at radzima.orgShtetl Links: Motol Home Page
Populated places in Brest region
Historic Jewish communities in Belarus
Jewish Belarusian history
Holocaust locations in Belarus
Ivanava district
Agrotowns in Belarus
{{Belarus-geo-stub