Radun is an
urban-type settlement
Urban-type settlement, abbreviated: ; , abbreviated: ; ; ; ; . is an official designation for lesser urbanized settlements, used in several Central and Eastern Europe, Central and Eastern European countries. The term was primarily used in the So ...
in
Voranava District,
Grodno Region, in western
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 ...
.
As of 2025, it has a population of 2,001.
History
Raduń was a
royal town,
administratively located in the Lida County in the
Vilnius Voivodeship
The Vilnius Voivodeship (, , , ) was one of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania's voivodeships, which existed from the voivodeship's creation in 1413 to the destruction of the Lithuanian state in 1795. This voivodeship was Lithuania's largest, most p ...
of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...
. The shortest 16th-century route connecting
Kraków
, officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...
and
Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...
led through the town.
[
It was the home of Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, known as the Chofetz Chaim, and his ]Raduń Yeshiva
The Radin Yeshiva, originally located in Radun, Belarus, Radun, Vilna Governorate, Russian Empire (now in Belarus), was established by Rabbi Israel Meir Kagan (known as the ''Chofetz Chaim'' after the title of his well-known ''Sefer (Hebrew), sefe ...
founded in 1869.
Raduń, as it was known in Polish, was administratively located in the Lida County in the Nowogródek Voivodeship of Poland in the interwar period. In the 1921 census, 61.2% people declared Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
* Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...
nationality, and 38,0% declared Jewish nationality.Invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...
in September 1939, Radun was occupied by the Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
and incorporated into the Byelorussian SSR
The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, Byelorussian SSR or Byelorussia; ; ), also known as Soviet Belarus or simply Belarus, was a republic of the Soviet Union (USSR). It existed between 1920 and 1922 as an independent state, and ...
on 14 November 1939. In 1940, most of the yeshiva students were transferred to the United States via Japan.
From June 1941 until 13 July 1944, Radun was occupied by Germany and administered as a part of the ''Generalbezirk Weißruthenien
''Generalbezirk Weißruthenien'' (; ) was an administrative subdivision of the ''Reichskommissariat Ostland'' of Nazi Germany that covered western Belarus from 1941 to 1944. It served as the Nazi civilian administration for the German occupati ...
'' of ''Reichskommissariat Ostland
The (RKO; ) was an Administrative division, administrative entity of the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories of Nazi Germany from 1941 to 1945. It served as the German Civil authority, civilian occupation regime in Lithuania, La ...
''. On November 16, 1941, a fenced ghetto
A ghetto is a part of a city in which members of a minority group are concentrated, especially as a result of political, social, legal, religious, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished than other ...
was established on Zhydovska Street, previously a Jewish street. There were also Jews from neighbouring villages gathered in the ghetto: Dovguielishki, Zabolote, Zhyrmuny and Nacha. More than 2,000 Jews were confined inside the ghetto.
On May 10, 1942, 100 young Jews were requisitioned to dig pits in the Jewish cemetery. As the working Jews attempted a mass-escape, many of them were shot. When the ghetto was liquidated, more than 1,500 Jews were killed by the Germans and the local police. Nearly 300 skilled artisans were kept alive, and later sent to Shchuchin
Shchuchyn is a town in Grodno Region, in western Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Shchuchyn District. As of 2025, it has a population of 15,127.
History
The first known official written mention of Shchuchyn is recorded in 14 ...
ghetto and from there, after a while, to their deaths in an unknown location. As of 2018, there were no Jews living in Radun.
Demographics
According to the 2009 Belarusian census The 2009 Belarusian census was the second census in Belarus after it became an independent state after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The census was carried out during October 14–24, 2009. The initial results are to be announced by February ...
, the population was 80.9% Polish, 10.5% Belarusian, 3.0% Russian, 2.7% Romani and 2.1% Lithuanian.
See also
*Raduń Yeshiva
The Radin Yeshiva, originally located in Radun, Belarus, Radun, Vilna Governorate, Russian Empire (now in Belarus), was established by Rabbi Israel Meir Kagan (known as the ''Chofetz Chaim'' after the title of his well-known ''Sefer (Hebrew), sefe ...
Notes
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Holocaust locations in Belarus
Populated places in Grodno region
Urban-type settlements in Belarus
Voranava district