Sharkawshchyna or Sharkovshchina 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 Vitebsk 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 north of the capital

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

, and serves as the administrative center of Sharkawshchyna District. As of 2025, it has a population of 5,945.

History

Within the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...

, Sharkawshchyna was part of

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 ...

. In 1793, the town was acquired by 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 ...

as a result of the

Second Partition of Poland The 1793 Second Partition of Poland was the second of partitions of Poland, three partitions (or partial annexations) that ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. The second partition (politics), partition occurred i ...

World War II

From 1921 until 1939, Sharkawshchyna was part of the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

. In September 1939, Sharkawshchyna was occupied by the Red Army and, on 14 November 1939, 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 ...

. There were an estimated 1,500 Jews on the eve of the

Second World War 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 ...

. Sharkawshchyna was occupied by Nazi Germany on 6–9 July 1941 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 ...

''. Between September and November, about 1,700 Jews were rounded up and confined to the local

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 ...

with severe overcrowding problems. Many died of disease and starvation. At the end of March 1942, the Germans divided the ghetto into two parts: one for "necessary workers”" and another ghetto for the others. On 18 June, the German police and local collaborators surrounded the ghetto and opened fire on the ghetto. 700 residents who were unable to successfully escape were escorted away and shot. The Germans later recaptured 300 escapees and shot them. As many as 500 of those who escaped joined the Jews of the nearby ghetto at Glebokie. This was used by several Holocaust researchers from the "Israel school" of Holocaust research, as a study case showing the futility of Jewish resistance in those years.

Population

Population: 5,945 (2025); 6,005 (2024); 6,107 (2023); 6,330 (2017); 6,900 (2010).Численность населения по Республике Беларусь, областям и г. Минску (тысяч человек) на 1 января 2010 года

Climate

Notes

References

Sources

External links

* {{Authority control Holocaust locations in Belarus Jewish Belarusian history Populated places in Vitebsk region Sharkawshchyna district Urban-type settlements in Belarus