Surazh () is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

and the

administrative center An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgiu ...

Surazhsky District Surazhsky District () is an administrativeLaw #13-Z and municipalLaw #3-Z district (raion), one of the twenty-seven in Bryansk Oblast, Russia. It is located in the west of the oblast. The area of the district is . Its administrative center is the ...

Bryansk Oblast Bryansk Oblast (), also known as Bryanshchina (, ), is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Bryansk. As of the 2021 Census, its population was 1,169,161. Geography Bryansk Oblast lies in weste ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, located on the

Iput River The Iput, or Iputs (, alternative transliteration ''Ipuć'', ; ) is a river in Mogilev and Gomel Regions in Belarus and Smolensk and Bryansk Oblasts in Russia. It is a left tributary of the Sozh. The length of the Iput is . The area of its basin i ...

southwest of

Bryansk Bryansk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, situated on the Desna (river), Desna River, southwest of Moscow. It has a population of 379,152 at the 2021 census. Bryans ...

, the administrative center of the

oblast An oblast ( or ) is a type of administrative division in Bulgaria and several post-Soviet states, including Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Historically, it was used in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. The term ''oblast'' is often translated i ...

. Population: 1,599 (1897).

History

The territory formed part of the

Smolensk Voivodeship Smolensk Voivodeship (; ; ; ; ) was a unit of administrative division and local government in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. History The territory of Smolensk was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

within 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 ...

until 1648/1667, and afterwards it was located within the

Cossack Hetmanate The Cossack Hetmanate (; Cossack Hetmanate#Name, see other names), officially the Zaporozhian Host (; ), was a Ukrainian Cossacks, Cossack state. Its territory was located mostly in central Ukraine, as well as in parts of Belarus and southwest ...

. It was first mentioned in the 17th century as the village of Surazhichi (); later as a ''

sloboda A sloboda was a type of settlement in the history of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. The name is derived from the early Slavic word for 'freedom' and may be loosely translated as 'free settlement'.

''. Since 1781 it has been known as the town of Surazh-na-Iputi (), and since 1797—as simply Surazh. From 1803 it was administratively located in the

Chernihiv Governorate Chernigov Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire. It was officially created in 1802 from the disbanded Little Russia Governorate and had its capital in Chernigov. Its borders encompassed the m ...

. In 1870 there were 82 craftsmen and eight small factories in the town. According to a 1897 census, the town had a population of 4,006, of which 59.9% were

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, 24.4% were

Belarusians Belarusians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Belarus. They natively speak Belarusian language, Belarusian, an East Slavic language. More than 9 million people proclaim Belarusian ethnicity worldwide. Nearly 7.99&n ...

, 13.9% were

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

, 0.8% were

Ukrainians Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...

and 0.6% were

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

. Jews apparently first settled in Surazh in the first half of the 18th century. In 1897 the Jewish population of Surazh of 2,398 comprised 60 percent of the total population. The Jews of Surazh suffered from pogroms in October 1905 and at the end of winter and in the spring of 1917. In 1918 a pogrom was carried out in Surazh by Red Army soldiers. In 1939 the 2,052 Jews of Surazh comprised about 23 percent of the total population. The town was occupied by the Germans on August 17, 1941. The Jews were forced into a ghetto after which the homes they left were damaged and then burned. In March 1942 all the ghetto inmates were shot near Kislovka village. Surazh was liberated by the Red Army on September 25, 1943.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Surazh serves as the

.Law #13-Z As an administrative division, it is incorporated within Surazhsky District as Surazhsky Urban Administrative Okrug.Law #69-Z As a municipal division, Surazhsky Urban Administrative Okrug is incorporated within Surazhsky Municipal District as Surazhskoye Urban Settlement.Law #3-Z

Ecological problems

As a result of the

Chernobyl disaster On 26 April 1986, the no. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located near Pripyat, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine), exploded. With dozens of direct casualties, it is one of only ...

on April 26, 1986, part of the territory of Bryansk Oblast has been contaminated with

radionuclide A radionuclide (radioactive nuclide, radioisotope or radioactive isotope) is a nuclide that has excess numbers of either neutrons or protons, giving it excess nuclear energy, and making it unstable. This excess energy can be used in one of three ...

s (mainly Gordeyevsky, Klimovsky, Klintsovsky, Krasnogorsky, Surazhsky, and

Novozybkovsky District Novozybkovsky District () is an administrativeLaw #13-Z and municipalLaw #3-Z district (raion), one of the twenty-seven in Bryansk Oblast, Russia. It is located in the west of the oblast and bordered by Gordeyevsky and Krasnogorsky District in the ...

s). In 1999, some 226,000 people lived in areas with the contamination level above 5 Curie/km², representing approximately 16% of the oblast's population.

References

Notes

Sources

* * *

External links

The murder of the Jews of Surazh
during

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 ...

, at

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem (; ) is Israel's official memorial institution to the victims of Holocaust, the Holocaust known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (). It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; echoing the stories of the ...

website. {{Authority control Cities and towns in Bryansk Oblast Holocaust locations in Russia