Talachyn or Tolochin (, ; ; ; ; ) is a town 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 serves as the administrative center of
Talachyn District.
As of 2024, it has a population of 9,666.
History
The town was first mentioned in 1433. The village 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 1939, 1,292 Jews lived there, making up 21.2 percent of the total population of the town.
World War II
The town was under German military occupation from 6–7 July 1941 until 1944.
The Germans established a
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 ...
in September or October 1941, which consisted of 15 houses and had 2,000 inmates. The ghetto was liquidated on 12 or 13 March 1942 and its inmates were killed. The Germans killed more than 2,000 Jews, according to estimates made by the Soviet
Extraordinary State Commission
The Extraordinary State Commission for the Establishment and Investigation of the Atrocities of the German Fascist Invaders and Their Accomplices and the Damage They Caused to Citizens, Collective Farms, Public Organizations, State Enterprises and ...
.
However, this figure is disputed, due to the pre-war Jewish population being significantly lower, and some Jews having been drafted or able to flee. The ''
Einsatzkommando
During World War II, the Nazi German ' were a sub-group of the ' (mobile killing squads) – up to 3,000 men total – usually composed of 500–1,000 functionaries of the SS and Gestapo, whose mission was to exterminate Jews, Polish intellect ...
'' reported that it had killed 1,551 Jews in March, presumably in the entire district.
A memorial has been erected to remember the fate of the victims.
Notable structures
* Memorial to Jewish victims of World War II
*
Church of St Anthony (Catholic)
*
Church of the Holy Intercession (or: of the Protection of Our Lady)
* Pokrovsky Monastery
* Basilian Monastery, Talachyn
*
Brothers' Cemetery
Brothers' Cemetery or Cemetery of the Brethren (), also sometimes referred to in English as the Common Graves or simply as the Military Cemetery, is a military cemetery and national monument in Riga, capital of Latvia.
The cemetery is a memori ...
(military cemetery)
*
War Memorial
A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war.
Symbolism
Historical usage
It has ...
Notable people
*
Jacob Rutstein
Jacob Rutstein (1877–1946) was an American businessman, philanthropist, real estate developer and lumber magnate who became known for his innovations to the Lumber Nominal Measurements or Nominal Size by the invention of the 11/4 wooden panel.
...
(1877–1946), businessman
References
Sources
*
External links
*
Photos on Radzima.org
Populated places in Vitebsk region
Historic Jewish communities in Belarus
Holocaust locations in Belarus
Populated places in Belarus
Talachyn district
{{Belarus-geo-stub