Smalyany (Belarusian: Смальяны, romanized: Smaĺjany; Russian: Смольяны, romanized: Smolyany) is an agrotown in Orsha District, Vitebsk Region, Belarus.[1] It serves as the administrative center of Smalyany selsoviet.[2] It is situated 24 kilometres (15 mi) west-northwest of Orsha.[3]
Smalyany
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  Smalyany | |
| Coordinates: 54°36′N 30°04′E / 54.600°N 30.067°E | |
| Country | Belarus |
| Region | Vitebsk Region |
| District | Orsha District |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (MSK) |
History
editDuring the French invasion of Russia in 1812, Russian troops led by Peter Wittgenstein defeated French forces at the Battle of Smoliani.[4]
In 1926, 950 Jews lived in the settlement, just over half of the total population.[3] During the German invasion of the Soviet Union, the settlement was captured by German forces of Army Group Centre on 9 July 1941.[3] The Germans established a ghetto, possibly during the fall of 1941; the ghetto was liquidated on 5 April 1942 as a mass shooting of Jews took place.[3] The Soviet Extraordinary State Commission (ChGK) estimated the number of victims to be 610, with a list compiled by the ChGK containing the names of 254 Jews.[3]
References
edit- ^ "Оршанский районный исполнительный комитет - Горпоссельисполкомы". www.orsha.vitebsk-region.gov.by (in Russian).
- ^ Gaponenko, Irina Olegovna (2009). Назвы населеных пунктаў Рэспублікі Беларусь: Віцебская вобласць. Minsk: Тэхналогія. p. 78. ISBN 978-985-458-192-7.
- ^ a b c d e Megargee & Dean 2012, p. 1734.
- ^ Jaques, Tony (30 November 2006). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges [3 volumes]: A Guide to 8,500 Battles from Antiquity through the Twenty-first Century [3 volumes]. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 954. ISBN 978-0-313-02799-4.
Sources
edit- Megargee, Geoffrey P.; Dean, Martin (4 May 2012). The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, 1933 –1945: Volume II: Ghettos in German-Occupied Eastern Europe. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-00202-0.
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