Talachyn

Talachyn

Талачын (Belarusian)
Толочин (Russian)
Talachyn Талачын (Belarusian); Толочин (Russian);
Town
	Church of the Protection of Our Lady
	Flag Coat of arms
	Talachyn Location in Belarus
	Coordinates: 54°25′N 29°42′E / 54.417°N 29.700°E
Country	Belarus
Region	Vitebsk Region
District	Talachyn District
First mentioned	1433
Elevation	199 m (653 ft)
Population (2024)
• Total	9,666
Time zone	UTC+3 (MSK)
Postal code	211070
Area code	+375 2136
License plate	2

Talachyn or Tolochin (Belarusian: Талачын, romanized: Talačyn, IPA: [taɫaˈtʂɨn]; Russian: Толочин; Polish: Tołoczyn; Yiddish: טאָלאָטשין; Lithuanian: Talačynas) is a town in Vitebsk Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Talachyn District.^[1] As of 2024, it has a population of 9,666.^[1]

History

The town was first mentioned in 1433. The village was a shtetl.^[2]

In 1939, 1,292 Jews lived there, making up 21.2 percent of the total population of the town.^[3]

World War II

The town was under German military occupation from 6–7 July 1941 until 1944.^[3]

The Germans established a ghetto in September or October 1941, which consisted of 15 houses and had 2,000 inmates.^[3] The ghetto was liquidated on 12 or 13 March 1942 and its inmates were killed.^[3] The Germans killed more than 2,000 Jews, according to estimates made by the Soviet Extraordinary State Commission.^[4] 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.^[3] The Einsatzkommando reported that it had killed 1,551 Jews in March, presumably in the entire district.^[3]

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 (military cemetery)
War Memorial

Notable people

Jacob Rutstein (1877–1946), businessman

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Численность населения на 1 января 2024 г. и среднегодовая численность населения за 2023 год по Республике Беларусь в разрезе областей, районов, городов, поселков городского типа". belsat.gov.by. Archived from the original on 2 April 2024. Retrieved 13 April 2024.
^ "My shtetl\Tolochin". Archived from the original on 2016-03-25. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Megargee & Dean 2012, p. 1738.
^ "- Online Guide of Murder Sites of Jews in the Former USSR - Yad Vashem".

Sources

Megargee, Geoffrey P.; Dean, Martin (2012). The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume II. Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. pp. 1738–1739. ISBN 978-0-253-35599-7.