Zelva

History

Initially Zelwa was a private possession of various nobles, by the mid-16th century it became a possession of the Polish Crown, and in the 17th century it became again a private possession of nobility, including the Sapieha, Połubiński, Radziwiłł, Jarmołowicz and Konarzewski families. In 1720 weekly markets and annual fairs were established. In 1739 a Piarist monastery was founded.

In the interbellum, it was administratively located in the Wołkowysk County in the Białystok Voivodeship of Poland. According to the 1921 census, the population was 63.4% Jewish, 31.1% Polish and 5.3% Belarusian.

Following the joint German-Soviet invasion of Poland in September 1939, it was first occupied by the Soviet Union until 1 July 1941, and then by Nazi Germany until 12 July 1944 and administered as a part of Bezirk Bialystok. When the Germans entered the town, they killed 40 to 50 Jewish men and kept the Jews of the town imprisoned in a ghetto in very harsh conditions. In November 1942, the Jews were deported and murdered at the Treblinka extermination camp.

Notes

References

References

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2. (2004). "Назвы населеных пунктаў Рэспублікі Беларусь: Гродзенская вобласць". Тэхналогія.
3. . (1895). "Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom XIV".
4. . (1924). "Skorowidz miejscowości Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej. Tom V". *Główny Urząd Statystyczny*.
5. "History - Jewish community before 1989 - Zelwa - Virtual Shtetl".