{{Short description|Urban-type settlement in Vitebsk Region, Belarus}} {{Infobox settlement |official_name = Beshankovichy |native_name = {{native name|be|Бешанковічы}}<br />{{native name|ru|Бешенковичи}} |nickname = |settlement_type = Urban-type settlement |image_skyline = Views_of_Beshankovichy_3a.jpg |imagesize = |image_flag = Flag of Bešankovičy.gif |image_shield = Coat_of_arms_of_Biešankovičy.png |flag_size = 150 |shield_size = 75 |image_map = |map_caption = |pushpin_map=Belarus |pushpin_mapsize= |pushpin_label_position = left |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_type1 = Region |subdivision_name = Belarus |subdivision_name1 = Vitebsk Region |subdivision_type2 = District |subdivision_name2 = Beshankovichy District |leader_title = |leader_name = |established_title = First mentioned |established_date = 15th century |area_magnitude = |area_total_km2 = |area_land_km2 = |area_water_km2 = |population_as_of = 2025 |population_footnotes = <ref name="pop">{{cite web|url=https://www.belstat.gov.by/ofitsialnaya-statistika/solialnaya-sfera/naselenie-i-migratsiya/naselenie/statisticheskie-izdaniya/index_148168/|title=Численность населения на 1 января 2025 г. и среднегодовая численность населения за 2024 год по Республике Беларусь в разрезе областей, районов, городов, поселков городского типа|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250329210112/https://www.belstat.gov.by/ofitsialnaya-statistika/solialnaya-sfera/naselenie-i-migratsiya/naselenie/statisticheskie-izdaniya/index_148168/|archive-date=29 March 2025|website=belsat.gov.by|access-date=29 March 2025}}</ref> |population_note = |population_total = 6,819 |population_metro = |population_density_km2 = |coordinates = {{coord|55|2|N|29|27|E|region:BY|display=inline,title}} |timezone = MSK |utc_offset = +3 |elevation_m = 142 |postal_code = 211350 |area_code = +375 2131 |blank_name = |blank_info = |website = |footnotes = }} '''Beshankovichy''' ({{langx|be|Бешанковічы|Biešankovičy}}; {{langx|ru|Бешенковичи|Beshenkovichi}}; {{langx|pl|Bieszenkowicze}}) is an urban-type settlement in Vitebsk Region, Belarus.<ref name="pop"/> It serves as the administrative center of Beshankovichy District and is a port on the Western Dvina. It is located {{convert|51|km}} west-southwest of Vitebsk on the railway line between Orsha and Lyepyel.{{sfn|Megargee|Dean|2012|page=1647}} As of 2025, it has a population of 6,819.<ref name="pop"/>
== History == thumb|left|Chreptowicz Palace in {{circa|1903}} In the early 16th century, the small village was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ruled by the Drucki-Sokoliński princes. In 1552 it numbered 34 houses.
In 1630, the village was purchased by the Vilnius Voivode Kazimierz Leon Sapieha. It underwent rapid expansion and was granted Magdeburg rights in 1634. At that time, new stone houses were built and trade fairs were held semiannually, frequented by 4 to 5 thousand visitors from Belarus, Russia and abroad.
After the First Partition of Poland in 1772, control of the village was passed to the Russian Empire. By the end of the 18th century, Beshankovichy was a township of the Lepel Uyezd and later became the center of the volost.
According to the 1897 Russian census, the town's population was 4,423 people, there were 1,099 buildings, a post office, a telegraph, a school, 3 people's schools, 127 shops and a hospital.
At that time, Beshankovichy was a largely Jewish settlement, numbering 3,182 Jewish citizens in 1900. The Jewish Encyclopedia (published between 1901 and 1906), describes the town's population as four fifths Jewish of whom 576 are artisans.<ref>{{Cite book|title = The Jewish Encyclopedia|publisher = Funk & Wagnalls|year = 1901–1906|pages = Vol 3, p. 449}}</ref> The town had a synagogue, many houses of prayer, three benevolent societies, and numerous religious schools.
Under Soviet power, Beshankovichy became an urban settlement and was the center of the raion for several years. It later became part of Vitebsk Region.
===World War II=== thumb|left|War destruction in 1941 In 1939, 1,119 Jews lived in the town, making up 26.3% of the total population.{{sfn|Megargee|Dean|2012|page=1647}} During the Second World War, Beshankovichy was under German military occupation from 6 July 1941 until 25 June 1944, and was almost entirely destroyed. 10,276 persons from Beshankovichy and the raion were massacred, including the entire Jewish population.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://jhrgbelarus.org/Heritage_Holocaust.php?pid=&lang=en&city_id=234&type=3 |title=Beshankovichy. Holocaust |access-date=2011-05-25 |archive-date=2011-08-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110819000617/http://jhrgbelarus.org/Heritage_Holocaust.php?pid=&lang=en&city_id=234&type=3 |url-status=dead }}</ref> A resident at the time of the German occupation recalled, "One Jewish family that had not been taken to the ghetto was still living on my street. When the Jews were being gathered for the shooting, the Germans came to get this family. A little Jewish boy was hiding in the fireplace. The Germans found him and shot him right there, in the house."<ref>{{cite web|title=Execution Sites of Jewish Victims Investigated by Yahad - In Unum|url=http://yahadmap.org/#village/beshenkovichi-vitebsk-belarus.372|website=Yahad Interactive Map|access-date=6 January 2015}}</ref>
According to an ''Einsatzgruppe'' report, 855 Jews were killed in the town on 11 February 1942, while the inscription on the monument erected on the site of the murders says that 1,068 citizens were killed that day.{{sfn|Megargee|Dean|2012|page=1648}} A Nazi prison was operated in the town.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=425|title=Gefängnis Bešankovicy|website=Bundesarchiv.de|access-date=31 October 2025|language=de}}</ref> The town was recaptured on 25 June 1944 by the 1st Baltic Front.
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==Sources== * {{cite book|last1=Megargee|first1=Geoffrey P.|last2=Dean|first2=Martin|year=2012|title=The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume II|publisher=Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum|pages=1647–1649|isbn=978-0-253-35599-7}}
== External links == {{Commons category|Biešankovičy|Beshankovichy}} * [http://jhrgbelarus.org/Heritage_Cemeteries.php?pid=&lang=en&city_id=234&type=2 Beshankovichy. Jewish Cemeteries] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110818233312/http://jhrgbelarus.org/Heritage_Cemeteries.php?pid=&lang=en&city_id=234&type=2 |date=2011-08-18 }} * [http://www.radzima.org/eng/pub/2445_m/ Photos at Radzima.org] * {{in lang|en}} [http://www.belarus.by/en/belarus/territory/vitebsk/beshenkovichi/ The history of the town] * {{in lang|en}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20110706163014/http://www.vitebsk-region.gov.by//en/vitebsk-region/districts/beshenkovichski_rn/d5560a7bb847bd29.html Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee] - Information about the Beshenkovichy district * {{in lang|en}} [http://www.belarusguide.com/cities/besankovichy.html Belarus Guide] - Some historical photographs of Beshenkovichy * {{in lang|en|ru}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20070430201458/http://www.regadmin.vitebsk.by/index-e.html Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee] * {{in lang|en}} [http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/newsletter/frey.htm The Road to Beshincovichi] - Dr. David L. Frey's search for the Jewish cemetery of Beshenkovichy * [http://www.yadvashem.org/untoldstories/database/index.asp?cid=341 The murder of the Jews of Beshankovichy] during World War II, at Yad Vashem website.
{{Vitebsk Region}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Urban-type settlements in Belarus Category:Populated places in Vitebsk region Category:Holocaust locations in Poland Category:Historic Jewish communities in Belarus Category:Beshankovichy district