{{Short description|Town in Gomel Region, Belarus}} {{refimprove|date=November 2024}} {{Infobox settlement |name=Yelsk |native_name = Ельск |settlement_type = Town |image_skyline = Ельск_2011.jpg |image_size = |image_caption = Holy Trinity church |image_flag = Flag_of_Jelsk.png |image_shield = Coat of Arms of Jelsk, Belarus.png |flag_size = 150 |shield_size = 75 |image_map = |map_caption = |pushpin_map = Belarus |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name = Belarus |subdivision_type1 = Region |subdivision_name1 = Gomel Region |subdivision_type2 = District |subdivision_name2 = Yelsk District |leader_title = |leader_name = |established_title = |established_date = |area_magnitude = |area_total_km2 = |area_land_km2 = |area_water_km2 = |population_as_of = 2025 |population_note = |population_total = 8,623 |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=8 May 2025}}</ref> |population_metro = |population_density_km2 = |timezone = MSK |utc_offset = +3 |timezone_DST = |utc_offset_DST = |coordinates = {{coord|51|49|N|29|09|E|region:BY|display=inline,title}} |elevation_m = |postal_code_type = Postal code |postal_code = 247831, 247872, 247873 |area_code = +375 2354 |blank_name = License plate |blank_info = 3 |website = |footnotes = }}
'''Yelsk'''<!--See WP:BELARUSIANNAMES--> ({{langx|be|Ельск|Jeĺsk}}; {{langx|ru|Ельск}}; {{langx|pl|Jelsk}}) is a town in Gomel Region, in southern Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Yelsk District.<ref name="pop"/> As of 2025, it has a population of 8,623.<ref name="pop"/> It is located in Polesia.<ref name=sgk/>
Yelsk was greatly affected by radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.
== History == thumb|left|Early-20th-century photo from Yelsk Jelsk was a private town within the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In the 16th century, it became a possession of the Spads, a family of French religious refugees who then took the name Jelski after the town.<ref name=sgk>{{cite book|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich|volume=III|year=1888|language=pl|location=Warszawa|page=561}}</ref>
During World War II, the town was occupied by German troops during summer 1941. The local Jews were gathered and deported towards Kalinkovichi and Mazyr. Approximately two weeks after the departure of the Jews of Yelsk, the Jews of the nearby Jewish village of Skorodnoye were brought in and locked inside a building. Then, the Germans set fire to the building all the Jews were burned alive.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://yahadmap.org/#village/yelsk-gomel-belarus.986|title = Yahad - in Unum}}</ref> {{clear|left}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Gomel Region}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yelsk}} Category:Populated places in Belarus Category:Populated places in Gomel region Category:Holocaust locations in Belarus Category:Yelsk district
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