Zelva

{{For|the town in Lithuania|Želva}} {{Infobox settlement |official_name = Zelva |native_name = {{native name|be|Зэльва}}<br />{{native name|ru|Зельва}} |settlement_type = [[List of urban-type settlements in Belarus|Urban-type settlement]] |image_skyline = Зэльва. Касцёл Святой Тройцы (01).jpg |image_caption = |imagesize = 250px |image_flag = Zelva flag.svg |image_seal = Zelva coat.svg |flag_size = 150 |shield_size = 75 | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = [[Belarus]] | subdivision_type1 = [[Regions of Belarus|Region]] | subdivision_name1 = [[Grodno Region]] | subdivision_type2 = [[Districts of Belarus|District]] | subdivision_name2 = [[Zelva District]] | established_title = First mentioned | established_date = 1258 |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=8 May 2025}}</ref> |population_total = 6,193 |area_total_km2 = 15 |population_density_km2 = |pushpin_map = Belarus |map_caption = |timezone = [[Moscow Time|MSK]] |utc_offset = +3 |coordinates = {{coord|53|09|N|24|49|E|region:BY|display=inline,title}} |elevation_m = 138 |postal_code = 231930, 231939, 231940 |area_code = +375-1564 |website = |footnotes = }}

'''Zelva'''{{efn|{{langx|be|Зэ́льва|Zeĺva}}; {{langx|ru|Зе́льва}}; {{langx|pl|Zelwa}}; {{langx|yi|זעלווא}}.}} is an [[urban-type settlement]] in [[Grodno Region]], in western [[Belarus]].<ref name="pop" /> It serves as the administrative center of [[Zelva District]].<ref name="pop"/><ref name="enc">{{cite book |last1=Gaponenko |first1=Irina Olegovna |title=Назвы населеных пунктаў Рэспублікі Беларусь: Гродзенская вобласць |date=2004 |location=Minsk |publisher=Тэхналогія |page=205 |isbn=985-458-098-9}}</ref> It is situated by the [[Zelvyanka|Zelvyanka River]]. As of 2025, it has a population of 6,193.<ref name="pop"/>

== History == [[File:Zelva, Carkoŭnaja. Зэльва, Царкоўная (1915-18).jpg|thumb|left|Panorama from the 1910s]] 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.<ref name=sgk>{{cite book|author= |title=Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom XIV|year=1895|language=pl|location=Warszawa|pages=566–567}}</ref> In 1720 weekly markets and annual [[fair]]s were established.<ref name=sgk/> In 1739 a [[Piarist]] monastery was founded.<ref name=sgk/>

In the interbellum, it was administratively located in the Wołkowysk County in the [[Białystok Voivodeship (1919–1939)|Białystok Voivodeship]] of Poland. According to the 1921 census, the population was 63.4% [[Jews|Jewish]], 31.1% [[Polish people|Polish]] and 5.3% Belarusian.<ref>{{cite book|author=|title=Skorowidz miejscowości Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej. Tom V|year=1924|language=pl|location=Warszawa|publisher=Główny Urząd Statystyczny}}</ref>

Following the joint German-Soviet [[invasion of Poland]] in September 1939, it was first [[Occupation of Poland (1939–1945)|occupied by the Soviet Union]] until 1 July 1941, and then by [[German occupation of Byelorussia during World War II|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 [[Jewish ghettos established by Nazi Germany|ghetto]] in very harsh conditions. In November 1942, the Jews were deported and murdered at the [[Treblinka extermination camp]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sztetl.org.pl/en/article/zelwa/5,history/ |title=History - Jewish community before 1989 - Zelwa - Virtual Shtetl |website=www.sztetl.org.pl |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160602214328/http://www.sztetl.org.pl/en/article/zelwa/5,history/ |archive-date=2016-06-02}} </ref>

==Notes== {{notelist}}

== References == {{Reflist}}

[[Category:Populated places in Grodno region]] [[Category:Urban-type settlements in Belarus]] [[Category:Volkovyssky Uyezd]] [[Category:Holocaust locations in Belarus]] [[Category:Zelva district]]