Krivichi
Кривичи
Krzywicze
Крывічы
Kryvichy
 קריוויטש
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KRIVICHI, Belarus

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CONTENTS

Name:

Russian:
Krivichi
Кривичи
Polish:
Krzywicze
Yiddish:
Krivitsh
קריוויטש
Belarusian:
Kryvichy, Kryvičy
Крывічы

other spellings: Krivitchi, Krivitch, Kryvitsh, Krevitsh, Kriwitz

The name derives from the Krivichi tribe, one of the tribal unions of Early East Slavs between the 6th and the 12th centuries. (Note: there are several other towns in modern Belarus with the same name. This one is in Minsk oblast, Myadzyel district.)

Location:

Latitude 54º71′02″N  •  Longitude 27º29′02″E
93 km (58 miles) NNW of Minsk

Maps:

1835 map

1835 map

google map

Google map

yandex map

Yandex map

mapcarta

Mapcarta map

Geopolitical Timeline:

1386-1795
Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth
before WWI
1795-1914
Russian Empire, Vilna Gubernia, Vilna District
WWI
1914-1918
Russia
Russo-Polish War
1919-1921
Poland
interwar period
1922-1939
Poland, Wilno Province, Wilejka District
WWII
1939-1941
Soviet Union, Belarusian SSR
WWII
1941-1944
German occupation
postwar
1945-1990
Soviet Union, Belarusian SSR
post-Soviet
1991–present
Belarus, Minsk Oblast, Myadzyel District

Brief Overview:

In 1897, there were 457 Jews in Krivichi. During the 1920s, some Jewish organizations operated in the shtetl. There was a two-story synagogue located in the center of Krivichi and a Jewish cemetery which still remains today. The Jews were religious and observed the Sabbath. Jews spoke Yiddish at home, but at school they studied in Polish alongside the other children. On the eve of World War II, there were about 400 Jews in Krivichi.  (See A Brief History of Jews in Krivichi.)