Shkloŭ

An 18th century drawing of Škłoŭ (Polish, Szkłów)

Škłoŭ (Belarusian: Шклоў, [ʂkɫɔu̯]; Russian: Шклов, Shklov; Yiddish: שקלאָוו‎, Shklov) is a town in Mahilyow Voblast, Belarus, located 35 kilometres (22 mi) north of Mogilev on the Dnieper river. It has a railway station on the line between Orsha and Mogilev. As of 2009, its population was 16,439.^[1]

History

• 1535: First records about the town.
• 1654, 1656: two battles, see battles of Shkloŭ
• April 10, 1762: Coat of arms.

Shklov was an important Jewish religious center. There was a yeshiva there in the 18th century. Shklov became the center of the Haskalah movement.^[2] At the end of the 19th century, there were 5,542 Jews in the town. Jews living off of trading. A dozen families worked in the Jewish kolkhoz called « Iskra ». In 1939, only 2,132 Jews remained in Shklov. The Germans occupied the town on July 12, 1941.^[3]

The first execution of Jews took place a few days after the start of the occupation. The Germans shot 25 Jewish men in Lenin Park. At the end of July 1941, two ghettos were established in the neighboring village of Ryzhkovichi. In August 1941, the Einsatzgruppen arrived in the town and gathered 84 Jews under the pretext of sending them to forced labor. In fact, they were taken to the village of Semyonovka and were shot in the kolkhoz. In September 1941, the Jews were taken to a ravine in Khoduly, between the villages of Putniki and Zarechye. They had to undress and lie in the ditch before being shot. According to Soviet sources, 3.200 Jews were killed in Shklov and neighborhood.^[4]

Alexander Lukashenko, President of Belarus since 1994, held a position as the director of the construction materials plant in Shklov Raion before he became a collective farm manager and then moved into politics.^[5]

Transport

• Railway station
• 3 bus routes

People

The Transfiguration Church

The Jewish family name Shklovsky or Shklover indicates that the person or their ancestors come from Shkloŭ.

• Semyon Zorich, Serbian-born Russian General who founded an estate in Shkloŭ (Shklov).
• Yitzhak Salkinsohn, born in Shklov
• Joshua Zeitlin, rabbinical scholar and philanthropist, born here
• Yehoshua Leib Diskin, rabbi in Shklov
• Rogatchover Gaon, studied in Shklov under Yehoshua Leib
• Israel ben Samuel of Shklov (c.1770–May 13, 1839)
• Pavel Axelrod (1850–1928), Russian Menshevik revolutionary
• Zalman Shneur (1887–1959), Hebrew and Yiddish poet
• Baruch Schick of Shklov (1744–1808) rabbi and scholar, Hebrew author and translator^[6]
• Josef Gusikov, klezmer musician, born in Shklov
• Naum Eitingon, general of the NKVD and murderer of Leon Trotsky, born in Shklov
• Yisroel ben Shmuel of Shklov, Rabbi, disciple of the Vilna Gaon
• Menchem Mendel of Shklov, Rabbi, disciple of the Vilna Gaon, leader of Perushim migration to the Holy Land in 1808

See also

• Battle of Holowczyn

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shklow.

• Photos on Radzima.org
• SHKLOV in the JewishEncyclopedia
• The murder of the Jews of Shkloŭ during World War II, at Yad Vashem website.

Subdivisions of Mogilev Region, Belarus
Districts (raiony)	Asipovichy Byalynichy Babruysk Bychaw Chavusy Cherykaw Hlusk Horki Drybin Khotsimsk Kirawsk Klimavichy Klichaw Krasnapolle Krychaw Kruhlaye Kastsyukovichy Mogilev Mstsislaw Slawharad Shklow
Cities and towns	Asipovichy Babruysk Bykhaw Cherykaw Chavusy Horki Kastsyukovichy Klichaw Klimavichy Krychaw Mogilev Mstsislaw Slawharad Shklov

Coordinates: 54°13′25″N 30°17′11″E / 54.22361°N 30.28639°E / 54.22361; 30.28639