Vidzy[a] is an urban-type settlement in Braslaw District, Vitebsk Region, Belarus.[1][2] In 2014, its population was 1,684.[3] As of 2024, it has a population of 1,563.[1]

Vidzy
Відзы (Belarusian)
Catholic church of the Holy Trinity in Vidzy
Catholic church of the Holy Trinity in Vidzy
Flag of Vidzy
Coat of arms of Vidzy
Vidzy is located in Belarus
Vidzy
Vidzy
Location in Belarus
Coordinates: 55°24′N 26°38′E / 55.400°N 26.633°E / 55.400; 26.633
CountryBelarus
RegionVitebsk Region
DistrictBraslaw District
Population
 (2024)[1]
1,563
Time zoneUTC+3 (MSK)

History

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The name Vidzy is of Finno-Ugric origin and is associated with the word vidze, which refers to a "meadow, hayfield".[4] The Finno-Ugric peoples named their settlements after the landscape or after vegetation, animals or fish if it was predominant in that location.[4]

Vidzy is known in historical records since the 15th-century, when Grand Duke Sigismund Kęstutaitis transferred the estates of Vidzy to three families at once.[4] Part of Vidzy was also in the permanent possession of the bishops.[4]

In the early 16th-century, the prince Albertas Goštautas, owner of the Hieraniony Castle, ruled in Vidzy after the estate was sold to him and his wife in 1524.[4] The estate then passed to the Pac family, and in 1685, Michał Kazimierz Pac transferred the estate to the Canons regular.[4] Stanisław Naruszewicz, procurator of Vilnius, maintained a Calvinist prayer house in Vidzy.[4] The Wawrzecki family in the 18th-century became owners of much of the land around Vidzy.[4]

During the French invasion of Russia, a skirmish took place in the center of Vidzy on 28 November 1812 between the retreating French and the Cossacks, leading to 116 houses to be destroyed by fire.[4]

In 1875, The Jewish World reported that the city was badly burned in a fire: many buildings were destroyed, and up to 3,000 people were made homeless.[5][better source needed]

During World War II, Vidzy was occupied by Nazi Germany from 27 June 1941 until 8 July 1944, and administered as part of Generalbezirk Litauen of Reichskommissariat Ostland.[6] Prior to the war, the town had a population of about 3,000 and was mostly populated by Jews.[6] A ghetto was established in early 1942 and by the summer, most Jews were transferred to the Swieciany ghetto, while others were able to form or join partisan units.[7]

Notable people

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Notes

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  1. ^ Belarusian: Відзы; Russian: Видзы; Lithuanian: Vidžiai; Polish: Widze; Yiddish: ווידזש, romanizedVidzh.

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Численность населения на 1 января 2024 г. и среднегодовая численность населения за 2023 год по Республике Беларусь в разрезе областей, районов, городов, поселков городского типа". belsat.gov.by. Archived from the original on 2 April 2024. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  2. ^ Gaponenko, Irina Olegovna (2009). Назвы населеных пунктаў Рэспублікі Беларусь: Віцебская вобласць. Minsk: Тэхналогія. p. 97. ISBN 978-985-458-192-7.
  3. ^ Official estimation of the population on 1 January 2014, see pop-stat.mashke.org.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Tatarinov 2006, ВИДЗЫ.
  5. ^ "RUSSIA.; DESTRUCTIVE FIRE IN RUSSIAN POLAND SEVERAL LIVES LOST AND 3,000 PERSONS MADE HOMELESS". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  6. ^ a b Megargee & Dean 2012, p. 1146.
  7. ^ Megargee & Dean 2012, p. 1147.

Bibliography

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