Talachyn
Town in Vitebsk Region, Belarus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Talachyn or Tolochin[a] is a town in Vitebsk Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Talachyn District.[1] As of 2025, it has a population of 9,542.[1]
Talachyn
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Church of the Protection of Our Lady | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
  Talachyn Location in Belarus | |
| Coordinates: 54°25′N 29°42′E | |
| Country | Belarus |
| Region | Vitebsk Region |
| District | Talachyn District |
| First mentioned | 1433 |
| Elevation | 199 m (653 ft) |
| Population (2025)[1] | |
• Total | 9,542 |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (MSK) |
| Postal code | 211070 |
| Area code | +375 2136 |
| License plate | 2 |
History
The town was first mentioned in 1433. Talachyn was a private town of the Sapieha, Szemiot and Sanguszko families,[2] administratively located in the Vitebsk Voivodeship of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1604 Lew Sapieha founded a Basilian monastery, church, hospital, and schools.[2] It was repeatedly seized by Russians during the Polish–Russian War of 1654–1667.[2] It was a shtetl.[3]
In 1939, 1,292 Jews lived there, making up 21.2 percent of the total population of the town.[4]
World War II
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The town was under German military occupation from 6–7 July 1941 until 1944.[4]
The Germans established a ghetto in September or October 1941, which consisted of 15 houses and had 2,000 inmates.[4] The ghetto was liquidated on 12 or 13 March 1942 and its inmates were killed.[4] The Germans killed more than 2,000 Jews, according to estimates made by the Soviet Extraordinary State Commission.[5] However, this figure is disputed, due to the pre-war Jewish population being significantly lower, and some Jews having been drafted or able to flee.[4] The Einsatzkommando reported that it had killed 1,551 Jews in March, presumably in the entire district.[4]
A memorial has been erected to remember the fate of the victims.
Notable structures
- Memorial to Jewish victims of World War II
- Church of St Anthony (Catholic)
- Church of the Holy Intercession (or: of the Protection of Our Lady)
- Pokrovsky Monastery
- Basilian Monastery, Talachyn
- Brothers' Cemetery (military cemetery)
- War Memorial
Notable people
- Jacob Rutstein (1877–1946), businessman
Notes
- Belarusian: Талачын, romanized: Talačyn, IPA: [taɫaˈtʂɨn]; Russian: Толочин; Polish: Tołoczyn; Yiddish: טאָלאָטשין; Lithuanian: Talačynas.
