Alternate names: Mstizh [Rus], Msciž [Bel], Mściż [Pol], Mstijh, Belarusian: Мсціж. Russian: Мстиж. 54°34' N, 28°10' E, 52 miles NNE of Minsk, 26 miles NNW of Barysaw (Borisov), Borisov district, Minsk gubernia.. 1926 Jewish population: fewer than 100. Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego (1880-1902), VI, p. 778: "Mściż".
."I had a driver and interpreter; and we found a cooperative local official who knew most of the current residents. We visited the oldest people of the village, asking if anyone remembered any Poliakoffs or any Jews at all. (No Jews live there now). Finally, we found an old man who said he remembered about the Jews. He led us a mile or so out of town, down a dirt road, and then up a slight slope on a field. He began trembling and sobbing uncontrollably; and it took him several minutes to regain composure. Finally, he said that when he was a young boy, in 1942, the Germans came to the town. They rounded up all the Jews, about 120 of them, and led them all to this spot, and shot them all, including children, and then buried them in a ditch there. No marker has ever been placed there." Source: Gary Poliakoff ( This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ';document.getElementById('cloak504d2fd409e5efcfbd1b90e57943a2a1').innerHTML += ''+addy_text504d2fd409e5efcfbd1b90e57943a2a1+'<\/a>'; )on JewishGen's Yizkor Digest [19 February 2001]