Alternate names: Babruysk and Бабруйск [Bel], Bobruysk and Бобруйск [Rus], Bobroisk and באברויסק[Yid], Bobrujsk [Pol], Bobruisk, Babrujsk, Babruisk. (BOBRUISK means beaver=Russian bobyor). Located at 53°09' N, 29°14' E, formerly in Bobruisk uezd, Minsk guberniya, 70 miles SW of Mahilyow (Mogilev), 86 miles SE of Minsk on on the Berezina river. 1900 Jewish population: 20,759. [March 2009]
1897 population of 34,336 citizens, 60%, or 20,760 were Jews, most employed in crafts, industry and trade.During the 1890s, pogroms occurred after the assassination of the Russian emperor.
- Yizkor: Bobruisk; sefer zikaron le-kehilat Bobruisk u-veneteha (Tel Aviv, 1967)
- ShtetLink.
- Belarus SIG Newsletter.
- Hebrew website with photo. [Apr 2014]
See Encyclopaedia Judaica. "Belarus belonged to Russia after the Second Partition of Poland in 1793. Jewish settlement dates from at the end of the 17th century. The Bobruisk kehila was under the township of Smilovichi. 395 Jewish poll tax payers in 1766. Before the Russians took over the Minsk area in 1793-5, Jews usedpatronyms except in dynastic rabbinic families. The 1804 law mandating adoption of surnames by Jews for taxation purposes was not enforced until 1835. The Jews of the Pale of Settlement used them primarily for official purposes. The large fortress built at the beginning of the 19th century in Bobruisk was provisioned by Jews. From the middle of the 19th century, Jews also took part in lumbering. The Bobruisk Jewish population numbered 4,702 in 1847, 8,861 in 1861, 20,760 in 1897 (60% of the total), and 25,876 (61%) in 1914, and 21,558 (42%) in 1926. Frequent changes of government during the civil war (1918-21) and subsequent instability caused immigration. Bobruisk was occupied by the Germans on November 7, 1941, when 20,000 Jews were sent to their deaths in nearby Yeloviki. Einsatzgruppe B's swept through the area. Some escaped eastward. The camp and its inmates were liquidated in 1943."[January 2009]
Anti-Semitism, Vandalism, and Ordinary Loutishness [Source: Charter 97, 2007-10-19] "The news of October 12 [2007] on the vandalism on a Jewish cemetery in the town of Babruisk got an unexpected continuation. At a meeting with Russian regions media journalists, Aliaksandar Lukashenka nearly accused the Jews of untidiness.'If you have ever been to Babruisk, you must have seen what the town looked like.It was terrible! A real pigpen! And that was mostly a Jewish town. You know how Jews treat the places where they live. Look at Israel; they're not so particular about cutting lawns like in Russia or Belarus,' Lukashenka said.But it's not about lawns. It's about cemetery. In Babruisk 15 graves were profaned, monuments were thrown down and broken. The Jewish cemetery of Babruisk didn't know such a blatant vandalism although it is 86 years old, Polish Radio emphasizes. The vandalism in Babruisk and the commentary of the country's president were not ignored by Israeli Ambassador to Belarus Zeev Ben Arye."The echo of Anti-Semitism is clear, although I hoped it's gone now. And it's not about the fact that such things still happen. Of course, this is terrible, but this can happen anywhere in the world. Unfortunately, the criminals are normally not found and not punished. I believe such cases need more attention, a wider coverage in the media. Nevertheless, we have repeatedly emphasized that in the modern Belarus there is no Anti-Semitism as a mass phenomenon," the Ambassador said.The vandalism strengthened by the statements of the country's head made a sensation, Israel's Ambassador said.
OLD CEMETERY:
NEW CEMETERY:
Jewish Cemetery Violated in Babruisk [Source: Charter 97, 2007-10-15]: "On the Jewish cemetery in Babruisk (Mahilou Area) an act of vandalism was committed - 15 graves were violated. As Leanid Rubinshtein, Babruisk Jewish community chairman said to BelaPAN, the villains not only turn down the monuments but broke some of the granitic slabs into three parts. 'I was terrified when I saw the committed,' - L. Rubinshtein said, 'Besides some monuments were torn out with the basement, there were human excrement on the chips'." [1921 Jewish cemetery] ...'There were acts of vandalism before, of course, when 5-6 graves were damaged slightly. For example, in summer a man was caught, who was stealing stainless steel fences, - the local inhabitants told BelaPAN. - But such barbarity had never occurred. The cemetery keeper Marat Petlah was the first to see the committed. He informed the community chairman. The militiamen draw up a report, but the Jews have no hope the criminals will be found. Even I can't call it the demonstration of antisemitism," L. Rubinshtein explained, 'As some time ago approximately 30 graves on the local Belarusian cemetery were violated in a similar way. Though we face anti-Semitism demonstration, too. Some time ago, for example, on the cemetery gates and on the bus stop near it the swastika and words humiliating Jews were written".12 October the community chairman sent a letter to Babruisk mayor where he asked to help in guard of Jewish cemetery in Minskaya Street and other town cemeteries. By estimate, the made by vandals damage amounted more than USD 12,000." [March 2009]
photos. [February 2010]
photos [Apr 2014]
Russian language site with a catalog of Jewish graves forBobruisk, Osevets, Prudkovski, Cherchersk, Vetka, Southern 1, Southern 2
Use your online translator as needed. Names, birth/death years, photographs of stones are listed, as available. Click on thumbnails of images to enlarge [July 2015\