Alternate names: Disna [Rus], Disne [Yid], Dzisna [Pol, Bel], Dysna [Ger], Disneg, Russian: Дисна. Belarusian: Дзісна. Yiddish: דיסנע. Located at 5534 2813 in Vitebsk Oblast, 118.0 miles NNE of Minsk. 130 miles ENE of Vilnius (Vilna), 118 miles NNE of Minsk, 82 miles WNW of Vitsyebsk (Vitebsk). Vilna guberniya. YIZKOR: Disna; sefer zikaron le-kehila (Tel Aviv, 1969). Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego (1880-1902), II, p. 296-297: "Dzisna" #1. First Jews settled in the 16th century, but an organized community formed in the late 18th century. 412 Jews 1797, were wholesale traders of agricultural products. Jewish population: 1,880 in 1847; 4,617 in 1897 (68.3% of the total); and 2,742 in 1921 (62% of the total). After WWII, Disna, cut off from its Russian markets, deteriorated as the number of Jews declined. Most children attended a Yiddish CYSHO school. Abandoned synagogue in 1997. [March 2009]
Cemetery: photo, photo, photo. A memorial stone inscribed: “Here 3700 Jews were killed by the Nazis and their Belarus collaborators.” The local authorities and orphan home in Disna promised to care for the memorial. A room in the city museum tells the story of the Jewish population of Disna before the WWII. [March 2009]
photo. [February 2010]