Les Juifs de Grodno (Hrodna)

Grodno (Hrodna), in the Polish-Belarusian border region, was an ancient Jewish commercial and intellectual crossroads, where the community enjoyed privileges dating back to the era of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Merchants, artisans, and scholars maintained synagogues and houses of study there, and the city was part of the Lithuanian (litvak) tradition of learning. In the modern era, it saw a diverse Jewish political life, from labor movements to Zionist currents. Under German occupation, the community was confined to ghettos and then liquidated in 1942–1943, its members deported to Treblinka and Auschwitz.

Sources & resources

• The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe ↗
• Encyclopaedia Judaica — 2e éd., Keter/Macmillan