valertos 143 posts 0 comments

Uladzimir tells about his grandmother Panya, the daughter of a "simple man", who was born in Yaroslavl and met the Russian tsar as a high school student, singing to him “God Save the Tsar”. And then, when Lenin came to Yaroslavl after the…

Father Genadz Kukharevich, priest of the parish of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Persistent Help (Izabielin) reflects on why people of different faiths lived in harmony in the town long ago. And on how tradition is born through faith and how…

It is no coincidence that the place for the local festival was chosen here, near the Catholic church. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78M9nvl-v50 July 2021 Location – Izabielin. Language – Belarusian. No…

Having obtained the necessary equipment, the Shtetlfest group finds itself inside the Izabielin synagogue. A bird and a violin, and dreams about how to bring this space to life.Now the building belongs to the entrepreneur who is also…

On this hot July day, the Shtetlfest group tries to get inside the former Izabielin synagogue. Anton Astapovich tells how, when he came to Izabielin on archaeological business, he entered a beer bar with the epic name "Neptune"…

The expedition group went to the former Jewish town Lyubcha. At the entrance to the town there is a roadside sign... which is not the historical coat of arms of Lyubcha. The real coat of arms of Lyubcha is a horseshoe and two…

But in the town of Lyubcha, the former buildings have been partially preserved. Wooden and stone houses. The building of the white synagogue, which now houses the House of Culture, has been preserved. Nearby is another synagogue, and…

The current building of the Lyubcha House of Culture is the former "white" synagogue. The granddaughter of a Lyubcha teacher joined the expedition group. The guide mentions that the Navahrudak museum keeps two books of religious content…

According to sources and memories, the building near the former "white" synagogue, and now the House of Culture, used to be the Lyubcha mikvah (ritual bathhouse). Tamara Vyarshytskaya reads next to the former mikvah a story from a Jewish…

A resident of Lyubcha, Anna Adamauna Litsvin, born in 1927 (born in the village of Antonauka - Navahrudak district, Lyubcha commune), tells how people lived in agrarian Belarus under the landowners, what matzoth the Jews had. About the…

Tamara tells how she came to research the Jewish topic, and became fascinated by it, and could not say goodbye to this topic. About her own Jewish research projects in Navahrudak. And also about her grandfather and about how Belarusians…

The first day of the Belarusian part of the Shtetlfest expedition group is field work in Zembin. A walk with local historian Ales Pantsyaley reveals the secrets of the former Jewish town.  What connects Zembin and …frogs? Has Zembin…

The Belarusian part of the group spent the first field expedition day in Zembin. The former Jewish town welcomed our Shtetlfest with July heat and downpour. …

The building of the former Lyubcha mikvah Lyubcha street. In front, on the right, you can see a stone house - now a House of Culture, and before, the "white" synagogue.. A street in Lyubcha near the former synagogue. View of the…

The Wedding Dance (1926). Mendel Gorshman. The original is in the Dagodin State Art Gallery in Astrakhan (Russia). Dance of Grown Men (1926). Mendel Gorshman. The original is in the Dagodin State Art Gallery in Astrakhan (Russia). …

While preparing for the Shtetlfest expedition, one of the project participants accidentally found Mendel Gorshman's drawing "Wedding Dance" (1926) /1/ and paid attention to it. According to the comments of Walter Zev Feldman (USA),…

"In an empty hall of the library, I am looking at a book by Geoff Sifrin, нашчадка a descendant of African emigrants from Zembin. The book is in English. No one as translated it. I ask the librarian, “Have you read it yourself?” – “But…