Skidzyelʹ Skidel | |
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 Flag  Coat of arms | |
  Skidzyelʹ | |
| Coordinates:53°35′00″N24°15′00″E / 53.58333°N 24.25000°E /53.58333; 24.25000 | |
| Country | Belarus |
| Region | Grodno Region |
| District | Grodno District |
| Population (2025)[1] | |
• Total | 9,667 |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (MSK) |
| Postal code | 231761 |
| Area code | +375 152 |
| License plate | 4 |
Skidzyelʹ orSkidel[a] is a town inGrodno District,Grodno Region,Belarus.[1][2] It is located 31 kilometres (19 mi) east fromGrodno. As of 2025, it has a population of 9,667.[1]
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Within theGrand Duchy of Lithuania, Skidzyel’ was part ofTrakai Voivodeship. In 1795, the town was acquired by theRussian Empire as a result of theThird Partition of Poland.
From 1921 until 1939, Skidzyel’ was part of theBiałystok Voivodeship in theSecond Polish Republic. In the1921 Polish census, 68.7% people declared Jewish nationality, 17.3% people declared Polish nationality, and 12.3% declared Belarusian nationality.[3] Skidziel is sometimes referred to as a formershtetl.
On 18 September 1939, in the course of theSoviet invasion of Poland, Skidzyel’ was the site of a pro-Sovietcommunist revolt against the Polish government leading to massacre of ethnic Poles by killing squads deployed by delegalizedCommunist Party of Western Belarus, armed with the smuggled Soviet guns soon before the invasion. The event is referred to by historians as theSkidel revolt.[4] On 19 September, a unit of the Polish Army restored Polish control in Skidzyel’, but the next day, 20 September, the town wasoccupied by the Red Army and, on 14 November 1939, incorporated into theByelorussian SSR.
From 27 June 1941 until 14 July 1944, Skidzyel’ wasoccupied by Nazi Germany and administered as a part ofBezirk Bialystok. Small shootings of Jews in the forest close to the city were frequent. The ghetto, where they were kept as prisoners, was liquidated on November 2, 1942. The Jews were taken to nearby Kolbassino (Polish:Kiełbasin)Sammellager transit camp to the south, packed with Jews of theGrodno Ghetto.[5][6][7] At this time, they were 22,000 to 28,000 people in the camp. From there, they were sent aboardHolocaust trains toAuschwitz extermination camp.[8]
After World War II, the Grodno headquarters of theCommunist Party of the Soviet Union was located in Skidal until the collapse of theSoviet Union in 1991.
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