Krupki Крупкі (Belarusian) | |
|---|---|
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 Flag  Coat of arms | |
  Krupki Krupki District, Minsk Region. | |
| Coordinates:54°19′N29°08′E / 54.317°N 29.133°E /54.317; 29.133[1] | |
| Country | Belarus |
| Region | Minsk Region |
| District | Krupki District |
| Established | 1067 |
| Government | |
| • Chairman | Igor Chesnok[2] |
| Elevation | 174 m (571 ft) |
| Population (2025)[3] | |
• Total | 8,393 |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (MSK) |
| Postal code | 222001-222002 |
| Area code | +375 1796 |
Krupki[1][a] is a town inMinsk Region, in east-centralBelarus.[3] It serves as the administrative center ofKrupki District.[4][3] As of 2025, it has a population of 8,393.[3]
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Krupki was founded in 1067. Krupki was absorbed into theGrand Duchy of Lithuania and then formed part of thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, after which, the district was annexed by theRussian Empire in 1793. Krupki became the administrative centre of its district and got its own council in 1900. The town’s coat of arms is a white, blue and yellow shield.[5]
The old, wooden Bogoroditskaya Church in the nearby village ofHodovcy is a tourist site and of historic value.[6]
The town's population was 1,800 (mostlyJewish) people in 166 houses, according to an 1895 Russian Encyclopedia,[1] and 2,080 (largely non 'Hebrews') in 1926 according to a similar reference book of 1961.[1] There is no apparent evidence that any ofRussia's endemicfamines or pre-Revolutionarybread riots had broken out in Krupki town or its immediate environs.[citation needed]
TheYiddish Jewish settlement in Krupki is first noted in the 17th century and was thriving by the middle of the 18th century. About 40% of the Jews were employed as laborers and craftsmen[7] and a Yiddish school was established in the town.[7] There were threeHebrew schools in Krupki by the 1890s according to the 1895 Russian Encyclopedia.[1]
About 75% of the local Jews fled the town during theRussian Revolution and subsequentRussian Civil War, for eitherWestern Europe or the United States. Only 870 of them remained in situ by 1939.[7][8] There were also smallPolish,Poleszuk,Lithuanian andRoma settlements in Krupki.
The town was briefly taken by a small unit ofPrussian troops during the later part of the First World War. Belarus first declared independence on 25 March 1918, forming theDemocratic Republic of Belarus and later theSoviet Socialist Republic of Byelorussia. As a result, Krupki was incorporated into theSoviet Union afterwestern Belarus and the border city of Brest were given toPoland and the eastern parts, along with the city of Minsk, joined the USSR,between the two world wars.[citation needed]
Nazi Germanyinvaded the Soviet Union in 1941. On 18 September 1941 the entireJewish Ghetto,[7] a community of 1,000 people was killed by theNazis.[9][10][11] The massacre was described in the diary of one of the German perpetrators.[11] The first massacre involved 100 deaths near the graveyard,[7] but a later killing spree killed roughly 900 other Jews in a different location.
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At first, the Germans told the Jews to gather together because they were being deported to Germany. But as the German forced them into a ditch, it was evident what the Germans had in mind. At this point, panic ensued.[11]
Ten shots rang out, tenJews popped off. This continued until all were dispatched. Only a few of them kept their countenances. The children clung to their mothers, wives to their husbands. I won’t forget this spectacle in a hurry...[11]
Some of the Germans and Austrians involved in the incident were also injured during the panic. Very few, if any, of the localBelarusians,Roma/Gypsies orPoles supported theanti-Semitic attack and a few even actively opposedNazi rule in their town altogether. Krupki was liberated by theRed Army in June 1944.[7][12] Belarus was the hardest hit Soviet Republic in the war andremained in Nazi hands until it was liberated in 1944 during theMinsk Offensive. TheJewish population of Belarus was devastated[13] and never recovered.[14]
The Krupki massacre of September 1941 has played a role in theHistorikerstreit and is analyzed by historianWaitman Wade Beorn in his study of German atrocities in Belarus. Given the direct participation ofWehrmacht soldiers in this killing operation— in this case, the 354th Infantry, including the 3rd Battalion under Major Johannes Waldow— Beorn believes it provides an early example of Wehrmacht complicity in the Holocaust. He argues that the majority of regular German soldiers "were not volunteers but did not evade participation."[15] The involvement of the 354th was largely restricted to security or support roles for theSS, rather than direct killing of civilians, but other units in Belarus would gradually assume more direct roles in SS mass killing operations. The Krupki murders serve as an illuminating starting point in the study of Wehrmacht involvement in Nazi atrocities. Though the work of shooting civilians was admittedly grisly, the organizational culture of the Wehrmacht pressured the common soldier to "accept unpleasant necessities" in the furtherance of larger military or racial goals.[15]
The town was violently assailed byKGB-related elements.[when?][16] It would remain part of theBelorussian SSR until 1991, when it became part of the state ofBelarus.[12] Krupki's population had reached 5,000 by 1977.
Junior Sergeant/RiflemanVladimir Olegovich Kriptoshenko was awarded theOrder of the Red Banner andOrder of the Red Star (bothposthumously) after beingkilled bygrenade explosion during the 1988Battle for Hill 3234 whilst serving in the Soviet occupation ofAfghanistan.[17]
The Oblast was moderately irradiated in theChernobyl disaster.[18]
Krupki became a part of the state ofBelarus in 1991 after the collapse of theSoviet Union. A memorial cross dedicated to the victims of the Soviet purge was destroyed by neo-Communists in 2009.[16] There are various memorials, dedicated to, among others, Alena Kolesova, U.M. Martinkevich, and astronautVladimir Kovalyonok.[6]
Krupki lies 65 mi (110 km) to the East ofMinsk[1] and is located at an altitude of 174 m.[6][12][19] The name means eitherto grind grain orthe (grain) mill.[1]
The Bobr river flows through the town. The climate of Krupki is moderately continental, a transitional form from maritime to continental with relatively mild winters and warm summers.
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It is mostly inhabited byBelarusians, but also hasRussian,Polish,Ukrainian andJewish[20] minorities. The population was around 5,000 in 1977.[6] Krupki hasEastern Orthodox,Catholic,Protestant andJewish communities. There is asynagogue and severalchurches in the town[20] and the nearby woodenOrthodox church.
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| Source: :[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][3] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
It consists of both woodworking,flax, forestry, the farming of fruit and vegetables andfood processing.[6] It once used to make pottery, produce bread and manufacture matches.[1]
The roads are mostlytarmacked and are of an average grade for Belarusian road ways. The nearest airports are inMinsk and Krupki has arailway station.
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1 Administrative center of Minsk Region but administratively separated | ||
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