Vishneva

Vishneva (Belarusian: Ві́шнева; Russian: Вишнево, Vishnevo; Polish: Wiszniew) is a township in Valozhyn Raion, Minsk Voblast, Belarus, near the border with Lithuania.

History

In 1921-39 the town was part of the Second Polish Republic as part of Nowogródek Voivodeship.

The population of Vishneva in 1907 numbered 2,650, of which 1,863 were Jews. However, the entire Jewish population has since disappeared. Most were exterminated by the Nazis during World War II.

On August 30, 1942 some 1,100 Jews from the town were killed by the SS, the remaining Jews were taken to the Ghetto in the nearby town of Valozhyn. A Jewish cemetery remains in the town. The survivors have emigrated.

Notable residents

The city was the birthplace of Shimon Peres, the current president of the State of Israel (emigrated to the British Mandate of Palestine with his family in 1934), and Nahum Goldman, founder and longtime president of the World Jewish Congress.

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