November 12, 2015 - Pinsk and the Mir Castle

Breakfast at the Pripyat definitely is at a lower caliber than the sumptuous breakfasts we have had elsewhere.  But, we certainly ate enough to keep us going.

We begin our tour of Pinsk with a walk along the Pripyat River and then to the Square (Lenin Street) which was the Jewish area, including remnants of a Jewish hotel, the Yeshiva where Chaim Weizmann studied,  At one time the majority of the population in Pinsk was Jewish.  Ultimately Jews were placed in a ghetto, that was liquidated in 1942  The majority of the Jewish population was herded to pits where they were shot.

The main center of the city is quite pleasant, with large pedestrian walkways and a square with the obligatory statute of Lenin.  The Jewish community is beginning to grow and a group of Hasidim established a small synagogue that we visited. A group of young girls was in the sanctuary and we met the head of the Jewish community in Pinsk, Joseph Lieberman.  He could not find any information about my uncle Jack Lieberman, who had a large store in Pinsk.  Uncle Jack and Aunt Hennie were probably sent to Siberia after the Russians entered Pinsk in 1939 (and before the Nazis came in 1941) and expelled the capitalists.

Pyripat River

Catholic Church

Street in Pinsk with Monastery 

Statute of Lenin in Market Square

Russian Orthodox Church

Monastery

Lenin Street - part of the Old Jewish section

 Below is the memorial located at the site where 18,000 Jews were killed.  The memorial is set off the road.  The yellow markers indicate the perimeter of the pit where the Jews were shot and killed.

After our visit to Pinsk, we head to the Mir Castle.The castle, built in the 1520s, is now over 600 years old, has had its times of splendour and royal visits, but also suffered severe damage through wars and incursions. After being abandoned for nearly a century and suffering severe damage during the Napoleonic period, the castle was restored at the end of the 19th century. It is a UNESCO Heritage site.
The castle complex is beautiful and our pictures cannot do it justice.

White bicycles are used as decoration outside restaurants and other establishments in Belarus and Poland.  

Cats have taken up residence outside a cafe at the entry to the Castle.  

Castle

Courtyard of Castle

 
 Courtyard of Castle

 Castle wall, note the bricks showing the different restoration times.

 There is a small museum with the history of the 20th century wars and the Jews in Mir.   In May, 1942, a ghetto of about 850 Jews was moved into a tower in the Mir Castle, where it existed for about 3 1/2 months.  About 200 people managed to flee the castle but the ghetto in the Castle was liquidated on August 13, 1942 and nearly 650 people were executed by the Nazis.  We climbed the narrow steps up the tower to where the ghetto existed.

After touring Mir Castle, we see a few other sites in the town.  At one time, the Mir Yeshiva was well-known, drawing students from various European countries.  It was destroyed during the War and is now a Post Office.  The former synagogues are being restored, one as a bank, another as a hotel/restaurant.

Memorial to execution site of 1700 Jews of the Mir Shtetl on November 9, 1941.  

Former synagogue - now a Bank

Former synagogue - now being renovated as a hotel or restaurant

Site of former Yeshiva, now a Post Office

We return to Minsk after a full day and say goodbye to Katya and Ilya.  As the Panorama Restaurant is closed to the public for a private event, we eat at the restaurant on the first floor of the Hotel Belarus.  A good two day tour to what were the thriving Jewish communities in Belarus, thoroughly destroyed by the Nazis.

November 13, 2015 - We have our last breakfast in Belarus at the hotel.  Vlad picks us up and takes us to the airport for our flight to Warsaw.  The Minsk airport is new and quite nice.

Belavia - Belarussian airlines