Brześć was established at the turn of the 10th and 11th centuries. Jews referred to the town as “Brisk” and such a name is present in documents written in Hebrew and Yiddish, although initially they used the name “Bierestij.”

Historian Ch. Zonenberg argued that Jews were among the town founders.

Thus the town of Brześć was established thanks to the merchants who passed by. Jews were also among those merchants... It is worth noticing that towns were usually established at the very bank of the river, which made defence easier and offered a chance to sail away if necessary. Since almost only Jewish houses were built at the bank and since Jews in Brześć always constituted a large and even dominant proportion of Brześć’s everyday life, we need not forget that even if not only Jews established Brześć, still Jews were among them. And it were generally Jews who stayed there to develop and enlarge the town as others sailed away. So it is legitimate to say that Jews have equal rights to this town[1.1].

Władysław I Herman, the ruler of Poland, was the first to allow Jews who had been expelled from Germany to settle in large numbers on his land, including Brześć. They worked in trade and crafts and constituted the town’s major ethnical group. However, they did not participate in public life.

In 1229 Daniel Halicki, the duke of Galicia and Volhynia, unified the lands which also included Brześć. He brought Germans, Jews and Armenians to the country, offering them various concessions. In 1319 Brześć found itself under the rule of Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas, who continued the settlement policy. Poland’s King Kazimierz III Wielki occupied the town from 1349 to 1366. Brześć and Troki were the first towns of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that had Jewish communities. Since that time Brześć Jews enjoyed the rights granted to them by Polish kings.

In 1388, a delegation of Jews from Brześć and Troki went to Vytautas, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, asking him to affirm the privileges granted to them by Bolesław and Kazimierz. On 24 June 1388 he signed a privilege-sudiebnik for Brześć Jews. Granting them broad autonomy in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the privilege secured freedom of religion and trade by transforming Jews into a separate class of free people that were subordinate to the Grand Duke’s jurisdiction. The act regulated court proceedings between Christians and Jews and between Jews themselves. Cases involving the latter were heard in special Jewish courts, in accordance with the Jewish law. The privilege-sudiebnik of 1388 is an exceptional source on the early history of Jews in Eastern Europe. It is particularly significant that the privilege treated Jews as a single nation. All were granted equal rights and equal responsibilities, regardless of their material status. Some points in the document use the expression “as a nobleman,” which indicates that theoretically there was a single law for Jews and noblemen[1.2].

Between the 14th and the 17th centuries Brześć was one of the centres of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Brześć community played a leading role in the lives of Jews living in the territories of today’s Lithuania and Belarus.

On 25 September 1411, Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas allowed Jews to construct a synagogue and ordered to provide them with clay and bricks free of charge. They constructed “a miracle synagogue which was famous all over Europe”[1.3].

In the 15th century, Brześć Jews already played a vital role in the economy of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. They conducted large-scale financial operations, leased state duties and taxes, and worked in domestic and foreign trade. Some of them owned estates and villages. Great dukes of Lithuania and a number of noblemen gradually became debtors of Jewish lenders. In 1483, Brześć Jews established trade relations with Venice.

The Brześć Jewish community was listed among other communities in King Kazimierz IV Jagiellończyk’s privilege of 1447 which affirmed all rights and reliefs for the Jews living in Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1463 Kazimierz IV Jagiellończyk offered Brześć Jew Lejba Szulimowicz three land rights (Woronowo, Bikow and Bliwinicz) nearby Brześć and he also granted him different privileges and reliefs. In 1472 Prussian Duke Heinrich Richtenberg confiscated the goods of Brześć Jew and contractor Icyk. Following an intervention by Vilnius bishop and six king’s advisors, the property was returned. Between 1489 and 1490 Kazimierz IV Jagiellończyk signed tax, weight, duty and other lease agreements with Brześć Jews. Galwasz Aronowicz, Igadi Rabaj and Mison Imszic were among the tax collectors[1.4].

The first hospital on the territory of today’s Belarus was established in Brześć in 1495. It belonged to the local Jewish community.

Alexander, who became grand duke of Lithuania in 1492 and Polish king from 1501, at the beginning of his reign affirmed Jewish privileges and complemented them with the Magdeburg Law and the rights to lease duties. However, he became severely indebted due to the strained finances of both countries that he had inherited from Casimir and due to a tough war with Moscow and Tatars that incurred huge costs. In order to get rid of the Jewish lenders, in 1495 the grand duke issued a decree on expelling Jews from Brześć, Grodno, Troki, Łuck, Włodzimierz Wołyński and Kiev. Infrequent cases where Jews resorted to baptism to prevent expulsion were used by the authorities to turn the duke's decision into a religious one. Only one Jew managed to get baptised and stay in Brześć. The Jewish community was abolished. The synagogue was given to Christians and transformed into a hospital and the Holy Ghost Church. Debts owed to Jews were not subject to collection. All obligations, documents, agreements and lease contracts were cancelled as well.

In 1503, Alexander allowed Jews to return to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Brześć Jews were among those who returned. They were given back their synagogue and property. Alexander announced: "As Jews were expelled from Brześć, their river bank houses and synagogues were turned into the Holy Ghost Church and hospital. Now, however, as I allow them to return, I order to give them back all their belongings and build a hospital and a bath for the Jews with a square next to the mill."

Thus houses, synagogues, land and the cemetery were given back to Jews and the community was restored. In the 16th century the Brześć Jews again played a significant role in domestic and foreign trade with German countries. They owned 16% of land in the region.

King Zygmunt I Stary (1506-1548) had a positive attitude towards Jews. Brześć Jews were particularly favoured by the king, who granted them various rights, reliefs, leases and incomes. In 1508, he authorised Brześć Jew Michał Rubinowicz to collect taxes on wax and salt from Brześć, Łuck, Włodzimierz and Drohiczyn tenants and to spend them on military needs at his discretion. In 1513, Zygmunt I demanded that Rubinowicz and Don, another tax collector, provided accounts of their wax and salt tax collections. Other Brześć Jews, including Mojsze Morduszewicz and Michał Józefowicz, also benefited from Zygmunt's favours. In 1511, the king affirmed Jews' existing rights and reliefs and added new ones.

In 1514, Michał Józefowicz became ober-rabbi ("the elder") of all Jews in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Chief Rabbinate of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, whose duties included collection of taxes from the Jewish community, was located in Brześć. More than 60 circulars sent to Michał Józefowicz have been preserved in archival collections. The king leased to him incomes from salt, wax, vodka and weights. In 1525, Józefowicz was ennobled by Zygmunt I.

Michał Józefowicz's brother Abram, who got baptised, was responsible for Zygmunt I’s finances. He was reported to have had an impact on the king's son education, among others by influencing the decision on sending him to Gniezno Castellan Piotr Opaliński. After leaving the court, Abram Józefowicz and his family moved to Brześć. In his last will, he wrote: "To my elder son Jan, I am leaving two estates: Żerosławka and Gładkowicz, a house in Vilnius and 10,000 ducats; to my second son Konstantyn: the Nowy Dwór and Glinkowszczyzna estates, a house in Vilnius, a manor farm near Vilnius and seven coffers of Lithuanian coins. To my wife Hanna: 1,000 chests of coins, the entire gold and silver of my home and incomes from Konstantyn's estates; to my daughter Maryna - a large dowry and incomes from Jan's estates"[1.5].

In his Act of 19 March 1527, Zygmunt I affirmed the Jews' privilege given to them by Alexander and expanded its provisions with "a one-fourth share of all municipal incomes." Jews were also offered a share in the incomes from transport of goods and driving cattle on condition that they "build and maintain bridges on rivers flowing through Brześć, care for the streets and entries to the town and purchase weapons for the defence of the town, just as Christian townspeople are obliged to do."

Similarly to his predecessor, Zygmunt II August also favoured Jews living in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He offered six-year tax exempts to those who suffered from fire, let others offer loans to Christians and handed over incomes from the sales of salt and wax and from border levies to another group. Brześć Jews Dawid Szmerkowicz, Józef Szolimowicz, Abram Długacz i Icchak Brodawski were granted the right to mint coins (1560-1563) and offered incomes from breweries, mills, distilleries, trade and weights.

In 1563, Zygmunt II August issued the following privilege that eased to-date burdens: “Having been informed by municipal governors that the tax of 12 000 three scores of grosz - means hard time for you, We impose on you only 4,000 three scores, which will be divided as follows: Kamieniec Jews - 140, Ostrów Jews - 600, Łuck - 500, Włodzimierz - 500, Kleck - 15, Dworzec - 60, Nowogród - 30, Łochwica - 30, Pińsk - 600, Tykocin - 100, Grodno - 200, Troki - 376 (all Christian tax collectors), Brześć - 264 (tax collectors - Pejsach Ajzykowicz and Mojsze Lifszyc), total 3,465 tree scores.” According to S. Berszadski, Jews from Brześć, the main and the richest Jewish town in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, had already paid the 535 three scores missing from the total 4,000. Thus Brześć paid 799 three scores, the most among all other towns, 199 three scores more than rich Pińsk.

In 1566, The Description of the Brześć District was written. According to it, there were 106 Jewish houses in Brześć (out of 746 in total). They made up a separate Jewish quarter of the town. The “Jewish” street had been present on Brześć maps and plans until the old town was abolished in 1835.

In 1569, "tax collectors" Lipman Szmerłowicz and Mendel Isakowicz contracted an architect from Warsaw to build a stone synagogue and houses.

During the reign of King Stefan Batory, the salt duty in the Brześć province was leased to Brześć Jews Lazar Abramowicz and Lipman Szerłowicz.

The Jewish community in Brześć was the centre of Orthodox Judaism. In 1531, Frank Mendel was the Brześć rabbi. The renowned Brześć Yeshiva attracted students from Germany, Italy and other European countries. In mid-16th century the yeshiva was headed by Rabbi Mordechaj Rajse and Rabbi Simon. Kalonimos, the father-in-law of famous scholar rabbi Salomon Luria, was rabbi at one moment. Salomon (Jechiel) Luria, the greatest Kabbalist and Talmud commentator, was a great spiritual authority for the Jews living in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland. Rabbi Salomon Luria (Maharszal) was born around 1510 in Brześć or Poznań. Between 1539 and 1550, he was a rabbi in Brześć and during that time he established a yeshiva in the town. There are historical references proving that in late 1530s Salomon Luria headed the Brześć Yeshiva: his signature under a certificate of divorce granted in the town has been preserved[1.6]. Rabbi Salomon's writing focused on interpretations of Talmud and Halacha. In his biggest work, The Solomon Sea, he made an attempt to defend the Ashkenazi Halacha tradition that to him was under threat from Sephardic customs. Other prominent Brześć rabbis of the 16th century include Naftali Herz (who was referred to as “Hirz der Brisker”), Mojżesz Lipszyc and Bejnut Lipszyc - Saul Wahl's son-in-law.

The duty book of 1583 shows that Brześć Jews were actively involved in trade. They transported goods from Germany and Austria to Lublin and on the route from Słuck to the west. They imported skins, wax, paper, fur, iron, tin, felt hats, Głogów, Morawy and other kinds of cloth, Hungarian canvas, mirrors, different spices, salt, wine, sugar and silk. They exported soap, Moscow gloves, furs (including ermine, fox and otter), belts, painted saddles and bridles[1.7].

King Zygmunt III Waza ruled the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland from 1587 to 1632. Saul Wahl, a Jew who came to Brześć from Padua, influenced his victory in the free election. Later Saul Wahl became a leaseholder of customs duties and other state levies in Lithuania. He became famous due to a legend according to which during the interregnum after Batory’s death, he was named Poland’s king for one night. Wahl used his influence in the royal court to support the Jewish community. In Brześć, he constructed a women’s gallery in the synagogue, a yeshiva, a mikveh and seven shops. At his request the rabbis decided that Brześć should have just one mikveh that was established in his house and use the proceeds to support poor Jews who wished to get married. In such a case, men were given 50 zlotys and women 100 zlotys. Together with other representatives of the Jewish community in Brześć, Wahl in 1580 complained against the municipal authorities that had refused to pay one fourth of the town’s incomes to which Jews were entitled. In 1593, he managed to arrange the issuance of an act that made it possible for a Jew who was offended by a fellow believer to bring the culprit before a rabbinical court without the intervention of the magistrates’ court and the Brześć castle (provincial governor’s court). In his last will, Wahl ordered to sell his gold necklace and give the proceeds to the poor. Karl Marx was a distant descendant of Saul Wahl[1.8].

Among important Jewish scholars of that time, Brześć hosted Wahl’s son-in-law Dawid Druker; R. Febus, who in the yeshiva taught Joel Sirkis, the author of Bet Chadasz; Fiszel of Brześć, the author of footnotes to Turim; Josif of Brześć, the brother of Mojżesz Isserles and others. Joel Sirkis and Mejer Wahl, Saul’s son, were among Brześć’s renowned rabbis of the first half of the 17th century. Sirkis held the office until 1618 and Wahl until 1631. Sucher Ber was a secretary of the Jewish community at that time and Joel of Brześć collected taxes in the district for which he received 200 Polish zlotys plus travel expenses.

Following an approval of Zygmunt III, in 1623 Mejer Wahl convened a Lithuanian va'ad  (Va'ad Medinat Lita - the parliament of Lithuanian Jews). Since that time, the sittings were frequently held in Brześć with Wahl as the speaker until his death. After a decision was approved by the va'ad, rabbis signed the documents, the first stamp being placed by the rabbi of Brześć, and then by rabbis representing other towns. Initially, the Lithuanian waad consisted of rabbis and other representatives from three district: Brześć, Pińsk and Grodno. All the kahals and sub-kahals in the western part of the Brześć province and in the Nowogród, Minsk, Witebsk and Połock provinces were subordinate to the Jewish community in Brześć. The Brześć district included Międzyrzec, Roszosz, Łomazy, Biała, Piszczac, Włodawa, Kodeń, Sławatycze, Wysokie Litewskie, Kobryń, Prużana, Czarnawczyce, Kamieniec, Różana, Słonim, Dworzec, Nowogródek, Nieśwież, Słuck, Mińsk and Mohylew[1.9]. However, only the western part of the Brześć province with some 20 towns (including Kobryń, Prużana, Kodeń and Włodawa) remained under the direct authority of Brześć until the second half of the 17th century. Still, Brześć retained the right of representation at waad sittings also when some communities were transformed into autonomous administrative units. In 1628, the waad appointed Jewish representatives to a Sejm (parliament) sitting for the whole Polish-Lithuanian state - Berech from Brześć, Saj from Vilnius and Mordka from Łomazy. Mojsze Lejzerowicz from Brześć and his sons became tax leaseholders for a three-year period and transferred 1,200 Polish zlotys to the Brześć municipal treasury, 500 to Grodno and 400 to Pińsk. A waad sitting of 1634 passed an interesting resolution: “Provide [expense means] to the conscientious Josif Lejzerowicz, a citizen of Brześć, for his trip to Palestine and send him 40 thalers every year.

In the 1630s, tensions between the Jewish and Christian inhabitants increased as Christians demanded new laws to curb Jewish rights to crafts and trade. A pogrom took place in Brześć in 1637, during which a number of shops were looted and set on fire. However, the authorities ordered to give the stolen goods back to the Jews. To prevent disorder, a special Jewish-Christian guard was established. Catholic clergy, particularly Jesuits, were also hostile towards Jews. The first serious assault took place in 1636. In 1680 six students of Brześć’s Jesuit college stormed the house of Brześć Jew Jakub Nachimowicz armed with batons and beat him on the head to death. Three other Jews that were present at the victim’s house were seriously injured and Nachimowicz’s property was stolen[1.10].

In 1656, during the Swedish Wars (the so-called Swedish Deluge), Stefan Czarnecki’s troops entered the town. They killed a significant part of the town’s Jewish population. In 1660 Brześć was destroyed and burnt by Moscow troops. A large number of Jews were also killed then. After these events, the Brześć community started to decline, with Vilnius taking over the role of the hub of Jewish life in Lithuania.

All Jewish documents, including privileges and contracts, were lost during an invasion of Moscow troops on Brześć in 1660. In 1661, King Jan II Kazimierz Waza exempted Jews from all military service and ordered military authorities “under the threat of penalties stipulated in military laws to require from Brześć Jews neither money, nor bread, housing, food, lodging nor burden them with any other requirements.” In a separate document issued a few days later, the king exempted Jews from all duties for four years “in accordance with the recently approved constitution,” and from payments for vodka lease. Additionally, by virtue of the king’s regulation of 31 August 1661, Brześć Jews were offered a three-year suspension period in their debt payments to creditors “due to the destruction inflicted by our Moscow enemy.”

In 1676, the Brześć Jewish community comprised 525 adults. The Brześć kahal, represented by Dawid Samuelowicz and Lewko Josefowicz, received a new privilege from King Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki, later affirmed by King Jan III Sobieski. According to the document, Jews were to keep plots of land and houses that they had owned until the war as well as houses of prayer, schools, shops, market places, baths and cemeteries. They had the right to make and trade spirits and the general right to deal with trade and crafts. Equally to other merchants, they were exempted from the “old toll” and from private tax collections in the Brześć province, unless specified by joint resolutions of the Sejm. They were permitted to build gates in their streets next to their shops and to close them to anybody, not only on Saturdays and on holidays, but also during all turbulent periods. Apart from that, the townspeople and the municipal authorities were ordered to help Jews in case of anti-Jewish riots.

The Jewish population of Brześć started growing in late 17th century. The Brześć kahal included 3,175 people, according to a 1766 census.

In the second half of the 18th century the Jewish community went bankrupt. In 1766, its debts reached the amount of 222,720 zlotys, including 122,723 zlotys owed by the kahal to Church institutions - churches and monasteries. The Brześć community’s annual income was 31,000 zlotys.

The Brześć Jews significantly influenced the development of Jewish culture. Their impact was particularly visible between the 16th and 18th centuries. They wrote a number of Talmudic and religious works, comments, ethics treaties and sermons. Joel Sirkis, Juda Lewin, Mojżesz Lifszyc, Efraim Zalman Schorr, Josij Josifowicz, Mojsza Judycz, Lewi, Lejma, Aron Kajdanower, Jeszua Herschel, Eshele, Juda Lejb (Sirkis’s grandson), Abram Beniaminowicz of Vienna, Eli Szlulewicz of Lublin, Jakow Joselewicz, Mojsze Icchok, Jakow Lewi, Mordka Goen, Aaron Goen, Abram Icchok Josifowicz are among those worth noting. In 1743, Mejer Abrahamowicz from Brześć defended his PhD thesis titled On the Harmfulness of Spirit Liquids in Halle.

As for education and scholarship of Jews, Brześć surpassed other towns of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, including Vilnius, which only later became known as the centre of Jewish scholarship. Among Poland’s 16th and 17th century cities, only Krakow, Lvov, Poznań and Lublin could compete with Brześć. Numerous Brześć Jews spoke foreign languages, including Italian, Spanish, German and Latin. Dawid Druker’s Jewish print shop operated in the town for some time.

Further clashes between Jewish and Christian townspeople took place throughout the rest of the 18th century, particularly in 1792. At the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, 2,840 Jews lived in Brześć, making up 70.9% of the town’s population[1.11].

In 1802, a fire destroyed a large part of the Jewish district in Brześć. In 1828, another fire devastated the town, destroying numerous Jewish building, including five houses of prayer. When Tsar Nicholas I ordered the construction of a fortress in Brześć, a large number of historical houses in the Jewish quarter were destroyed, including the old synagogue. Following the recommendations of Jakow Mejer Padua (1840-1855), a descendant of Saul Wahl, a plan of the old synagogue was made and sent to Denis Samuel (also a descendant of Wahl) to London. The cemetery was also destroyed during the construction of the fortress while the inscriptions on gravestones which were transferred to a new cemetery became illegible.

Brześć Jews asked educated and very influential Jew Izaak Ber Lewinson of Krzemieniec to support their plea for compensation for the destroyed houses. Having received the Brześć delegation, Lewinson quickly signed the petition and composed a hymn in honour of heir to the throne Alexander II to celebrate his marriage. The hymn was sung in the Brześć synagogue with music performed by a Polish orchestra. The Brześć fortress commander presented the hymn, together with a Russian and German translation, to Tsar Nicholas I. The petition proved successful[1.12].

Between 1821 and 1822 there was a famine after a period of draught and poor harvest. A witness wrote: “Brześć Jews die like flies and Belarussian peasants go as far as the Jarosław province in search of bread.” The local gentry, who blamed Jewish leaseholders and barkeepers for all their misfortunes, proposed evicting Jews from villages as they “lead peasants to ruin.” In the first quarter of the 19th century, the Jewish population of Brześć increased to 4,522 members due to expulsions from smaller localities[1.13].

Following Tsar Nicholas I’s edict, all town inhabitants, including Jews, were evicted from the suburb during the construction of the Brześć fortress (from 1 April 1843) and their houses were pulled down [[ref:|Pajewskij L., Gorod Brest-Litowsk i jewo drewnije chramy (istoriczieskij oczierk), Grodno, 1894, pp. 10–11.]]. The famous Brześć synagogue was pulled down in 1842, for which the Treasury paid 8,000 roubles to the Jewish community. When the synagogue was being pulled down, a granite plate was discovered in one of the walls. It bore the following inscription: “Honorable Saul Samuel, a son of Juda, decorated the women’s gallery of the synagogue in memory of his wife Dwojra.” The plate was then built into the hallway of the new synagogue.

A Jewish hospital with 40 beds and a pharmacy was opened in Brześć in 1838. The pharmacy’s annual expenses were covered by the meat tax and voluntary donations.

Most Brześć Jews worked in crafts in mid-19th century. In his description of the town, chief of staff officer, historian and ethnographer P.O. Bobrowskij presented a typical budget of a Jewish family. Nine silver kopecks were spent on the upkeep of a five-member family, excluding clothing expenses. A Jewish tailor (breadwinner) received 75 silver kopecks for making a frock coat and on average earned between 1.5 and 3 roubles a week and no more than 100 to 120 roubles a year. The household budget deficit was covered by the wife, “who stayed for whole days in the market in order to sell small goods,” leaving three small children under the care of her husband. With all her efforts, she was only able to add up to 60 kopecks and occasionally a rouble of net profit to the budget. Thus the husband and wife did not earn more than they spent on the upkeep of their family. “In good years, a Jew could be left with two or three extra roubles to buy a dress, underwear, shoes or other items,” Bobrowskij noted. “But imagine the condition of a Jew who works hard for the whole day in a tiny, stuffy room and just think: what is he supposed to do in case of poor harvest, unfortunate coincidence or illness? ... The family has to rely for months only on water, rye bread and onions.”

The second half of the 19th century was a period of spiritual revival of the Jewish community. The construction of a new synagogue was started in 1851 and it was completed in 1861. A Jew by the name of Szereszewski opened a printing house in Brześć in 1859. A first-rank secular Jewish school was established in Brześć already in 1866, attended by 55 pupils who had classes in two shifts[1.14].

At the initiative of rabbi Orensztejn, widow house Bikur Cholim was opened in 1866. In 1877, the community opened a free-of-charge infirmary, a poorhouse, and a Talmud-Torah school for 500 boys.

Brześć’s economic situation improved again in 1841 due to the construction of a canal linking the Dnieper and Bug rivers, which also spurred a recovery in the economic life of the Jewish population.

A 1860 census reported Brześć’s population as consisting of 19,343 inhabitants, including 10,320 Jews. According to 1861 data, 3,837 Jewish men and 4,066 women lived in Brześć.

In 1878, during the Russian-Turkish war, people started to settle in the eastern part of Brześć, on to-date arable land, and created a new district of the town called “Gorodok” (Russian for “town”). It was inhabited chiefly by Jews, whose occupations included embroidering underwear and manufacturing ammunition for the army. More than 200 houses were built in the district. For a long time Jews lived in the area illegally, and only in 1903 they received an official residence permit from Russian Interior Minister W. K. Plehwe[1.15].

According to a 1897 census, the population of Brześć consisted of 46,586 people, including 30,608 Jews (14,533 men and 15,575 women), or 65.8% of all the inhabitants. Nearly all Brześć craftsmen (over 3,500 people) were Jewish. Shoemakers and tailors were most common, followed by bakers, carpenters, blacksmiths and stonemasons. Shoe products made by Brześć craftsmen were sold to central Russia and Crimea. 40% of Brześć Jews were employed in industry, 35% in trade, 5% in transport and communication, 6% in private services, and some 7% worked in social services and as independent professionals[1.16].

Brześć Jews were also involved in local government. Mordka Kempe and Baruch Klejnman were councillors in 1866 and Mordko Korenblum was a deputy in the housing committee[1.17]. Tanchel Ginzburg, Eruchim-Boruch Szac and Beniamin were members of the town council between 1907 and 1911[1.18]. Jews were also actively involved in the work of the municipal sanitary committee. Between 1909 and 1910, Beniamin Binemson was deputy chairman of the committee and Tichon Ginzburg, Jona Gerenreich and Aron Matecki were members[1.19].

The Cedaka Gdola Society of Mutual Assistance to Poor Jews was one of the most prominent charity organisations. Between 1902 and 1903, it was chaired by Eruchim Szac, with Beniamin Wigdorowicz as the deputy and Michel Rozenberg as the secretary. As its members, the society attracted the most respected Brześć inhabitants, including: Michel Rabinowicz, Ajzyk Szostakowski, Jankiel Libszicz, Hirsz Jaffe, Lejb Rotenberg and Mejer Licht. Between 1909 and 1910, it was chaired by Hersz-Chaim Birsztejn, with Wolf Szapiro as his deputy. The following were members of the society at that time: Jeruchiel-Boruch Szac, Leon Szereszewski, Ezechiel Orchow, Chaim-Abram Kagan, Zalman-Mordka Lubetkan, Lejb-Abram Szutkin and Mowsza Ukraiński. Mordka-Ber Groslajt was the society’s secretary and Wolf-Chaim Rabinowicz - the treasurer. An organisation called The Women’s Care of the Sick and Giving Birth, headed by Liba Kagan between 1909 and 1910, was also very active[1.20].

There was also the Organisation for Assisting Poor Jews in Pesy. In his book Istorija goroda Briesta-Litowska, 1016–1907. Po dostowiernym istocznikam i prawdopodobnym umozakliuczenijam, Ch. Zonenberg writes: “One can say that they shared what they had with the poor. Anyhow, there were no hungry people. There are many people in Brześć who help the poor all their lives and whose mission is to care more for the poor community than for themselves... These people would be more wealthy, or even rich, if they did not give so much to the poor. Who in Brześć have not heard of Mr Szolim Monasze, who does not know Mr Szolom Szochet and his wife Krejndle, their attitude being so outstanding. We should be fair towards Brześć: it can respect and honour such people, whose number is large and used to be even larger. Brześć was prepared to carry on its hands the late Lejba Zonenberg for his infinite mercy towards the poor.”

Brześć doctors and feldshers, most of them Jews, were highly regarded at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.  Court advisor K. F. Szpark was the head of the Jewish hospital between 1902 and 1903 and I. W. Szapiro between 1911 and 1912. Hersz Temkin was the chairman of the Jewish hospital board in 1911 and 1912. The Jewish hospital doctors, including Isaak Szapiro, Miron Wolfson and Boris Chwat, as well as hospital assistant L. Rozenbaum and feldshers Wolf Kandelsbrout and Szmul Zejfen were regarded as the best medical professionals in Brześć. The Jewish hospital included an outpatient clinic and a maternity ward. Jeruchim Szac was the chairman of the wards’ board, with Hirsz Temkin and Beniamin Wiktorowicz as board members. Countess Potocka’s hospital headed by Ber Fajnsztejn was very popular in Brześć at the beginning of the 20th century.

Before World War One, pharmacists Sztejnberg and Kagan and merchant Chajkiewicz owned chemists’ shops in Brześć. The leading doctors included A.S. Szereszewski, M.M. Wajnsztejn, M.S. Wolfson, Sz. M. Izrailski, I.W. Szapiro, A.W. Szapiro, B.A. Chwat, L.P. Rozenbaum, L.S. Szereszewski, M.M. Reles-Rozenbaum and S.M. Epsztejn. There were also dentists: Lew Citrinnik, Fiszel Josem, G.I. Złocowskaja-Sztern, Fanja Gerszgorn, Maria Kac-Barisz, Josif Szereszewski, Aron Ordel, Josif Braudo, Dawid Dobos and Chaim Zejfes; and midwives: Julia Frenkel, Rebeka Kaź, Gitla Perelsztejn, Maria Sznejnerman, Chaja Fridenberg, Sora Wengerowska, Sara Rosenzweig, Ruchla Grinblat and Szprinca Łuszczyc[1.21].

Jewish children of Brześć could choose from a range of schools. A number of them chose to attend a single-grade Jewish secondary school. From 1884 it was headed by Mojsiej Bikker and between 1909 and 1910 - Tamarin. Samul Zakon and Solomon Ralbe were staff members. The preparatory grade was initially taught by Abram Kewesz and later by Judel Barit. Girls could attend a Jewish lower secondary school maintained by Ewa Bikker. Judel Z. Barit taught Jewish law and religion in Brześć secondary schools for boys and for girls and in the seven-grade trade school.

A number of Jewish girls often chose to attend a private six-grade lower secondary school, where the Jewish religion was taught by B. Sandomirski, or a girls’ seven-grade private secondary school, where Leon Tamarin (religion) and Aleksandr Drejcer were the teachers.

Brześć yeshivas, a mainstay of Orthodox Judaism, were renowned all over the Russian Empire. In his short story Between the Two Mountains, classical Jewish writer I.L. Perec presented the disputes related to Baal Szem Tow, the founder of Hasidic Judaism, as well as his teachings. Some 75% of Jewish school-age children, mostly from poor families, did not attend general education schools[1.1.16].

The religious leaders of the late 19th and early 20th century included rabbi Owsiej Nadel, Joszija Diskin and Josif Ber Sołowiejczyk. Brześć had 2 synagogues, over 30 houses of prayer, 5 libraries, 8 printing houses, 2 lithographic shops and 7 photography shops. Nearly all of them were owned by Jews. The famous Brześć printing houses included those owned by Szereszewski and his successors: A. Rozental, the Glickman brothers, I. Rakow and others. Szolem Alejchem and other famous writers and columnist visited Brześć. Menachem Borejsza (Goldberg), a talented poet, essayist and journalist of the first half of the 20th century, lived and worked in the town.

Credit institutions appeared in Brześć in late 19th century. Sołowiejczyk’s and Morgensztejn’s banking office was the first such facility. In 1913, financial institutions included Barlas’s banking office and Tymiański’s and Sznajder’s private loan offices.

In late 19th and early 20th centuries nearly all Brześć’s crafts manufacturing was Jewish-owned (chiefly shoe-making and tailoring). A significant part of trade was also Jewish. In 1898, the bullet factory was owned by Abraam Gotlieb.

A pogrom took place in Brześć in May 1905, which left a few people dead and dozens injured. Material losses were significant. The pogrom started in an inn’s backyard and later spread to Mięsna, Krzywa and other streets. Furniture was being destroyed and property robbed and although the Jewish self-defence forces shot at the attackers, they also incurred casualties. Troops summoned from the Brześć fortress arrested the instigators, which included military reserve privates as well as criminals.

An illegal workers’ organisation existed in Brześć between 1895 and 1897, which was created in order to launch strikes. It included I. Izbicki, A. Lewin and Ch. Gołdackij (representatives of intelligentsia) and N. Litwak and J. Grinberg (representatives of workers). One of the first May Day picnics was organised nearby the Wyczółki village in the Brześć county in 1897. In October 1897, due to the affiliation of the Brześć secret association of workers and craftsmen with the Bund, the Brześć social-democratic Bund committee was created. In 1897 it was closed down by the police only to re-emerge in late 1902. The committee organised workers to fight against the pogroms. There were 16 meetings held in April 1905 (each attended by some 100 people), during which the participants debated the issue of creating self-defence forces against pogroms. During the pogrom of 29 May (11 June) 1905 the self-defence forces were defeated by military patrols. However, when the Black Hundreds were preparing a new pogrom in October and November 1905, the local committees of Bund, PPS in Lithuania and Zionists-socialists reported to the police and military authorities their readiness to set up self-defence squads to fight against the pogrom-instigators. The pogrom was averted.

In 1907, the Bund committee broke up. It was reactivated on 24 August (6 September) 1909. Just before World War One, its membership ranged from 50 to 80. During the entire inter-revolution period (1907-1917), only one political strike was organised on 25 September 1913 due to the Kiev trial of M. Bejlis[1.22].

During World War One, German troops entered Brześć on 26 August (8 September) 1915. Jews were evicted twice from Brześć and the war front zone. They found refuge in cities and towns of eastern Belarus and numerous regions of Russia. Only in 1917 and 1918 did Jews start coming back in their thousands to the war-devastated and desolate Brześć.

In 1918, Brześć became part of Poland, but it still had an underground Bolshevik organisation led by J. B. Bykin. From March 1919 to August 1920, an underground committee of the KP(b) party of Lithuania and Belarus operated in the town. Its members included a number of Jews: J. B. Bykin (chairman), N.J. Grinberg and M.P. Chawkin. During the occupation of Brześć by the Red Army, the town’s county revolutionary committee was a temporary local arm of the Soviet authorities. It operated from 1 to 19 August 1920. Its members included the two above-mentioned Jews J. B. Bykin and M. P. Chawkin.

Brześć was one of the most active Jewish centres of inter-war Poland. Cultural, educational and union organisations were set up in the town, as well as a number of Jewish political parties and social organisations. In the 1920s a Jewish culture centre was established, where historical and political lectures were given, debates and concerts were held and amateur plays were performed. The centre’s authorities helped refuges coming back to Brześć. Between 1921 and 1927 vocational schools of the Ort organisation were opened in Brześć, which had five branches: carpentry, ironwork, mechanics, women’s tailoring and hairdressing. New jobs were also created. The first Jewish public library was opened in 1925.

Among mass and most influential parties that were active in Brześć between 1918 and 1939, the most prominent included Bund and Poalej-Syjon. The Union of Jewish Women and the Organisation of Orthodox Jews in Poland were also active. There was also the Union of Jews-Participants in the Fight for Poland’s Independence. The town had three Jewish sports clubs and a sports swimming pool at the Muchawiec river. There were 4 synagogues and several dozen houses of prayer. Polish was the official language of communication and instruction in most schools, including lower secondary and crafts schools, as well as cultural institutions.

All Jewish religious schools and kindergartens were private. At that time, children’s education and training started from a Cheder. Brześć’s most renowned Cheder and Yeshiva were located in the Talmud-Torah building (a people’s religious school). Some 1,000 Jewish pupils from Brześć and nearby towns attended the Talmud-Torah schools. Various secular Jewish schools also started to appear in Brześć. Ten out of the total of 36 general education schools in the Brześć county were Jewish. The first secular school was opened in 1920 (The Jewish People’s School), with Hebrew as the language of instruction. In the next couple of years, two secular schools with Yiddish as the language of instruction were established. The following were among the teachers who worked in Brześć’s Jewish schools: Mosze and Ester Manachowski, Brotmacher, Zigman and Pawin. Brześć had 5 Jewish private schools by 1936 where wealthy Jews sent their children. A significant part of young Jews attended Polish seven-grade schools.

The Brześć commune had a hospital with 90 beds in 1929. There were a separate association of Jewish health care (TOZ), the Association for Care of Jewish Orphans and Children Bereft of Parents, as well as other charity organisations.

Jewish doctors were highly qualified. Out of 30 doctors who in 1941 were sent to the Jewish ghetto in Brześć, 6 had obtained their medical qualifications in Italy (Florence, Genoa and Bologna), 2 in France, 7 in Prague and 4 in Warsaw[[refr:|Gosudarstwiennyj Archiw Briestskoj Obłasti, f. 201, vol. 1, d. 397, l. 62.]].

21,518 Jews lived in Brześć in 1936, making up 41.3 percent of the total population. 80.3% of all the craftsmen were Jewish. They played an important part in the local economic life as they owned large shops, workshops, warehouses and factories.

In mid-1930s, anti-Semitic moods increased in Poland, which led to pogroms in numerous cities. One of such events took place in Brześć on 15 May 1939. Organised youth groups swarmed the new town market square shouting: “Jewish property belongs to us!,” “No-one can stop us!” and “Police are with us!” Unarmed people were attacked. The militants stormed houses, shops and workshops, smashing windows and throwing goods out onto the street. It took a few days before the police stopped further riots, following an order from Warsaw. Two Jews were killed and around ten were injured during the pogrom. The widespread damage were accompanied by fear, panic and shock[1.23].

German troops took over Brześć on 14 September 1939. A lot of Jews were forced to work for the Germans. However, under the secret Ribbentrop–Molotov pact on the partition of Poland, Brześć became part of the Soviet Union. The Soviet authorities abolished Jewish social institutions, banned political activity (except for communists) and arrested most Jewish activists. A number of wealthy Brześć Jews were soon deported to Siberia and other remote regions of the USSR.

On the night of 21 June 1941, Brześć became the first Soviet city that was almost entirely taken over by the Germans. German troops were deployed on the town’s squares early in the morning of 22 June 1941. The morning fights only centred around the railway station and military recruitment buildings. However, there was a fierce battle for the Brześć Fortress. One of the defence commanders was Colonel Commissioner Jefim Fomin. Badly injured, he was taken prisoner and shot dead. The deputy commander of the 4h Rifle Regiment Piotr Kosariew (Zalman Mirzon) also distinguished himself during the defence. Lieutenant Morduch Kaganowicz and Sergeant Walerij Szkliar led the defence of the eastern gate to the fortress. Mejer Elkin and Josif Gabriełow were killed in the battle[1.24].

The tragedy of Brześć Jews began on the fourth day of the war. SS troops and military administration came to the town. At the beginning of July, Germans placed official announcements that Jews should come to the labour exchange where they would be given job appointments. Few responded. Oszer Zisman recollects: “At the beginning of July 1941, Germans were to take Jews to work, but in fact they herded the captured Jews in the Brześć fortress and kept them in horrible conditions there. During the July heat wave, they did not give water or bread to people for five days and later shot all of them dead. One Jew who survived the execution said that when he had been getting out of the grave, there had still been a lot of alive and half-alive people, as only the first rows got the bullets. When Germans started to fill the graves with soil and hot lime, a number of victims were still alive”[1.25].

A few days later some 200 men were captured in a manhunt and shot dead in fort no. 2. Another manhunt took place on 12 July 1941. Germans stormed homes at night and took out and killed over 5,000 people, including children and the elderly. The July massacre was organised and carried out in full by the Krakow SD team commanded by SS Oberführer Schongart[1.26]. It is worth noting that according to a testimony by Heinrich, who served in the 107th police battalion, the mass shooting of Brześć Jews took place on 10 July 1941.

A great deal of local intelligentsia, specialists and social activists were among the victims of the July massacre. The so-called wostocznicy (Soviet citizens who lived in Brześć from 1939 to 1941), party members and former Polish Army officers were also among the victims. Doctors were also killed, including paediatrist Gitbetter, therapists Fruchtarten and Tannenbaum, as well as famous lawyers Berland, Aduński and Biełow and engineer Mostowliański.

From the very beginning, horrible conditions were prepared for those Jews who managed to stay alive. On August 1941, all men were forced to come to the town square in order to receive residence cards. Contribution payments were imposed which made it possible to collect goods worth 26 million roubles from Jews. On 2 October 1941, 24 Jewish intelligentsia representatives who managed to survive were taken to a square and beaten with batons in public. At the end of November 1941, the occupiers sectioned off the following streets: Sowiecka, Kujbyszewa, Karbyszewa, Dzierżyńskiego, Moskiewska, Internacjonalna, Kirowa, Gogola, Bulwar Kosmonautów and Szewczenki. Later they resettled all remaining Jews to this area. Thus, on 16 December 1941, a ghetto housing 18,000 Jews was created[1.27].

The ghetto was divided into a large one and a small one. They were separated by the Warsaw-Moscow road. The entries (three gates) were guarded day and night by gendarmerie posts. A 60-strong Judenrat, established by the Germans and composed of the most influential Jews, was responsible for the order inside the ghetto. The Jewish police reported to it. The ghetto had its hospital, warehouse and charity soup kitchens. However, there were shortages of medicines, products and commodities.

On 15 July 1942, 7,994 Jewish persons were registered for work in Brześć. A list of Jews who received documents between 10 November 1941 and 5 June 1942 reports 12,260 people of different ages. A city board’s statistical report on the provision of products to inhabitants between 24 March and 23 April 1942 quoted 17,724 Jews as living in the ghetto, who were supplied with bread by four bakeries. Bread was given out in 9 locations within the ghetto.

Despite the extremely harsh conditions, resistance groups started to appear immediately after the ghetto was established. In December 1941 they united into one organisation called Liberation. Michaił Omieliński, an active underground activist, became the leader of the organisation. A significant amount of weapons and ammunition was found at the Brześć Fortress following the German-Soviet battles. Inmates hid it under their clothing and tried to smuggle it into the ghetto. However, every Jew leaving the fortress was searched. If weapons were found, the person was immediately shot. Grisza Mejerowicz’s group was tasked with clearing a former military airfield. They secretly removed weapons from destroyed planes, disassembled them and sent to the ghetto. In the summer of 1942, members of Mejerowicz’s group, with the help of underground liaison F.G. Tronkina, passed an anti-aircraft gun to the Czernak guerilla group. Between January and February 1942, another underground organisation called Nekuma (revenge) was created in the ghetto at the initiative of Frumka Płotnicka. The aim of the organisation was to organise self-defence and establish a Jewish military organisation. Arje Szejnman led the underground resistance movement in the Brześć ghetto in mid-1942. He was preparing an armed uprising, but the preparations were discovered and a number of people were arrested.

The ghetto was surrounded on the night of 14 October 1942. Strengthened patrols were deployed to all the roads and streets. Machine guns and reinforced Gestapo squads were placed at the three gates to the ghetto. Those caught in the streets were shot on spot. The bloody nightmare went on from 15 to 18 October 1942. Columns of men, women and children were placed before a police convoy and led to the vicinity of the Brześć Fortress. People were loaded into freight carriages. The train headed for the Bronna Góra station. After reaching the destination, people were forced to undress. Then they were led to pits through a narrow corridor made of barbed wire. The first to come were led down a ladder and forced to lay face down, one close to the other. After the first layer was complete, SS and SD troops shot them with machine guns. One layer followed after another, until the grave was full. Over 20,000 Jews were taken from Brześć to Bronna Góra.

These tragic events can be tracked by analysing the occupiers’ statistics. On 5 June 1942, Brześć had 41,395 inhabitants, including 16,873 Jews. On 15 October 1942, there were 41,091 people living in the town, including 16,934 Jews. On 16 October, there were only 24,162 inhabitants in Brześć. From that day to the last record of 7 January 1944, there were no references to Jews.

Mass shooting of Jews also took place in the town itself. There were three specific places of such massacres: the cemetery at the corner of Moskiewska and Długa streets (among those who died there were neuropathologist Kalwaryjski, doctors Manzon, Kagan, Keblickij, Mieczik, Rakif, Kisliarka and Iwanowa, lawyer Mieczik, engineers Kamiński, Zielona and Filipczuk); the backyard of the house at 126 Długa street (the victims included doctors Zelikson and Joffe with their families) and in the Jewish hospital, where the patients were shot.

The Brześć ghetto was the only ghetto on the occupied territory of the Soviet Union, and perhaps in the whole Europe, where a list of inmates and forms with photographs have been preserved. The list was published in Tragiedija Jewriejew Biełarussiji (1941–1945), Minsk, 1995 (in Russian).

A Soviet underground anti-Nazi organisation was active in Brześć between August 1942 and 28 July 1944. A.G. Hołowcziner led one of its groups. The troops of the 1st Mechanised Corps played an active role in taking over the town on 28 July 1944. They were led by General-Lieutenant Siemion Kriwoszein, later a Hero of the Soviet Union and an honorary citizen of Brześć. A Park of Glory was established in the town after the war, where ten Heroes of the Soviet Union were buried. One of them was Abram Tarnopolski, the commander of the Rifle Battalion of the 234th Guards Regiment. He died on 27 July 1944 in the battle for the town. Poet and singer Michaił Jasień (Goldman) devoted a ballad to his memory and called it “The Music of War Thundered,” with music by composer Michaił Zachlewnyj. The song premiere took place on 21 June 1996 at the gate to the Brześć Fortress - a Hero memorial complex.

On 28 July 1944, Brześć was liberated by the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front. Out of 26,000 Brześć Jews only 17 survived, including Oszer Zisman, Tatiana Gutman and sisters Maria Kacaf and Wiera Bakałasz.

In 1946, Brześć Jews erected a monument to the victims of the genocide. In Kujbyszew street, where 5,000 Jews were shot dead, there was a red star and an inscription in Yiddish on the monument. It did not refer to Jewish victims, but to “Soviet citizens.” In 1974, the monument was removed. The Jewish community protested and sent complaints to party and state authorities. As a result, the remains of the victims were transferred to the municipal cemetery.

Philosopher Zachariasz Zimak, the founder of Brześć association of Jewish culture Tarbut, came up with the idea of commemorating the tragic death of Brześć Jews. He had devoted many years to collecting materials on the genocide of Brześć Jews. On 18 July 1991, the municipal executive committee made a special decision on the future obelisk, and in September the town’s chief architect Aleksiej Iwanowski found a suitable location. Together with Jewgienij Lewit, he prepared a design of the monument. The work was supervised by Kim Rutman. A large part of the monument funding was provided by Brześć Jews living in the United States, Argentina and Israel.

In October 1992, a monument to the memory of the murdered Jews was erected, which bore inscriptions in three languages: Belarussian, Yiddish and Hebrew. The genocide is also commemorated by obelisks located in the Płosk and Triszyn cemeteries, where the remains of the last Jews from the pits were laid down.

Jews had their own synagogue until 1959. Later, it was taken away and converted into a cinema. Currently, the former synagogue building houses the Progress club and The End Company. A court case between these two entities and the community lasted for a year and a half (1991-1992). On 5 October 1992, the commercial court of the Brześć district ordered to return the former synagogue building to the Jewish religious community, but soon after the ruling was rejected by the Supreme Court of the Republic of Belarus. Religious Brześć Jews still do not have a synagogue.

Some 2,000 Jews lived in Brześć in 1970, according to estimations. An all-union census of January 1989 states the number of Brześć inhabitants at 255,990, including 1,080 Jews. Some 1,000 Jews lived in Brześć in 1994 and some 800 at the end of 1996, according to estimations.

The Jewish religious community of Brześć was reborn in 1991. The town has eight Jewish organisations. These include Jewish Culture and Education Association Tarbut, the Council of Women, the Jewish Religious Community, the Jewish Sunday School, the municipal branch of the Belorussian Union of Jews-Veterans of the Great Patriotic War, Invalids, Guerillas and Activists of Underground Resistance, the municipal branch of the Association of Jews-Former Prisoners of Ghettos and Concentration Camps, a branch of international education centre Holocaust and the Centre of Research on the History and Culture of the Polesie Region Jews.

Numerous Brześć Jews are known all over Belarus. In 1995, Arkadij Bljacher, branch manager of the science and education centre Holocaust, was included among the ten “Brześć Citizens of the Year” in the Brzeski Kurier daily. Michaił Joffe, the CEO of the Gazoapparat company is also a popular figure. Inventor and scientist Jewgienij Ureckij is the leader of the Brześć branch of the Belarus Green Party. Professor Grigorij Szulman, chairman of the board of Jewish Culture and Education Association Tarbut, is a renowned social activist. Writer, playwright and scriptwriter Josif Prut lived in Brześć for a couple of years in 1990s.

The Jews who were born in Brześć include: Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former Israeli PM Menachem Begin; mathematician and Albert Einstein’s associate Jakow Grommer; medical doctor Mejer Abrahamowic; poet Roman Luria; poet Menachem Borejsza; columnist and editor-in-chief of the Frajhajt newspaper (US) Lejb Goldberg; writer Beniamin-Chaim Raiz; literary scholar Szlojme Wiłow; composer and pianist Luis Grunberg; union activist and deputy president of the American Federation of Labor Dawid Dubiński; General-Major of Armoured Forces Michał Rabinowicz; rabbi and author of a collection of comments on Talmud Jerucham-Juda-Lejb Perlman; famous Bund activist Bejnisz Michaliewicz (Josif Izbickij); Soviet official, chairman of the small people’s committee of the Soviet Union Grigorij Leplewskij.

Emmanuił Joffe, PhD in Historical Sciences – professor of the Minsk Pedagogical Institute and vice-rector of the Minsk Jewish People’s University, an academic of the International Academy of National Minorities.