Jews started to settle in the area of Pinsk after being exiled from Lithuania in 1495. In 1506, 12-15 families formed a local community in the town and were allowed to open a synagogue and build a cemetery.

In 1560, the Pinsk community had 275 members (7% of the total population), and in 1648 – about 1,000 (20%). Jews were leaseholders and were engaged in tax and customs duties collection, wholesale trade in timber, grain, and in potash trafficking. Many Jewish people also worked as craftsmen. Since the beginning of the 17th century, the community of Pinsk was one of the three leading communities in the Lithuanian Va’ad. In accordance with the provisions of this authority, the communities of certain towns and villages had to comply with the regulations imposed by the Pinsk community.

In 1648 the town was captured by Khmelnitsky, and in 1654 it was burned down by the Russians. Many Jews lost their lives at that time, but the economic and social life was revived relatively quickly.

An economic crisis struck the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the end of the 17th century. Trying to alleviate its effects, the Polish kings introduced permanent dues instead of some taxes and reaffirmed the freedoms previously granted to the Jewish community, which included being able to practice crafts without belonging to a guild and freedom of trade. Nevertheless, in the middle of the 18th century, the Pinsk community, like other Jewish communities in Lithuania, became insolvent. In 1766, with an annual income of 37,000 zloty, the debt amounted to 309,000 zloty. In addition, after the abolition of the Lithuanian Va’ad in 1764, many communities refused to remain subordinate to the Pinsk kehilla. At the same time, the status of the community was enhanced by famous scholars and rabbis, such as Naftali Gincburg and Jehuda Lejb Perhowicer. In the second half of the 18th century, the conflict between the adversaries and the followers of Hasidism intensified. The Hasidic dynasty of Karlin, founded by Tzaddik Aaron ben Jacob (called the Great), was established on the outskirts of Pinsk.

In 1847, there were 5,050 Jews living in Pinsk, in 1871 – 13,681 (77.7% of the total population), in 1896 – 21,819 (77.3%), in 1914 – 28,063 (72.5%). At the beginning of the 1920s, the town started to gain an increasing economic importance, especially in the trade in agricultural and wood products. Jews, especially the Luria and Lewin families, played a major role in Pinsk’s economic development. Crafts thrived in the town, and industrial activities started to gain momentum in the second half of the 19th century. In 1914, 49 out of all 54 manufacturing enterprises in Pinsk belonged to Jews.

In the second half of the 19th century, Pinsk became an important centre of political life. Among the groups active in the town were early Zionists from the Hovev Zion movement, headed by Rabbi D. Fridman. At the end of the 19th century, the Bund was founded. The educational system was growing and developing. In 1853, Russian schools were opened for children of merchants. A school with Hebrew as the language of instruction was founded in Pinsk in 1878, while the year 1888 saw the establishment of a Jewish crafts school. Pinsk also boasted an active branch of the Society for Spreading Enlightenment Among Russian Jews  (OPE).

During World War I, many Jews left the city along with the retreating Russian army. On 5 April 1919, during the first phase of the Polish-Soviet War, soldiers of the 34th Infantry Regiment pf the Polish Army shot 35 Jews on charges of supporting the Bolsheviks. They had been arrested in the People's House at 72 Kupiecka Street, during a meeting of 150 Jews, which was either a Zionist event or a debate on food distribution. The incident was heavily criticised abroad and prompted the arrival of the US government mission to Poland, which resulted  in the release of the Morgenthau Report. In the document, the so-called Pinsk massacre was classified as a crime.

In 1921, the Jewish population of Pinsk had 17,513 members – 74.6% of the total population. There were various Jewish political parties and organizations active in the town, with the largest ones run by Zionists. There was also an extensive network of schools: two Poale Zion facilities teaching in Yiddish and Hebrew, two schools run by the Tarbut society, and a Jewish grammar school with Polish as the language of instruction. Pinsk had its own Jewish press, including newspapers Pinsker Shtime (1927-1939), Pinsker Vort (1931-1938), Pinsker Bukh (1932-1937) and the magazine Poleser Nayes.

On 20 September 1939, Pinsk came under the occupation of the Red Army. All Jewish institutions were abolished. Zionist and Bundist leaders were arrested. Many Jews, including refugees from the German occupation zone, were sent to the northern regions of the Soviet Union and to eastern Kazakhstan. The Soviet authorities could not immediately shut down all Jewish schools in the annexed areas, so the Sovietisation policy was pursued. Initially only teaching in Hebrew  was abolished, with Yiddish becoming the sole language of instruction. Teachers from the depths of the Soviet Union were brought to the city and new ones were trained in the new pedagogical school opened in Pinsk.

On the eve of the Soviet-German war, the number of Jews in Pinsk rose to 22,000. When Germans entered the city in July 1941, very few of them managed to escape east. At the same time, Pinsk experienced an influx of Jewish refugees from the towns of today’s western Belarus.

In early August 1941, Germans initiated the process of mass extermination of Jews. Most males aged 16 to 60 were shot. Israeli historian I. Arad estimated that 4,500 people were killed, but according to the data of the Extraordinary State Commission for Ascertaining and Investigating Crimes Perpetrated by the German-Fascist Invaders and their Accomplices (ChGK) the number was probably closer to 8,000–10,000 (from 5 to 7 August 1941).

The survivors had to comply with many restrictions imposed by Germans, such as the obligation to yellow badges on the chest, back, and shoulder. Germans also ordered the establishment of a Judenrat. It was headed by D. Alper, former head of the Tarbut school, but after a few days he refused to perform the function and was murdered in August 1941. The Jewish police was formed. Initially, the unit consisted of 15 functionaries, but by September 1942 their number increased to 50.

Pinsk became part of the Reichskommissariat Ukraine. On 1 May 1942, all 18,644 Jews residing in Pinsk were enclosed in a separate district. It was the last ghetto to be opened in the territory of Belarus and Ukraine. Jews were forced to engage in heavy labour, with the Judenrat establishing numerous production plants taking advantage of Jewish forced labour. At the end of January 1942, there were 9,056 workers in the city, which amounted to 52% of the whole Jewish population. Food coupons were introduced, and the quantity of products was insufficient to survive. There was a hospital in the ghetto, employing 62 people. The staff made every effort to reduce the mortality rate among the Jewish population and suppress the spread of epidemics. Throughout this period, Jews were brought to the ghetto from nearby towns and from other countries.

In June 1942, 3,500 people were arrested in Pinsk and Kobrin. They were taken to the Bronna Góra train station and shot on site.

On 28 October 1942, German troops, primarily a motorised Ordnungspolizei battalion, entered the ghetto. The Germans encountered armed resistance. Most of the defenders were immediately killed by German and Belarusian policemen, but some managed to escape. The report of the commandant of the German police assessed the number of casualties at 26,200 people. However, I. Arad believes that the number of Jews were killed during the liquidation of the ghetto amounted to 17,000.

After the war, some Jews who had escaped or fought in partisan units returned to Pinsk. The authorities did not allow them to open a synagogue. In 1966, the last house of prayer was closed down. In 1970, there were still 1,500 Jews living in Pinsk. By the year 1990, most of them had left for Israel, the United States, Germany and Canada. In 1999, 317 Jews lived in Pinsk.

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