Mazyr

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}}Template:Main other Mazyr or Mozyr (Template:Langx, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}; Template:Langx, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}; Template:Langx; Template:Langx) is a city in Gomel Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Mazyr District.<ref name="pop"/> It is situated on the Pripyat River about Template:Convert east of Pinsk and Template:Convert northwest of Chernobyl in Ukraine. As of 2025, it has a population of 104,517.<ref name="pop"/>

Mazyr is known as a center of oil refining, salt extraction, machine building, and food processing in Belarus. It is home to one of the largest oil refineries in Belarus, pumping out 18 million metric tons per year, and is served by a tram line. The Druzhba pipeline carries crude oil from Russia, splitting in two at Mazyr. One pipeline branch is directed into Poland and the other one to Ukraine.

History

The city was mentioned in 1155.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

It was a county seat in the Mińsk Voivodeship of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth until the Partitions of Poland.<ref name=sgk>Template:Cite book</ref> In the 18th century, Baroque monasteries and churches of Cistercian monks and nuns were established.<ref name=kw>Template:Cite book</ref> At various times, the 2nd and 3rd Lithuanian Vanguard Regiments were stationed there.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

During the Partitions of Poland, the city was annexed by Russia, within which it was administratively part of the Minsk Governorate. The city was subjected to Russification policies. In the 19th century both Cistercian monasteries were closed down.<ref name=kw/> The women's convent was converted into an Orthodox monastery, while the men's monastery was planned to be demolished, but the plan was abandoned as it served as a shelter for Jews after a city fire.<ref name=kw/> Two annual fairs were held in the city in the late 19th century.<ref name=sgk/> During the Polish–Soviet War, on March 4, 1920, the town was captured by the Poles,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> but later on it fell to the Soviets.

During World War II, the German occupiers operated a Nazi prison in the town.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The city has suffered radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl disaster.

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Cistercian churches were restored to the Catholics.<ref name=kw/>

Jewish community

Jews were first mentioned in chronicles in the second half of the 17th century. It is known that there were three synagogues in the city as of 1856. R. Kugel, a prominent Jewish community figure, had been the chief Rabbi of Mazyr since 1861. He was also the head of the local Jewish literacy school.

During this period Jews were mostly engaged in craftsmanship and trading. Part of Mazyr's industry, the match factory and the wood sawing factory were owned by Jews.

There were eight active synagogues, a yeshiva, Jewish school and Talmud-Torah school in the wake of the 20th century. All of the facilities had been closed down by 1939.

Thousands of Jews were executed by German troops in the local ghetto during World War II.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> After the mass execution, almost no Jews remained in the city, whereas before the war 30% of the population within the city was Jewish. On August 31, 1941, hundreds of Jews gathered inside a house at Malo-Pushkin street. They poured kerosene on the building walls and set it alight, while the people huddled inside. The mass suicide was an attempt to escape execution by the Germans.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The incident is known as the "Belarusian Masada".

After the war some Jews returned to Mazyr. Although they refused to take back the partially-destroyed synagogue building, an official Jewish community was registered in 1946. A few years later, authorities denied the organization's right to exist. The community organization was re-established officially in 1989, when a revival began in the city. A synagogue and a Jewish culture club were opened.

Sights

• Baroque Cathedral in the name of Archangel Michael and former Bernardine monastery
• Baroque Cistercian monks church and monastery
• Baroque Cistercian nuns church and monastery
• The Mazyr Castle, dating back to 16th century
• A monument for Jews at the place of a mass grave
• A monument composed of black polished granite, commemorating the aforementioned "Belarusian Masada"
• A monument placed at the point of mass executions
• The Pkhov river port, the biggest port of Belarus

Population

Year	Total Population	Jewish population	% Jewish	Notes
1897	8076	5631	69.73%	Russian Census of 1897
1927	14300	~6000	42%	Soviet Census of 1927<ref>Belarys.by site about Mozyr [1]</ref>Template:Failed verification
1939	17500	6307	36.04%	Jewish population just before World War II<ref>Jewishgen.org Ghettos of Gomel district [2]</ref>
1970	48000	4300	8.96%	Soviet Census of 1970. The Jewish population fell due to Holocaust and migration to bigger cities as Minsk, Moscow and Leningrad after World War II <ref name="jhrgbelarus.org">Jewish Heritage Research Group in Belarus.[3]</ref>Template:Failed verification
1979	105882	3600	3.40%	Soviet Census of 1979. The Jewish population fell due to the emigration of Soviet Jews to Israel and the United States<ref name="jhrgbelarus.org"/>
1989	128000	3200	2.50%	Soviet Census of 1989. The Jewish population fell due to the emigration of Soviet Jews to Israel and the United States<ref name="jhrgbelarus.org"/>
1999	114000	565	0.50%	The Jewish population fell due to the emigration of Soviet Jews to Israel and United States<ref name="jhrgbelarus.org"/>
2004	111500	<500	0.45%	Template:Citation needed

Transport

File:Railway station Mazyr, Belarus.jpg

Railway station

Mazyr has a tram service, which commenced operation on 1 August 1988. The line starts at the tram depot and terminates at the oil refinery, with four turning loops located along the route. It is designed to server Mazyr Oil Refinery (MNPZ) and is owned by the refinery. Services on the tram line are coordinated with shifts at the refinery; service throughout the day is every 25-95 minutes while during the peaks it is 3-12 minutes, though those services pass suburban stops without stopping. Most passengers are workers, though it also serves residents living near the line. The total length of the line is 20.3 km, with a full trip time of 40 minutes. The line has a high-speed layout, with radius of minimum 400 meters. There were plans for a second tram line, but this has not come to fruition.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The rolling stock is mainly 71-605 and its derivative vehicles.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> VD Bolshoi Bokov airfield is located Template:Convert south of Mazyr and was used by Russian military aircraft during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.<ref name="AFMDEC22-28">Template:Cite book</ref>

Educational Centers

• Mozyr State Pedagogical University
• State Politehnikum (Technical College)
• Medical College<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Music College
• Art School
• State Lycee
• Gomel State School of Olympic Reserve

Twin towns – sister cities

Mazyr is twinned with:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Template:Flagicon Chojnice, Poland
• Template:Flagicon Severodvinsk, Russia

Notable residents

• Siarhiej Dubaviec (b. 1959) – Belarusian journalist and writer<ref> Дубавец Сяргей Іванавіч </ref>
• George de Mohrenschildt⁣ – geologist and friend of Lee Harvey Oswald
• Isaac Don Levine was born there
• Zbigniew Morsztyn⁣ – Polish nobleman of Leliwa coat of arms, poet of the Baroque era, soldier, member of the Polish Brethren, Miecznik of Mazyr. Cousin and co-worker of Jan Andrzej Morsztyn.
• Ksenia Sitnik⁣ – singer and winner of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2005
• Dzyanis Laptsew⁣ – footballer
• Hesya Helfman⁣ – member of Narodnaya Volya, who was implicated in the assassination of Tsar Alexander II

External links

• Satellite photo of Mazyr (from Google Maps). Ravines can be seen very clearly.
• Mazyr town at Radzima.org
• FC Slavia-Mozyr Official Site - www.slaviya.info
• FC Slavia - www.slavia-mozyr.com
• Сайт горада Мазыр
• Cities of Belarus:Mozyr
• International Festival 'Hey, Rocknem!'
• The murder of the Jews of Mazyr during World War II, at Yad Vashem website
• Template:JewishGen-LocalityPage