Belz

Name in English: 
Belz
Name in Ukrainian: 
Белз
Name in Polish: 
Bełz
Name in German: 
Bels
Name in Russian: 
Белз
Name in Hebrew: 
בעלז
Name in Yiddish: 
בעלז, בעלזא
Historical-cultural region: 
Eastern Galicia
Administrative District : 
Sokal district, Lviv region
Coordinates: 
50°23' N, 24°01' E
Population Data: 
 Year  Number of the whole population  Number of the Jewish population  Percentage of the Jewish population
 1550    200  
 1765    716  
 1829  2460  460  18.7%
 1859  3496  1783  51.0%
 1880  4129  2135  51.7%
 1900  5074  2872  56.6%
 1910  6021  3625  60.2%
 1921  4150  2104  50.7%
 1931    2500  

Belz on Virtual Shtetel.

בעלז באתר המרכז למורשת יהדות פולין

The Belz Hasidic dynasty on Yivo Ecyclopedia 

 

 

Belz  is a town  between the Solokiya River, a tributary of the Western
Buh, and its tributary Richytsa (Zhechitsa). It’s possible, that the name referring to a
treeless area between thick forests, or to a swamped, difficult to traverse area. Belz is
among Poland’s oldest towns and is mentioned in the Ruthenian Chronicles of 1030. It was established as a residential town in the 13th c. and received rights of 
 a Polish royal town  in 1509, in accordance with the Magdeburg
law. Jews are mentioned in documents from 1413. In 1550 there were 32 Jewish homes.
During the 17th century outstanding individuals such as the authors of the holy works
Bayit Hadash, Meirat Einayim, Baer Heitev and Torat Haim served as its rabbis. From
the beginning of the 19th century we find there the hasidic Be‡z dynasty of the Rokeah
family, among the most illustrious in Poland, and pilgrims would stream there from other
European countries as well.

Belz hasidic synagogue and bet ha-midrash, built in 1839, destroyed during WWII