Motal
Motol (Belarusian: Моталь, Russian and Motolian: Мотоль, Polish: Motol, Yiddish: מאָטעלע Motele) is a township in Ivanava Raion of Brest Region located about 30 kilometres west of Pinsk on the Yaselda River in Belarus.
Motal Моталь / Мотоль | |
|---|---|
  Motal Location in Belarus | |
| Coordinates: 52°08′N 25°36′E | |
| Country |  |
| Voblast | Brest Voblast |
| Raion | Ivanava Raion |
| Selsoviet | Motal Selsoviet |
| Government | |
| Elevation | 280.4 m (919.9 ft) |
| Population (2014) | |
| • Total | 3,772  |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Postal code | 225822 |
| Area code(s) | +375 1652 |
History
Motal was in the Kobryn Uezd of Grodno Governorate until the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1917. Between World War I and World War II it was in the Drahichyn county of the Polish Polesie Voivodeship. It is near the center of Polesia which constituted an irregular rectangle of roughly 180 kilometres (110 mi) from east to west and 80 km (50 mi) from north to south.
Motal was a Shtetl. In 1937, Motal had 4,297 inhabitants, of whom 1,354 were Jews. (Reinharz, 1985). During the war an Einsatzgruppen perpetrated a mass execution of the local Jewish community.[1] The Destruction of Motele (Hurban Motele) was published in Hebrew by the Council of Motele Immigrants in Jerusalem in 1956. It was edited by A.L. Poliak, Ed. Dr. Dov Yarden. The book has 87 pages and contains memoirs and events leading up to the destruction of the Jews of Motele in 1942.[2]
Anshe Motele Congregation, an Orthodox Jewish synagogue, was founded in Chicago on Sept. 3, 1903, by 14 immigrants who named it after Motel.[3]
Economics
The largest company in Motol is Agromotol.
Education
Motol has 2 secondary schools and an art school.
Notable people
- Chaim Weizmann, Israel's first President, was born here
- Saul Lieberman, rabbi and a scholar of Talmud
- Leonard Chess (Lejzor Czyż) and Phil Chess (Fiszel Czyż), founders of Chess Records
- Étienne Wasserzug, French biologist
- David Bartov, Israeli judge and the head of Nativ
- Serguei Palto, Russian physicist
References
- "Yahad - In Unum". Yahadmap.org. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
- "Destruction of Motele". jewishgen.org.
- Grossman, Ron (22 August 2003). "Synagogue has 100-year-old roots in union". Chicago Tribune.
Sources
- Jehuda Reinharz, Chaim Weizmann: The Making of a Zionist Leader (1985).
- Itzhak Epstein, pdf Jewish Motol: Genealogical and Family History Bibliography