Pinsk: past-present-future

Pre-war pinsk

Pinsk became part of Poland in 1920 after the Polish-Soviet War and was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1939. At this time, the city's population was over 90% Jewish.

From 1941 to 1943, Pinsk was occupied by Nazi Germany. In 1939, the population of Pinsk totaled 30,000, of whom 27,000 were Jews. Most of them were killed in late October 1942, after their deportation by the Nazis from the Pinsk ghetto. Ten thousand were murdered in one day. Pinsk has been part of Belarus since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

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Pinsk today

The current population of Pinsk is 130,000 with a very small percent of Jews. In the early 1990's Yad Yisroel sent Rabbi Yochonon Berman of Brooklyn, NY to Pinsk to rebuild the Jewish community. Rabbi Berman established the "Pinsk Jewish Religious Community" with membership of over 100 Jews living in Pinsk. The local authorities returned to the Jewish Community what was once the main Jewish Synagogue of Pinsk on IPD street. Today the Shul on IPD is the center a thriving Jewish community with over a hundred people attending minyan on Shabbos.

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The revolution in Pinsk

In the year 2000 Yad Yisroel sent a young Rabbi to Pinsk with the goal of opening a new school to serve the current Jewish population of Belarus of 20,000. In September 2000 Rabbi Fhima established the Beis Aharon School & Orphanage in Pinsk. Over the past twelve years the Beis Aharon has developed into a nationally recognized organization with a network of workers around the country.