- Bratslav
:"Bratslav should not be confused with cities of
Wrocław ,Břeclav orBratislava ."Bratslav ( _uk. Брацлав; _pl. Bracław; _yi. בראָסלעוו, "Broslev", today also pronounced "Breslov" as the name of a Hasidic group, which originated from this town) is a
townlet inUkraine , located in theNemyriv Raion ofVinnytsya Oblast , by theSouthern Bug river. It is amedieval European city having dramatically lost its importance during 19th-20th centuries. As of1988 , Bratslav had a population of 6,100.History
The first written mention of Bratslav dates back to
1362 . The city was grantedMagdeburg Rights in1564 . Bratslav belonged to theGrand Duchy of Lithuania until theLublin Union of1569 , when it became a voivodeship center in thePolish-Lithuanian Commonwealth . In1648 , during theBohdan Khmelnytsky rebellion, Bratslav became aCossack regimental city, part of the UkrainianHetman state, which was later assimilated by the Duchy of Muscovy. In1667 , under theTreaty of Andrusiv , Muscovy returned the city to Poland. The city became part of theRussian Empire (the new name of Muscovy since 1708) after the Second Partition of Poland in1793 , along with the rest of theRight-bank Ukraine . Under Russia, Bratslav was an "uyezd " (district) center in thePodolia guberniya . As the city had no access to arailroad , its importance and population gradually declined.Bratslav is famous in
Judaism as the place whereRabbi Nachman lived and taught. Rabbi Nachman was the founder of one of the major branches of Hasidism, Breslover Hasidism, and an author Jewish religious literature.In 1926 Bratslav had a population of 7,842 (Source=Columbia-Lippincott Gazetteer).
External links
* [http://www.library.vinnitsa.com/podolia/eng/Z_Braclav.htm Bratslav Fortress - Vinnytsya Regional Library]
* [http://motlc.wiesenthal.com/text/x04/xr0428.html The history of Jews in Bratslav - Museum of Tolerance]
* [http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/pages/B/R/Bratslav.htm Bratslav - Encyclopedia of Ukraine]
* [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=1413&letter=B Jewish Encyclopedia]
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