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2007-10-08T14:35:54Z

added {{otheruses}} instead

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{{otheruses}}
[[Image:Belz city coa 1772.png|thumb|right|Belz [[Coat of Arms]] 1772]]
'''Belz''' ({{lang-uk|Белз}}, [[Polish language|Polish]]: Bełz, [[Yiddish language|Yiddish]]: בעלז), a small [[town]] in the [[Lviv Oblast]] ([[Oblast|province]]) of western [[Ukraine]], near the border with [[Poland]], is located between the Solokiya river (affluent of the Bug river) and the Rzeczyca stream.

The current estimated population is 2408 (as of [[2004]]).

==Name==
There are three versions of the origin of the name:

1. the Celtic language − ''''belz'''' (water) or ''''pelz'''' (stream),

2. the so called "Old Slavic language" − «''белз''» or «''бевз''» (muddy place),

3. the so called "Old Russian language" − «''бълизь''» (white place, a glade in the midst of dark woods).

The name occurs in two other places:

1. ''''Belz'''' (department Morbihan), [[Brittany]], France

2. Bălţi (Beltsy, also known in Yiddish as ''''Belz''''), [[Moldova]] (Bessarabia)

==History==
The town has existed since at least the [[10th century]], as one of the Red Towns (Ruthenian) strongholds under [[Bohemia]]n and [[Poland|Polish]] rule. From 981 Belz was a part of [[Rus'-Ukraine]] (Duchy of Kiev, Duchy of Halych), except 1018-1030 when it belonged to Poland. In [[1366]] it became a permanent part of the [[History of Poland|Kingdom of Poland]], until the [[First Partition of Poland]] in [[1772]]. It then passed to the [[Austrian Empire]], later the [[Austro-Hungarian Empire]], where it was a part of the [[Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria]].

The Jewish ([[Ashkenazi Jews|Ashkenazi]]) Kahal (hebr. קהלה kehilla) in Belz was established in the Late Middle Ages (ca. 14th c.). In 1665 Jews in Belz got equal rights and duties.
The town became home to a [[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidic]] dynasty of Belz in the early [[19th century]]. Shalom Rokeach of Belz (1779 - 1855), also known as the Sar Shalom, was the first Belzer Rebbe from 1817 to 1855. At the beginning of [[World War I]], Belz counted 6100 inhabitants, including 3600 Jews, 1600 Ukrainians, and 900 Poles. <ref>Dr Mieczysław Orłowicz. Ilustrowany Przewodnik po Galicyi. Lwów 1919</ref>

With the collapse of Austria-Hungary following World War I in November 1918, Belz was included in the [[Western Ukrainian People's Republic]], but came under Polish control in 1919, which was confirmed in the [[Poland]]–[[Ukrainian People's Republic]] agreement in April 1920.
From [[1919]] to [[1939]] Belz belonged to Poland. Then from [[1939]] to [[1944]] it was occupied by [[Germany]] as a part of the [[General Government]]. Belz is situated on left, north waterside of the Solokiya river (affluent of the Bug river), which was German-Soviet border in 1939-1941. After the war it reverted to Poland until [[1951]] when, after a minor border readjustment, it passed to the Soviet Union ([[Ukrainian SSR|Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic]]). Since [[1991]] it has been part of independent [[Ukraine]].

==Cultural trivia==
[[Image:Belz hasidic synagogue.jpg|thumb|400px|The hasidic synagogue in Belz, dedicated in 1843, and demolished in 1950s.]]

The Yiddish song ''“Beltz, Mayn Shtetele”'' is a moving evocation of a happy childhood spent in a shtetl. Originally this song was composed for a town which bears a similarly sounding name in [[Yiddish]] (''belts''), called [[Bălţi]] in [[Moldovan]]/[[Romanian language|Romanian]], and is located in [[Bessarabia]] (presently the [[Moldova]] Republic). Later interpretations may have had
''Belz'' in mind, though.

Belz is also a very important place for [[Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church|Ukrainian Catholics]] and [[Poland|Polish Catholics]] as a place where the [[Black Madonna of Częstochowa|Black Madonna]] of [[Częstochowa]] is believed to have resided for several centuries until [[1382]], when [[Władysław Opolczyk]], duke of [[Opole]], took the icon home to his principality after ending his service as the Royal emmisary for [[Halychyna]] for [[Louis I of Hungary]].<ref>http://www.ukraine-observer.com/articles/217/814</ref>

== People ==
[[Image:Danylo gal 2.jpg|left|thumb|180px|Lev Danylovich (Leo I of Halych)]]

[[Image:Jakub Sobieski.jpg|170px|right|thumb|180px|Jakub Sobieski]]
[[Image:BelzQedushathAaron.JPG|thumb|Rabbi Aharon Rokeach of Belz]]

* [[Vsevolod Mstislavich of Volhynia]], knyaz of Belz (1170-1196)
* [[Lev Danylovich]], prince of Belz (1245-1264)
* [[Yuriy I of Halych|Yuriy Lvovich]], prince of Belz (1264-1301)
* [[Jurij Narymuntowicz]], Lithuanian, prince of Belz (ca.1326-ca.1377)
* [[Jaśko Mazowita]], prefect of Belz (14th-15th centuries)
* [[Casimir II of Belz]], prince of Belz (1434-1442)
* [[Jan Kamieniecki]] (1463-1513), starost of Belz
* [[Mikołaj Sieniawski]] (ca.1489-1569), voivode of Belz
* [[Jan Firlej]] (ca.1521-1574), voivode of Belz
* [[Jan Zamoyski]] (1542-1605), starost of Belz
* [[Yoel Sirkis]] (1561-1640), great Rabbi, one of Achronim
* [[Rafał Leszczyński]] (1579-1636), voivode of Belz
* [[Jakub Sobieski]] (1580-1646), voivode of Belz
* [[Dymitr Jerzy Wiśniowiecki]] (1631-1682), voivode of Belz
* [[Adam Mikołaj Sieniawski]] (1666-1726), voivode of Belz
* [[Stanisław Mateusz Rzewuski]] (1642-1728), voivode of Belz
* [[Stanisław Szczęsny Potocki]] (1753-1805), starost of Belz
* [[Shalom Rokeach]] (1779-1855), first [[Rebbe]] of Belz
* [[Yehoshua Rokeach]] (1825-1894), second [[Rebbe]] of Belz
* [[Yissachar Dov Rokeach (I)]] (1854-1926), third [[Rebbe]] of Belz
* [[Aharon Rokeach]] (1877-1957), fourth [[Rebbe]] of Belz
* [[Nissan Spivak]] (1824-1906), cantor <ref>http://www.bh.org.il/Names/POW/Spivak.asp</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Belz (Hasidic dynasty)]]
* [[Polish-Soviet border adjustment treaty]]
* [http://maps.google.com/maps?q=50.38,%2024.02 Google location]
{{Reflist}}

{{Lviv Oblast}}
{{coor title dm|50|38|N|24|02|E|}}.
[[Category:Cities in Ukraine]]
[[Category:Belz Hasidism]]
[[Category:Shtetls]]
[[Category:Galicia (Central Europe)]]
[[Category:Polish historical regions]]
[[Category:Ukrainian historical regions]]
[[Category:Lviv Oblast]]

[[de:Bels]]
[[fr:Belz (Ukraine)]]
[[it:Bełz]]
[[he:בעלז]]
[[lmo:Belz]]
[[pl:Bełz]]
[[pt:Belz (Ucrânia)]]
[[ru:Белз]]

Belz - Revision history

Korg: added {{otheruses}} instead