Dokshytsy

Dokshytsy (Докшыцы, До́кшицы, דאקשיץ Dokshitz, Dokšica) is a town in the Vitebsk Region of Belarus with a significant Chassidic history. It is 200 km southwest of Vitebsk and a kilometer from the source of the Berezina River. Its population in 2010 was 6,600.

The town is first mentioned in a document of Grand Duke Vytautas dated 1407 which refers to tributaries called "doxyczahe."

After the Second Partition of Poland in 1793, Dokshitsy became part of the Russian Empire, forming part of the Minsk Governorate; in 1795 it was briefly made a city before losing a portion of its territory and reverting to village status two years later. During the War of 1812 it was overrun and destroyed by the French.

During World War II, it was occupied by the Red Army on 17 September 1939 and by Nazi Germany on 9 July 1941; the Germans destroyed the city and set up a military garrison. Jews of the city are gathered in a ghetto in September 30, 1941. On May 29, 1942, 2 600 Jews are executed on a site outside the city. In April 1942, hundreds of young people were sent from the ghetto to a labor camp in Glambukia. During this period an underground organization was established in the ghetto, headed by Yosef Shapira. It was retaken by the Red Army on 2 July 1944.