The town has existed at least since the 10th century as one of the Cherven Cities[12] which were under Polish rule in the 970s.[13] In 981 Belz was incorporated into Kievan Rus'.[14] In 1170, the town became the seat of a duchy. In 1234 it was incorporated into the Duchy of Galicia–Volhynia, which would control Belz until 1340 when it came under Lithuanian rule.
Belz was under Polish rule from 1366 to 1772, first as a fief, and since 1462 as the capital of a voivodeship. On October 5, 1377, the town was granted rights under the Magdeburg lawbyWładysław Opolczyk, the governor of Red Ruthenia. A charter dated November 10, 1509 once again granted Belz privileges under the Magdeburg rights.[15]
With the collapse of Austria-Hungary following World War I in November 1918, Belz was included in the Western Ukrainian People's Republic. It came under Polish control in 1919 during the Polish-Ukrainian War. In April 1920, the Second Polish Republic, represented by Józef Piłsudski, and the Ukrainian People's Republic, represented by Symon Petlura signed the Treaty of Warsaw, in which they agreed that the Polish-Ukrainian border in Western Ukraine would follow the Zbruch River. This left Belz, along with the rest of Eastern Galicia in the Polish Republic.[17]
From 1939 to 1944 Belz 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 the German-Soviet border in 1939–1941. During the war, the delegation of the Hrubeshiv Ukrainian Relief Committee operated in the city.[18]
Until 18 July 2020, Belz belonged to Sokal Raion. The raion was abolished in July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Lviv Oblast to seven. The area of Sokal Raion was merged into Chervonohrad Raion.[19][20]
Belz hasidic synagogue. Dedicated in 1843, it was destroyed by the Nazis during World War II, and demolished in the 1950s; Rebbe Rokeach had personally helped build this large and imposing synagogue.
The Ashkenazi Jewish community in Belz was established circa 14th century. In 1665, the Jews in Belz received equal rights and duties.[21] The town became home to a Hasidic dynasty in the early 19th century.[22][23]
The Rabbi of Belz, Shalom Rokeach (1779–1855), also known as the Sar Shalom, joined the Hasidic movement by studying with the Maggid of Lutzk,[24] and established the community and become the first Belzer Rebbe, thereby establishing the Belz Hasidic dynasty.
When Rebbe Shalom died in 1855, his youngest son, Rebbe Yehoshua Rokeach (1855–1894), became the next Rebbe.
Belzer Hasidism grew in size during the tenure of Rebbe Yehoshua's son and successor, Rebbe Yissachar Dov Rokeach (third Belzer Rebbe)(1894–1926). Rebbe Yissachar Dov's son and successor, Rebbe Aharon Rokeach (1880 to 1957), escaped from Nazi-occupied Europe to Israel in 1944, re-establishing the Hasidut first in Tel Aviv and then in Jerusalem. For recent history see Belz (Hasidic dynasty) § Belz today.
At the beginning of World War I, Belz had 6100 inhabitants, including 3600 Jews, 1600 Ukrainians, and 900 Poles.[25] During the German and Soviet invasion of Poland (September 1939), most of the Jews of Belz fled to the Soviet Union in Autumn 1939 (the German–Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Demarcation). However, by May 1942, there were over 1,540 local Jewish residents and refugees in Belz. On June 2, 1942, 1,000 Jews were deported to Hrubieszów and from there to Sobibor extermination camp. Another 504 were brought to Hrubieszów in September of that year, after they were no longer needed to work on the farms in the area.[26]
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 similar-sounding name in Yiddish (belts), called BălțiinMoldovan/Romanian, and is located in Bessarabia[27] (presently the Moldova Republic). Later interpretations may have had Belz in mind, though.[citation needed] The song has special significance in Holocaust history, as a 16-year-old playing the song was overheard by an SS guard at Auschwitz extermination camp, who then forced the child to play it repeatedly to ease the moods of Jews being herded into the gas chambers.[citation needed]
^Under 981, the Primary Chronicle reports on Volodymyr's campaign against the Poles, which resulted in the capture of "their towns". In: S. Plokhy. "The origins of the Slavic nations: premodern identities in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus". Cambridge University Press, 2006. p. 57.
^Richard K Debo, Survival and Consolidation: The Foreign Policy of Soviet Russia, 1918–1921, pp. 210-211, McGill-Queen's Press, 1992, ISBN0-7735-0828-7.
Duchy of Poland 970 - 981
Kingdom of Poland 1025-1031
Duchy of Belz 1170-1234
Principality of Galicia–Volhynia 1234-1340
Grand Duchy of Lithuania 1340-1366
Kingdom of Hungary 1378-1387
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth 1569-1772
Habsburg monarchy 1772-1804
Austria-Hungary 1867-1918
West Ukrainian People's Republic 1918-1919
Second Polish Republic 1919-1939
Nazi Germany 1939-1944
Soviet Union 1951-1991
