celebrations in 1934 In the
interwar period, Hancewicze, as it was called in Polish, was administratively located in the Łuniniec County in the
Polesie Voivodeship of Poland. Before World War II, 60% of the population was Jewish. In the 1920s and 1930s there were four synagogues, a Jewish library, an orphanage, a Tarbut school and school in Yiddish.
World War II Following the
invasion of Poland in September 1939, it was first
occupied by the Soviet Union and annexed to the
Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. From June 30, 1941 to July 7, 1944, it was under
German occupation. From June 30 to July 1, 1941, a pogrom occurred in which 16 Jews were murdered. On August 15, 1941, 350 Jewish men were executed in the forest away from Hantsavichy. 600 Jews were shot in the town's market place. During another action 1,000 Jewish men were taken to the forest away and shot dead. A concentration work camp was established in November 1941. Besides the local Jews, there were 230
Lenin Jews and 120 native to Pogost. Small executions of 70-150 Jews took place constantly. During one of those executions, 100 Jewish refugees from
Warsaw, along with two local families, Fish and Zeiger, were executed and buried in the Peski ravine. On August 14, 1942, more than 300 Jews fled the camp and others were shot. In all, during the occupation, 3,500 Jews were murdered by the Nazis in the district of Hantsavichy, including 1,500 women and 850 children. ==Climate==