The town was founded in the 11th century by the
Dregoviches, who erected a large fort and a tribal centre there. In the 14th century the town became part of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania and then part of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the wake of the
Polish–Lithuanian Unions. In the 1506
Battle of Kleck, the Polish-Lithuanian forces under
Michał Gliński defeated the
Tartar armies and saved the town from being pillaged. Soon afterwards, the town became a property of the
Radziwiłł magnate family, who started to attract Jewish settlers to the area. The earliest known mention of the local Jewish community is a document dated 5 September 1522, issued by King
Sigismund I the Old of Poland. In it, the monarch awarded for three years to Isaac Jesofovitch, a Jew of
Brest, for the sum of
300 times sixty grosz a lease of the inns and other sources of revenue in Klyetsk. The next mention of the Kletsk community, as it was known in
Yiddish, is found in a document dated 21 January 1529, which imposes military duties on its inhabitants, as well as on those of other towns. On 15 June 1542 the boyar Grishko Kochevich brought suit against Zachariah Markovich, a Jew of Kletsk, the latter's oxen having broken into Grishko's field and injured the growing grain; the court awarded to Grishko twelve "ruble groschen" damages. A census taken in 1552-55 shows that the Jewish householders lived chiefly on Wilna street, on the Sloboda, and owned gardens in the suburbs. Kletsk is mentioned in the assessment on the Lithuanian communities in 1566, and from its small proportionate assessment it appears that the community was not important at that time. In 1586 the town became the capital of Radziwiłł's
ordynacja, which sparked the gradual development of the town into a regional centre of commerce. By the end of the following century the number of Jews grew significantly; the town was also one of the notable centre of
Calvinism, sponsored by the Radziwiłł family. The first rabbi of Kletsk was Judah ben Löb, who also had under his jurisdiction the community of
Mechit. He was succeeded by Michael ben Meïr Eisenstadt, who in turn was followed, about 1762, by his son Moses Eisenstadt (died 25 October 1795). According to a local legend, the philosopher
Salomon Maimon had lived there for several years, and was intimate with Moses Eisenstadt. Until 1623 the town was a part of the
powiat of
Brześć; after that date it was transferred, together with the neighbouring towns, to the district of
Pinsk. According to tradition, the town originally was located on the opposite bank of the river, on the road leading to Lyakhovichy; but after the destructive fire of 1705 it was rebuilt, at the instance of the governor, on its present site. in the 1920s In 1793, Klyetsk was acquired by the
Russian Empire as a result of the
Second Partition of Poland. The town was repeatedly destroyed by fire in the 19th century, including in 1817, 1845, 1865, and 1886. In 1903 Klyetsk had a total population of about 8,000, of which about 6,000 were Jews. From 1921 until 1939, Klyetsk (
Kleck) was part of the
Second Polish Republic. The town was a parish (gmina) centre in
Nieśwież county (powiat) of
Nowogródek Voivodeship.
World War II On 17 September 1939, Klyetsk was
occupied by the Red Army and, on 14 November 1939, incorporated into the
Byelorussian SSR. Several Poles, including the town mayor Witold Chmielewski, two policemen and a border guard were murdered by the Soviets in the
Katyn massacre in 1940. From 26 June 1941 until 4 July 1944, Klyetsk was
occupied by Nazi Germany and administered as a part of the
Generalbezirk Weißruthenien of
Reichskommissariat Ostland. During the German occupation, a large massacre of local Jews took place in the town on 6 October 1941, with about 4,000 people murdered. The remaining Jews of the area (approximately 2,000 people) were massed in a local
ghetto and then sent to various
extermination camps by 21 August 1942. The
Holocaust brought an end to a vibrant Jewish life. Among the monuments of the Jewish past destroyed during
World War II were the
Jewish cemetery, a large synagogue founded by Prince Radziwiłł in 1796; the
Slutsk-Kletsk Yeshiva, a
bet ha-midrash built in the early 18th century; and fifteen smaller houses of prayer. After the recapture of Klyetsk by the Red Army on 4 July 1944, the town resumed its status as a part of the
Byelorussian SSR.
Recent history Since 1991, it has been a part of the independent
Republic of Belarus. ==Coat of arms ==