Druya
DRUYA (Pol. Druja), town in Molodechno district, Belarus. The Jewish community is mentioned in the late 16th century. Many Jews there were occupied in the local soap industry and others traded in farm products, like flax, grain, and hides. They dominated trade. In the late 18th century a beautiful synagogue was constructed. The community numbered 1,305 in 1766; 2,366 in 1847; 3,006 in 1897 (out of a total population of 4,742); 1,011 (41%) in 1921; and 1,800 in 1925. The author Alter *Druyanow was born in Druya. After WWI, Jewish merchants resumed their trade in agricultural products; others were artisans. The center of cultural life was the Bund-dominated Yiddish school.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
I. Schipper, Dzieje handlu żydowskiego na ziemach polskich (1937), index; B. Wasiutiński, Ludność żydowska w Polsce… (1930), 84; O. Hedemann, Dzisna i Druja (1934); A. Druyanow, in: Reshumot, 1 (1925), 437–49; Yad Vashem Archives.
Sources: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2007 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.
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