Disna (in Belarussian - Dzisna), a small city in Miery region (45 km from Miery) of Vitebsk oblast (145 km from Vitebsk). In 1993 Dzisna had 2.500 inhabitants.
According to the russian historian I.D. Beliaev Dzisna was found in 11th century by the  Krivichi tribes. Since 1301 Dzisna was known as a  Grand Duchy of Lithuania territory. In 1563 (according to "Pistsoviya knigi" - revision) Dzisna was a village. In 1569 polish king and lithuanian duke Sigizmund II August  in Lublin permited to organize  once a year a fair in Dzisna.
Jews lived in Dzisna since the second quarter  of 17th century. In 1654 began a sad and bloody period in Dzisna history - Moscow army of tsar Alexey Mikhailovich invaded  Rech Pospolitaya (a union between Polish kingdom and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania formed in 1569). Belarus lost half of it population during the war with Moscow. It was a tragical time for Jews. Under Moscow rule they suffered more than other inhabitants. Untolerate, bloody russian tsar commanded: "The Jews will not exist  in Belarus". It was time of mass-jewish killings by russian troops and ukrainians kozaks.
Inf  1700 began a war  between Russia and Sweden  on Belarus territory. During the  great fire of 15th of July  Dzisna was burnt out. Ten years later was a great epidemic of  plague. In 1720 a  new fire.
In 1793 Russian troops occupied Dzisna. Since 1795 this shtetl is a center of  uezd of Minsk, and from  1842 - Vilna   gubernia. Here Here some information about jewish population of Dzisna uezd in 1847:
 

In 1897 Dzisna uezd had about 205.000 inhabitants (20.732 of them - jews).
Jews dominated in Dzisna trade (in 1897 shtetl had 102 shops)  and handicraft (espescially,  tailors and shoe-makers).
After the Bolshevik Revolution of  1917, German (february-december 1918) and Polish (1919) occupation. In 1921-39 Dzisna was part of  Polish independence state, the center of Dzisna povet and Vilna voevodstvo.
In the 17th of September, 1939,  Red Army invaded Poland. Dzisna became a soviet city in Belarussian Soviet Socialist republic.
In 22th of June, 1941,  Nazi Germany began a war with the Soviet Union. In the 5th of July, 1941 german troops occupied Dzisna. The fascists organized a ghetto in shtetl.. In 11th of June, 1942 german command decided to wipe out Dzisna ghetto. On the 1st of July, 1942 german gebitcommissar (commissar of the region) of Glubokae reported to the general kommissar
of  Belarus V. Kube about "the final solution of the jewish question"  : "Soon after the encircle  of  ghetto in Dzisna with 2.181 jews and in Druya with 1.318 jews the fire flashed. Two ghettoes fully burnt out. The city of Dzisna, which during the  military actions suffered  great, in the result of last event was destroyed on 80%. In Druya the fire overed farther, on houses, which didn`t belong to ghetto. In the result an orthodox church and 10 no-jewish houses were burnt". The jewish history of Dzisna ended.

 

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