| Sinyawka | |
| Native Name: | Сіняўка |
| Native Name Lang: | be |
| Settlement Type: | Agrotown |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Belarus |
| Subdivision Type1: | Region |
| Subdivision Name1: | Minsk Region |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Name2: | Klyetsk District |
| Coordinates: | 52.95°N 54°W |
| Pushpin Map: | Belarus |
| Population As Of: | 2001 |
| Population Total: | 1728 |
| Timezone: | MSK |
| Utc Offset: | +3 |
Sinyawka (be|Сіняўка|Siniaŭka; ru|Синявка|Sinyavka; pl|Siniawka) is an agrotown in Klyetsk District, Minsk Region, in south-central Belarus. It is located southeast of Baranavichy. In 2001, it had a population of 1,728.[1]
The settlement is known from the 15th century as a part of the Kletsk principality.[2] It was later a possession of the Hlebowicz and Radziwiłł noble families,[3] administratively located in the Nowogródek County in the Nowogródek Voivodeship of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was located at the intersection of the Brześć–Moscow and Nieśwież–Pinsk routes.[3]
During the Polish–Soviet War, the town and train station were captured by the Polish 13th Wilno Uhlan Regiment on 14 March 1919.[4] In the interbellum, Siniawka was divided into a town and village, both under the same name, administratively located in the Nieśwież County in the Nowogródek Voivodeship of Poland. According to the 1921 Polish census, the population of the town and village combined was 50.7% Polish, 38.9% Jewish and 10.3% Belarusian.[5]
Following the invasion of Poland at the start of World War II in September 1939, it was first occupied by the Soviet Union until 1941, then by Nazi Germany until 1944. A few Jewish youths managed to flee Siniawka to the Soviet Union, and then the Germans established a Judenrat, banned the remaining Jews from leaving the settlement and established a ghetto. Some 600 Jews from Siniawka and some 130 Jews from Zaostrowiecze were eventually murdered by the Germans in two massacres in the fall of 1941 and summer of 1942. In 1944, the settlement was re-occupied by the Soviet Union, which eventually annexed it from Poland in 1945.
Sinyawka is located at the intersection of the highways to Klyetsk, Hantsavichy and Ivatsevichy.[6] It is situated from Klyetsk and from the capital Minsk.[7]