Hlusk

Hlusk (Глуск; Глуск; Hłusk; האלוסק) is an urban-type settlement in Mogilev Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Hlusk District, and is home to nearly half of its district's residents. As of 2023, it has a population of 7,078.

History
The earliest written records of Hlusk date back to the 15th century. In March 1655, during the Russo-Polish War, the village was destroyed by the Cossacks, and thus released by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from paying taxes for the following ten years. There was an active Jewish community there, where Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Halevi Zimmerman and later Rabbi Baruch Ber Leibowitz served as rabbi (Rabbi Leibowitz later moved to Lithuania). During the Second Partition of Poland, Hlusk became part of the Russian Empire.

War
Hlusk was captured by the Germans in World War II on June 28, 1941, and with such a small population, they didn't put up much of a fight. On December 2, 1941, the Germans massacred much of the Hlusk population, an impact of which the people of the small town still feel today. The Soviet Union finally liberated Hlusk on June 27, 1944.