Lyubavichi (Russian: Люба́вичи; Yiddish: לובאוויטש, Lyubavitsh) is a village in Rudnyansky District of Smolensk Oblast, Russia. In the days of the Russian Empire, it was a shtetl in Orshansky Uyezd, in Mogilev Governorate. It is known to have existed since at least 1654. For two weeks in 1812, was occupied by Napoleonic troops. Had 2500 inhabitants in 1857. In the late 19th- early 20th centuries in the village there was the largest market in the Mogilyov province with a turn-over of over 1.5 million roubles. With the introduction of communism, its well-known hasidic leadership left Lyubavichy, and its Jewish population gradually declined and secularized. On November 4, 1941 , 483 local Jews were massacred by the Nazis and their collaborators, ending the village's historic Jewish presence.

The place is primarily known worldwide as the namesake and former headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch branch of Hasidic Judaism.

[edit] External links

• History of Chabad in the village of Lubavitch (Hebrew)

Coordinates: 54°50′N 30°58′E / 54.833°N 30.967°E / 54.833; 30.967

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