Pruzany Section

1.The environment

1.1. Forests

1.2. The Rivers

1.3 Roadways and paths

2. The settlements

Diagram of town

2. The settlements

The way through the Pushka was dense and not safe at all. That is why settlers settled every 40 or 50 kilometers,. These settlements were rest spots for travelers. The distance between one and another could not be very large, as this distance -50/60 km. - was counted for a one-day travel. They were not only a place for travelers to rest but also for lodgings in case of danger. This means that they could be safe with regards to their lives and their belongings. That is why the settlements were chosen in places with natural protection. Mountains and rivers always helped in case of robbery as they made it difficult for robbers to access. Places naturally protected always attracted the first nomad human beings, which settled there and planted seeds for later settlements. That is why we must look for the reasons for these settlements, in natural conditions that give the first inhabitants of prehistoric Pruzhany the possibility of shelter in case of danger.

As we have already said Pruzhany is situated where the Mucha and the Wietz rivers join. In this joint there is a great piece of land with the appearance of a triangle with an arrowhead to the east, and surrounded by water on the three sides .If we accept the supposition that the Muchawietz was large and deep, the two rivers -the Mucha and the Wietz- gave assurance to what was in the area of the triangle from three sides: north, south and east (see the drawing). In this way, the place was safe from three sides and was adequate for a settlement.

Besides the natural environment, the place had to be fortified by the inhabitants. These protections were built from the materials that were found in great quantities nearby. Of course in our area the fortifications were made of wood as the place was rich in this material.

In all these settlements, the defense forces supported by landlords or kings were growing permanently; they were the owners of the land and were obviously interested in it. The ways were assured so as to benefit the travelers and to get the toll right from highways and bridges.

We must accept that the first inhabitants that settled where Pruzhany is today were in the "yard"(see map) and ruled by the landlord. These fortress places grew up and became large settlements: towns and villages (shetetlech).

So as to prove the truth of the previous hypothesis we must think that the first settlement was on the triangle between the Mucha and the Wietz .We must find there the signs that have survived from the past. These signs must be the remains of buildings from the period or at least they must be registered in old documents. No physical signs were found that demonstrate this theory of those early settlements. We probably cannot find them as we think that fortified stone walls were not built and that is why there is not evidence registered. In spite of that, you can support the previous hypothesis with some other facts we can consider.

The street that runs along the Mucha and that now has the name of “BUDKEWITSHA” was called “ZUMKOVA” before7. Because of this, we can think that this street took us to the "yard" and for that reason it was named like that. Second support for the hypothesis is obtained from the previously mentioned document “Lithuanian Metrika ” from the year 1473. It says: ”...the land surrounding the church of the wide street, the way SELTZER, that is on the second end of the river Mucha (Muchawietz) ........ passed along the backstreet of the yard that goes to the kennels and had a second side from the Jewish school".

From these documents, it is clear that between the Mucha and the SELTZER ROAD the kennels were found and the street was called “Street behind the yard”. In the text this street is stated with the name “ZADVORNAIA”. This is the same "closed" (ZAMKOVA) street and it has not changed to a Belarussian name for the Polish one.⁸ This does not leave us any doubt at all. This means it was a street taking us to the “closing point” ⁹ around which grew the settlement.

The Jews stayed there after the settlement was created.The majority of Jew population were owners of inns or made handicrafts. Although they were strongly joined to the yard, the Jewish settlement did not enter into it, and they looked for places naturally protected. As time passed Jews must settle down near roads because their sources of income were from the travelers.

The oldest points of Jewish settlement is the crossroad between the now called “IATKE" street, limited by the Muchawietz on one side, and the other side with the OLD SELTZER ROAD (see the drawing). In this place Jews felt safe from the east by the “closure”, and from the west and the north with the Muchawietz. The only open way left was the SELTZER ROAD. The most important point of protection was the Muchawietz as from that side were the biggest threatening. There, crossing the Muchawietz were the large forests of hurs, that stretched out to Rozshinoi and from that Pushka could come the robbers

One statement in the previously mentioned document is that it was there precisely where the old Jewish settlements were. There is mentioned the place where the BET MEDRESH ¹⁰  was, and without any doubt it is the place were the yard of the synagogue is located now (see photo). Because the BET MEDRESH was always located in the Jewish place of residence, we must find there the beginning of the settlement.

Because of this, we arrive at the conclusion that the first non-Jewish settlements were in the “fork” (the image we have of the two branches of the river) between the Mucha and the Wietz. The first inhabitants lived round the "yard" and under the landlords rule.

He was, by the way, the owner of the land . The later settlements of Jewish and non-Jewish people were near the ways not far from the "yard". In this way, and little by little the settlement grew up and in its development became a town.

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7 TN: we will see later an etymological explanation
8 The hypothesis is that the name ZAMKOVA comes from the fact that the street was “blind “, as it had no way out, and in comes from the word "Zamknieta" (closed)
9 TN: It is the point where both river "close" to form one.
10 NT: place for Jewish religious studies