Surazh^[a] (Belarusian: Сураж, romanized: Suraž;^[b] Russian: Сураж) is an urban-type settlement in Vitebsk District, Vitebsk Region, Belarus.^[1] It is located approximately 45 kilometres (28 mi) northeast from the city of Vitebsk. It is situated at the crossing of the Daugava (or Western Dvina) and Kasplya rivers. As of 2023, it has a population of 681.^[1]

Jewish community

Surazh was a shtetl, with a Jewish population of 1,246 in 1900.^[2]

In 1917, there were 6 synagogues. All of them were wooden, except one made out of stone. There were 461 Jews in Surazh in 1939 (15.4 % of the total population).^[3]

The village was under German occupation from 1941 to 1943. Einsatzkommando 9 carried out the murder of the Jews of Surazh in conjunction with an antipartisan operation. On August 12, 1941, between 600 and 750 Jews were gathered by the Germans on the location of the former printing office in Sourazh. Then, they were taken and shot behind the linen factory, 2 km away from the village, in pits of the ravine, known as Loubtchyno. The bodies of the victims were exhumed and reburied after the war in the Jewish cemetery.^[4]