From 1921 until 1939, Dzisna was part of the Second Polish Republic. In the 1921 census, 49.4% people declared Polish nationality, 37.3% declared Jewish nationality, and 11.7% declared Belarusian nationality.[7] On the eve of World War II, the town likely had a Jewish population of more than 4,500.[2]
A squad of Feldgendarmerie arrived in Dzisna and took control of the local police, which then became known as the Schutzmannschaft.[2] The head of the police in Dzisna was a Pole by the name of Swiniarski, and his deputy was Alfons Bielski.[2] The first Aktion took place on 28 March 1942, when 30 Jews were shot in what was reportedly a reprisal for the death of the son of the Gebietskommissar.[8] On the night of 14–15 June, a small Sicherheitspolizei squad, with the help of reinforcements, surrounded the ghetto in Dzisna, which had 2,181 inhabitants according to German records.[8] As they entered the ghetto, some of the Jews resisted, with a few hundred able to flee to the forest, although many were later found by police or turned in.[8] Others who were taken alive were shot in two mass graves near the ghetto.[8] The ghetto was finally liquidated in the summer of 1943.[2] After 1944, Dzisna remained part of the Soviet Union until 1991.
^ abcБеларуская энцыклапедыя: У 18 т. Т. 6: Дадаізм — Застава. Mìnsk: Беларуская энцыклапедыя. 1998. p. 118. ISBN985-11-0106-0.
^Rewieńska, Wanda (1938). Miasta i miasteczka magdeburskie w woj. wileńskim i nowogródzkim (in Polish). Lida. pp. 7–8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)