Persecution of Jews in Belarus

Lithuanian and Polish monarchs
The Grand Duke Alexander of Lithuania expelled Jews from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1495 and confiscated liens held by Jews against Christians. The immovable property of the expelled Jews in Grodno and Brest was confiscated, and most was distributed by Alexander to local Christian residents.

King and Grand Duke Sigismund II Augustus of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth approved of the statute issued by Lithuanian nobles in 1566 that was repressive toward Jews in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Paragraph 12 of the statute contains the following: “The Jews shall not wear costly clothing, nor gold chains, nor shall their wives wear gold or silver ornaments. The Jews shall not have silver mountings on their sabers and daggers; they shall be distinguished by characteristic clothes; they shall wear yellow caps, and their wives kerchiefs of yellow linen, in order that all may be enabled to distinguish Jews from Christians.” In 1597, King and Grand Duke Sigismund III Vasa prohibited Jews from residing in Vitebsk. He also restricted Jewish commerce and trade in Minsk in 1606.

Russian monarchs
In 1563, when the Russian armies captured Polotsk, Ivan IV, Tsar of Russia, ordered that all Jews be drowned in the river unless they converted to Christianity. Ivan and the later Russian monarchs, Catherine II and all of the emperors after her reign, were all Orthodox Christians.

Empress Catherine II of Russia (who reigned from 1762 to 1796) segregated Jews and restricted them to the Pale of Settlement. She doubled the taxes on Jews; the added taxes were lifted if they converted to Orthodox Christianity. Jews were still restricted to the Pale of Settlement under Emperors Paul I (1796–1801), Alexander I (1801–1825), and Nicholas I (1825–1855). In 1827, Nicholas I required by law that Jews from 12 to 25 years old join the military and be required to complete 25 years of service. Jews were also compelled to convert to Christianity. The later emperors, Alexander II (1855–1881), Alexander III (1881–1894), and Nicholas II (1894–1917), also kept Jews restricted to the Pale of Settlement.

Emperor Alexander III restricted the Jewish people. He imposed various rules and bans on Jews: they weren't allowed to own land and property in rural areas; they weren't allowed to hold government office, run schools, or appeal against a court sentence; they could be deported if they lived outside the Pale of Settlement; they weren't allowed to work in the legal, military, or medical professions; their entrance to universities and secondary schools was restricted; they weren't allowed to vote in zemstva and municipal elections; they were forced to sell up businesses; and their rights to trade or sell products were restricted. He also supported pogroms and attacks on Jews.

Mid-17th century massacres
The Orthodox Christian Cossacks led by Khmelnytsky massacred Jews in Belarus, Poland, and Ukraine in the mid-17th century, and many Jews were forced to convert to Christianity. Also, Muscovite soldiers killed Jews in Bykhov, Mohilev, and Vitebsk between 1654 and 1659.

Blood libels
After a blood libel (a false accusation that Jews killed a Christian, usually a child, for a ritual) in 1657 in Ruzhany, two Jews were executed. A Jew is executed for another blood libel that occurred in Grodno in 1790.