Markhlevsk

The town of Dovbysh was founded in the early 19th century. In 1823, a Polish-owned china factory was established in the town, and its numerous employees were Jews. In 1897, there were ninety-two Jews living in the town; they made up about eleven percent of the total population. In 1925, Dovbysh was renamed Markhlevsk, in honor of a Polish Communist activist, and became the center of a newly organized Polish national county, where Poles comprised the majority of the population. The following year, there were 159 Jewish residents in the town (eight percent of the total). In 1938, the county was abolished, and many Poles were exiled. The county was renamed Shchors, but the town's former name, Makhlevsk, was retained. In 1939, the 513 Jews living in the town comprised twelve percent of its total population.

Makhlevsk was occupied by the Germans on July 10, 1941. On that day, a Jew who offered armed resistance to the occupiers was shot. Later, the Jews of Makhlevsk and the nearby towns were divided into two groups. The first group consisted of young people capable of work, who were used for road repairs. All the other Jews were assigned to the second group. Both groups were liquidated in two major murder operations in August (or September) - October 1941. Some surviving Jews, whom the police had found in hiding, were rounded up in the town and murdered there.

Makhlevsk was liberated by a partisan unit on November 7, 1943, and remained under partisan rule until the arrival of the Red Army on January 2, 1944. In 1946, the town's original name, Dovbysh, was restored.