There isn't much information on the Jewish life in Uzda, Belarus other than Censuses. In 1765 the Jewish community in Uzda comprised 263 individuals, and in 1847 there were 1618 Jews there. In 1897 the Russian Empire conducted their first and only Census, and it showed that out of the 2756 people in Uzda, 2068 of them were Jews. In the beginning of the 20th century the Russian geographer Pyotr Petrovich Semyonov wrote a book called "Rossija. Polnoe gographicheskoe opisanie nashego Otechetva" ("Russia. Full geographical description of our Motherland"), and in it he said "The majority of Uzda population are Jews. They have a synagogue". The main occupations of the Jews in Uzda were trade and handicrafts. The majority of Jewish craftsmen were shoe-makers and tailors. The tradesmen would bring in Minsk or Staubcy wine, and groceries, and then sell them in Uzda. They would sell agricultural products such as flour, honey, and flax, and then sell them in Minsk or Stoubcy. Eventually the centre of the shtetl became a market square, where there were lots of small stores run by Jews; and every Sunday, Uzda had a fair. During WWI, Uzda was occupied by German troops. After WWI there was a very bloody pogrom that was organized by Polish troops. According to the Riga Treaty in 1921, Uzda was a Soviet town, and in July of 1924, Uzda was made a region in Minsk akruga. In 1938 Uzda had 3500 jews, and they had a Yiddish speaking school. On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union, and on the 28th of July they occupied Uzda. A ghetto was organized, and 1740 Jews were killed there, and that was the end of more than 300 years of Uzda Jewish history. On July 4th, 1944, Soviet troops liberated Uzda. My great-great grandfather Rav Yaakov Kantrowitz was born in Uzda, and then was the rabbi there from 1907 to 1916. When he left to become the rabbi in Shotsk, his nephew Rav Moshe Feinstein became the rabbi in Uzda.