Bielica/Balica (Polish spelling) In the fifteenth century, the Grand Duke owned Belitsa. From 1431-1500, a Catholic church was built. In documents dating back to 1486, Belitsa was designated a mestechko [small town]. At the end of the fifteenth and the beginning of sixteenth centuries, Belitsa was the center of the pavet [like a county or German kreis]. Among the owners of Belitsa were Y. Ilinich and Y. Radzivil. Grand Duke of the Great Lithuanian Principality and King of Poland Zhigimont II August presented Belitsa to M. Radzivil Rudoi. In 1553, Radzivil established the Calvinist Church there.

In 1627, the mestechko had a fair, six streets, and seventeen houses. In the second half of the seventeenth century, Calvinist synods took place in the mestechko. Beginning in 1795, Belitsa belonged to the Russian Empire, Lida povet. Vitenshtein and Trubetski owned the town. In 1886, Belitsa was the volostj center with one hundred houses and 883 people, a school, an Orthodox church, a Catholic church, and a synagogue. Four fairs took place annually.

The rabbi in 1912 was Yosef ben Meshulam Feish Rudnik (2875-?).

During the World War I, the Germans occupied the town. In 1921, Belitsa belonged to Lida powiat, Wilno voevodstvo of Poland. In 1929, Belitsa was the seat of the community council, gmina wiejska [rural village] and miastezko (town) of Lida powiat with Justice of the Peace in Lida and Justice Court in Wilno, Nowogrodskie woj.

The 1921 population was 506. In 1928, Bielica was designated as a miastechzko (small city) and gmina wiejska (parish town), seat of community office, in the Second [?] Uchastok, Lida powiat, Nowogrodskie voevodstvo of Poland. The Justice of the Peace was in Lida and the Justice Court in Wilno. The 1928 population was 506. Bieniakonie had one Catholic church, one Orthodox church, one synagogue, and mills. Markets were on Wednesdays. The railroad was nine kilometers away in Niemen. The post office and telephone were in Bielica (Belitsa) with the telegraph in Lida. Markets were on Wednesdays. Beginning in 1939, Belitsa was part of the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1941, Belitsa was occupied by the Germans and liberated by Red Army troops in 1944. In 1970, 913 people lived 285 buildings and had a bakery, cinema, school, post office, hospital, and a Monument to the War Heroes.

As of 1991, Belitsa was a village in Lida district situated on the river Neman and center of a collective farm named after Yuri Gagarin. Located thirty kilometers s from Lida and six kilometers s from the railway station Neman, the village also is located on the Slonim Lida Road. The 1991 population was 852 with 356 buildings.

Slownik Geograficzny Krolestwa Polskiego, p. 212
Bielica. 1.) mko w 1-ym okr. administr. pow. Lidzkiego, na prawym brzegu Niemna. przy ujsciu Molczadki i Niemenka, od Wilna 116 wiorst, od Lidy 28 w. Mieszka?cow ob. p?ci 877. Niegdy? starostwo z zamkiem bardzo dawnym. Zygmunt August darowa? B. Miko?ajowi Radziwi??owi Rudemu, kt?ry w. r. 1553 koscio? parafialny kalwinom odda?. Synody kalwi?skie w XVII w. Cerkiew prawos?. Przeprawa przez Niemen, stacya obserwacyjna i port. Po Radziwi? ?ach dziedziczy B. obecnie ks. Piotr Wittenstein. Balinski (Staro?. Polska, t. III, str. 263) myli si?, pisz?c, ?e tu by? koscio? dominikownow, fund. Sapiehy: by? i jest koscio? (dzi? podominika?ski) w Jelnej, 0 3 w. od Bielicy, przy go?ci?cu do Lidy. W B. jest tylko kaplica parafi Jelna. Gmina wiejska B. pow. lidzkiego ma 5489 ludn., t.j. 2624 me?. 2865 kob. W?oscianie mka B. maj? 2962 dz. gruntu. Gmina B. liczy 674 dym., i sklada si? z 6 okr?gow wiejskich a 28 wsi. Okr?gi te sa: 1) Bielica, 2) Baczepicze, 3) Krasna, 4) Poniemunce, 5) Bucile, 6) Tobola. Okr?g wiejski B. liczy w swoim obr?bie: mko B.; wsie: ***Badary, Czaplewszczyzna, *Zarzeczany, **Liniany.

Bielica. 1.) Small town in first administrative district of Lida, on right bank [shore] of the Nieman near the confluence of Molczadka and Niemenek Rivers, 116 wiorsts from Wilna, 28 wiorsts from Lida.Inhabitants of both sexes 877. At one time regional administration (starosty), with a very old castle. Zygmunt August presented Bielica to Mikolajowi Radziwil Rudy who returned the parish church to the Calvinists in 1553. Calvinist synods took place here in the seventeenth century. Formerly, there were here also an Orthodox Church, a ford across the Niemen, observation station and port. After Radziwil, Bielica was inherited by the present [1888] Count Piotr Wittenstein. Balinsky (Staroz. Polska, volume III, page 263) erred, writing that there was a Dominican church here, founded by Prince Sapieha: this church is actually in Jelna, 3 wiorsts from Bielica, on the road to Lida. In Bielica there is only a chapel of Jelna parish. Rural commune Bielica, powiat (administrative district) Lida has 5,489 population, i. e. 2,624 males, 2,865 females. Inhabitants of the small town Podsol have 2,962 dz. [measurement of area=2400 sq. saz., 1.9508 new Polish morgs, 109.252 ars.] under cultivation. Rural administrative district Bielica counts 674 homesteads, and consists of 6 rural districts and 28 villages. Districts are: 1) Bielica, 2 ) Baczepicze, 3) Krasna, 4) Poniemunce, 5) Bucile, 6) Tobola. Rural district Bielica has these precincts: small city Bielica: villages Badary, Czaplewszczyzna, Zarzeczany, Liniany
[Translation by Ellen Sadove Renck and Jan Sekta].

Bucile: country- circle {district} in commune Bielica in administrative district (powiat) Lida  - includes the villages: Bucile, Bielowce, Piaskowce, Krasoczki, Maciewicze  and the  settlement Czechowsczczyzna.
[translation from by Jan Sekta]

Mociewicze/Makhovichi/Mocevicy at 5349 2510: see Bielica
In 1928, Mociewicze was designated as a wies (village) of Bielica in the Second Uchastok, Lida powiat, Nowogrodskie pow., Poland. The Justice of the Peace was in Lida and the Justice Court in Wilno. The 1928 population was 512. The railway station was eighteen kilometers away in Skrzybowce. The post office, telephone, and telegraph were in Zoludek.

Need to convert old Russian units?

Other sources:

Believed to be in Grodno Archives: - Fond 145, Belitskaja synagogue in Lidski uezd in Belitzy, #292, 8 chronicles, 1897-1900;
Address: Grodno Region Department, Director: Miss Karina Botrakova, National Belorussian Historical Archives of Grodno
and
National Belorussian Historical Archives, Grodno Region Department,
Director: Miss Karina Brotrakova
Teizengauz Ploschad 2, Grodno 230001Belarus

Evreiskaya Encyclopedia : V: 163-164 [10 lines].

Sources:
Evreiskaya Entsiklopediya ("Jewish Encyclopedia" in Russian) (1913): V: 163-164 [10 lines]. Sachenka B.I. [editor], Encyclopedia of the History of Belarus, Minsk: 1993. Volume 1, p. 494. Ksiega Adresowa Handlowa, Warszawa Bydgoszcz 1929 Slownik Geograficzny Krolestwa Polskiego

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