In the "General Illustrated Encyclopedia" ("Vielka Powshechna
Illustrovna Enciklopedia") published in 1895, volume 15, page 730,
we find the following details about the town:
Dokshitz - A town in Minsk region, subdistrict of Borisov,
bordering the Vilna district, not far from the source of the
Berezina river; A population of 5759 (in 1892), after Borisov, the
most important settlement in the province, trades in lumber and
flax, has farming and craftsmen. It has two cerkovs (Gregorian
churches), a Catholic monastery and a synagogue. The monastery was
built in 1608 by the bishop Stan. Kishka; one of the two cerkovs
was built in 1863 and the other was restored over the former
Unitarian cerkov. Exact data is lacking as to the specific date in
which the town was founded; It is known that there was a town in
the place in the sixteenth century. During the Swedish war in 1708
the town suffered burning and pillaging. After the second division
of Poland, Dokshitz was included in the Russian Empire and in 1795
became a district town in the Minsk region. In 1802, however, the
town was annexed to the Borisov district.
A Street in Dokshitz
In the Orgelbrand encyclopedia (Warsaw, 1899, volume 4), it is
said that the population of Dokshitz in 1897 reached 3647.
The complete, general, illustrated Gothenburg encyclopedia
establishes that Dokshitz is included in the Disna subdistrict, in
the Vilna district, and its population is 3004. It has a lumber
and meat industries, breweries, a leather factory, an oil factory,
a sawmill, and a windmill. A town from the sixteenth century. In
the general encyclopedia "Ultima Tabula", published in 1930 in
Warsaw (volume 3, page 88), it is presented that Dokshitz is found
in the Vilna district, in the Disna subdistrict, 10 kilometers
from the Parafianow train station, which is on the Molodetchna -
Zahatcha railway. A lumber industry, leathers, oil factories, saw
mills and 4081 residents in1927. In August 1919, the Poles, after
a bloody battle, surrounded the Bolsheviks, seized 7 canons, 7
locomotives, a large amount of ammunition and about a thousand
prisoners. Dokshitz was destroyed in the end of May 1920. In a
counter attack on June 5th 1920, it was taken again by the Poles,
but on July 5th was conquered by the Bolsheviks. Dokshitz returned
to Polish rule after a peace treaty with Russia.
In the "Powshechni Slovenik Geographitchni", published
in Warsaw in 1925 under the editing of A. Malishevski and B.
Ulshvitz, in volume c, page 291, the following facts and numbers
about Dokshitz are given: A town, subdistrict of Donilovitch, Vilna
district, not far from the source of the Berezina, 3004 residents.
More details about the town are found in the "Geographic Dictionary
of the Kingdom of Poland and Other Slavic Countries" ("Slovnik
Geographitchni Krolevstwa Polskigo i Inenich Kraiov Slovianiskich"),
published in 1881 in Warsaw (volume b, page 93): Dokshitz, a town in
the subdistrict of Borisov, on the border of the Vilna district, not
far from the source of the Berezina, in the third Polish area, the
fourth Judiciary area and fourth military area, 205 wiorsetts from
Vilna, 105 wiorsetts from Borisov, 162 from Minsk and 882 from
Petersburg. There is no qualified information about the founding of
Dokshitz, but a town existed in the area as early as the fifteenth
century; after the second division of Poland, Dokshitz became a
district town in the Minsk region and in 1802 it was joined with the
Borisov subdistrict. The town includes a Catholic monastery built in
1608 by the bishop Stanislav Kishka who for this purpose ordered the
"Turki" manor house to finance a school and a qualified teacher. King
Zigmond the third authorized this will by privilege from January 18th
1609. The town was completely burnt during the Swedish war in 1708
and was built anew in 1745. There are two Prowslavian cerkovs, one,
of the Unites, but it is not known who paid for its construction. In
a certificate from 1514 is it written that it was built using funds
of Prince Constantine Ostrogski; the second cerkov was built in 1864.
The administrative district of Dokshitz includes 102 tiny villages,
and the number of men in it is 1629. The council resides in Dokshitz
itself. A population of 5600, mostly Jews. Structures of stone - two;
wooden structures - 400. Trading mainly in lumber, grain and salt.
The local population owns about 1300 morgs of land. Fairs are held on
Tuesdays.
