During the First World War, the Germans captured Lida, and both Jews and non-Jews were forced into labor. Soon after the German Occupation ceased in the winter of 1917, the Bolsheviks entered the city and created a strong sense of the Revolution. In 1919, Polish soldiers entered Lida and a pogrom occurred, in which 39 Jews were slaughtered. Between the wars was a short period of economic growth for the Jewish community. All aspects of the community flourished, and at the time there were 12 fully functioning synagogues. In 1931, the Jewish population grew to 6,335, and at the dawn of the Holocaust refugees added to make it nearly 8,500. In the fall of 1939, the Red Army moved in and annexed Lida to the Grodno District of Byelorussian SSR, part of the Soviet Union. Once again, the Jews were oppressed and all cultural aspects of the community were diminished and the Soviets imprisoned surrounding Jews in Lida. In June 1941, the Germans severely damaged the city, and by December of that year, a ghetto was created on the suburbs of Lida, in which several families ended up crowding into a single home. On May 7, 1942 the ghetto was sealed and on the 8th nearly 6,000 were taken to a military firing range, where they were shot and piled in ready-made grave pits. About 1,500 educated Jews remained in the ghetto, and the population was added to by incoming refugees. A few groups secretly escaped the city and hid in the forests until the city was liberated in 1944, but the rest of the community was murdered on September 18, 1943.
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Imperial Russia
The 17th century was a difficult time in Lida. Caught by invading to Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth forces of Russia and Sweden. A depression resulted, and people moved out of Lida. By 1786, 514 inhabitants were left in Lida. in 1795, Lida was annexed by the Russian Empire as a powiat centre of the Slonim Governorate (1795). Afterwards, Lida was a part of the Lithuania
