IMPORTANT: If you want to join this group, send an e-mail to LidaRoots-owner AT yahoogroups.com in English, Russian or Polish to say briefly why you would like to join the group.

Lida is a town and district in western Belarus. In the last century the area was administered at various times by Russia, Poland, the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany. As a result of these changes of power and of emigration to the U.S.A. in the early part of the 20th century, many people around the world have ancestors that came from Lida and the surrounding districts.

Our group aims to re-unite these people with present day inhabitants of Lida and surrounding districts so they can learn about their history, culture and contemporary life. Contributions are welcome from anyone with an interest in their Lida roots be they from a Belarusian, Polish, Jewish or any other background. Messages may be placed in any relevant language and we will try to translate if necessary. All we ask is that messages are polite and avoid contemporary politics. The second rule will hopefully make the first one unnecessary!

Finally, please note that "Lida and surrounding districts" is a loose term. The group owner is certainly interested in the area out towards Wasiliszki and Szczuczyn, and does not want to exclude anyone with an interest the "wrong" side of any particular boundary. We are also interested in all the hundreds of little villages as well as the towns.