Baranavichy, Belarus

Baranovichi (Belarusian Баранавiчi | Baranaviči; Polish Baranowicze) is a city in the Brest voblast in western Belarus with a population of 173 000 (as of 1995). It is a significant railway junction and home to a state university.

History

The village of Baranowicze was first mentioned in 1706 as a private property of Rozwadowski family. In 1870's the locality became an important railway junction, on the crossing of Warsaw-Moscow and Vilnius-Lviv lines. Soon the village started to grow and by 1883 it became a town of almost 2 000 inhabitants. In 1897 the town had already 4 600 inhabitants (ca. 50% Jews).

After World War I it became a part of Poland and in 1919 it received the city rights. In 1921 Baranowicze had over 11 000 inhabitants (67% of Jews, with the rest being mostly Belarusians, Poles and Russians). Soon the town started to grow and became an important centre of trade and commerce for the area. It was also an important military garrison, with one KOP Cavalry Brigade and one Cavalry Brigade of the Polish Army stationed there. Because of the fast growth of local industry, in 1938 a local branch of the Polish Radio was opened there. In 1939 Baranowicze had almost 30 000 inhabitants and was the biggest and the most important city in the Nowogródek Voivodship.

After the Polish Defence War of 1939 the town was occupied by the Soviet Union. The local Jewish population of 9 000 was joined by approximately 3 000 Jewish reffugees from the Polish areas occupied by Germany. After the start of Operation Barbarossa the town was seized by the Wehrmacht on June 25, 1941. In August of the same year a ghetto was created in the town, with more than 12 000 people kept in tragic conditions in 6 buildings at the outskirts. Between March 4 and December 14, 1942, whole Jewish population of the ghetto was sent to various German concentration camps and killed in gas chambers. Only approximately 250 survived the war.

The town was seized by the Red Army on July 6, 1944. After the World War II Baranovichi was became part of the Soviet Union and the Byelorussian SSR. In this time an intensive industrialization took place. In 1991 it became part of the independent Belarus.