Biaroza

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Biaroza (Belarusian: Бяро́за also Бяро́за-Карту́ская, Russian: Берёза, Polish: Bereza Kartuska) is a town of 31 000 inhabitants (1995) in Western Belarus in Brest voblast, center of the Biaroza rayon.

History

The village of Biaroza (meaning Birch) was first mentioned in 1477 as part of the Slonim paviet. In the 15th century, the village probably received the town charter. Between 1538 and 1600 it was an important centre of Calvinism. Soon afterwards, the town became the private property of the Radziwiłł family. In the 17th century, the village was given to the Carthusian monks who were settled there by Lew Sapieha. In 1648, Sapieha built a fortified monastery and a palace, and the monastic order became the name-sake of the second part of the name. The monastery was also expanded and became one of the biggest such facilities in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

During the Great Northern War, the monastery housed a conference held by August II of Poland and Peter I of Russia. In 1706, the fortified monastery was put under siege and then taken by assault and looted by the forces of Charles XII of Sweden. Two years later, the Swedish forces looted the area again, which resulted in almost total depopulation of the town. It was also damaged by the armies of Alexander Suvorov in 1772, during the Partitions of Poland.

After the partitions, the town and the monastery were annexed by Russia. After the November Uprising of 1831 the town was captured by the Russian armies and then looted. The monastery was closed by tsarist authorities and in 1866, after the January Uprising, the whole complex was partially demolished, and the bricks were used for construction of a Russian prison and barracks nearby. The baroque church was destroyed in 1868. After the uprising, the town became a part of the so-called Pale of settlement and was repopulated with Jews expelled from other areas of the Russian Empire. By the 20th century, they constituted more than 70% of the city's inhabitants. In 1842, a new road was opened between Moscow and Warsaw and passed through the town, which started a period of economic prosperity. In 1871, a Warsaw-Moscow railroad was laid only 20 miles from the town, connecting the town with the nearby major cities of Brest-Litovsk and Smolensk. In 1878, the town had a marketplace, 7 streets and approximately 200 houses. Both the town and the adjoining area had approximately 5,000 inhabitants. Apart from the Catholic and Uniate churches, there was also a synagogue, Jewish baths and a market just outside of the city limits.

In 1917 the town was annexed by Germany and then passed to the short-lived Belarusian People's Republic. The town was captured by the Red Army on January 19, 1919, in the effect of the Target-Vistula offensive. However, on February 10, 1919, the Polish Army entered the area and recaptured the town on February 14. During the Polish-Bolshevik War the town was a battlefield of two notable battles (Battle of Bereza Kartuska). After the war the town was annexed by Poland.

Following the terrorist campaign in the early 1930s and the assassination of the Minister of Internal Affairs, Bronisław Pieracki, and the deputy head of BBWR organisation Tadeusz Hołówka, the former tsarist barracks and prison were turned into an internment camp of both Polish right wing extremists from the ONR, Ukrainian separatists from the OUN and members of the Communist Party of Poland. The very existence of the camp, as well as the legal basis for its opening, were openly questioned and often criticized by all the opposition to the Sanacja movement. Especially due to the fact that the inmates were sent there for up to three months without any decision of the courts, based solely on the administrative decision of the police or the voivod. However, the camp was not closed and with time it also became a place of internment of members of other political parties. The camp, headed by Police Inspector Jan Greffner from Poznań, housed up to 800 inmates. Despite the fact that during the camp's existence only one prisoner died from a stroke (two additional died in the hospitals in Brest and Hrodna), the post-war Communist propaganda depicted it as a concentration camp and a proof that the government of Poland was indeed a Fascist or even Nazi regime.

During the Polish Defence War of 1939 the camp was closed, all of its inmates were liberated and it was turned into a Prisoner of War camp for German soldiers. Also, approximately 12 German diversants and spies were court martialled there, found guilty of espionage and high treason and executed. After the Soviet Union's entry into war against Poland, which was a result of the Nazi-Soviet Alliance, the town was captured by the Red Army and incorporated into the Belarusian SSR. After the outbreak of Nazi-Soviet War the town was captured by Germany on June 22, 1941.

During World War II, a minor ghetto was created in the town for Jews rushed there from the surrounding area. More than 8,000 people were killed in mass executions or starved to death by the Germans.

After the war, the town was annexed by the Soviet Union and the remaining Polish inhabitants of the town were forcibly expelled. The town was repopulated with Belarusian and Russian peasants, and rebuilt after the damages done by World War II. Also, a minor building materiel factory was opened in the town, which led to yet another period of fast growth.

During the postwar period a Soviet aviation military base was placed close to Biaroza.

In 1958-1967 a hydroelectric power station was built in the Biaroza rayon.

In 1991, after the dissolution of USSR, the town became part of the independent Republic of Belarus.

Landmarks

Although the 17th century monastery was mostly destroyed in the 19th century, there are some ruins remaining. Among them are:

• Historical gateway with a decorative façade
• Parts of fortifications surrounding the monastery with several towers partially preserved
• Ruins of the octagonal church tower
• Ruins of the hospital
• Several buildings later incorporated into the tsarist prison.

See also

• Battle of Bereza Kartuska
• Brest voblast

External links

• [Census of inhabitants of Bereza Kartuska in 1878]
• [Pictures of ruins of the monastery]
• [Pictures of Biereza Kartuskaya in 1968]
• [Photos on Radzima.org]
• [Biaroza on Googlemaps]

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