Ivanava

Ivanava ( _be. Іванава, _ru. Иваново, _pl. Janów Poleski) is a city in the Brest Province of Belarus, an administrative center of the Ivanava district.

First mentioned in 14th century, initially it was a village named "Porkhovo". In 1423 it was granted by the king Władysław Jagiełło to the cathedral in Lutsk. Renamed to Janów, in 1465 it was granted with city rights. A small town in Polesia, it shared the fate of the region. On May 16, 1657 it was the seat of the martyrdom of Saint Andrzej Bobola. Annexed by Russia during the Partitions of Poland in 1795, the town did not develop much, mostly because of the proximity of much more populous town of Pinsk. At the end of 19th century it had circa 3000 inhabitants, mostly peasants and workers in a local minor textile works.

Between 1915 and 1918 occupied by Germany, in 1919 it was transferred to Poland. During the Polish-Bolshevik War it was briefly occupied by the Russians between July and October of 1920. After retaken by Poland, the town was the centre of mobilization of Gen. Jarosławcew's 3rd Volga Infantry Division, part of Gen. Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz's forces. Between the wars, the town remained a minor and rather non-notable centre of commerce in the area. In 1926 it was linked with the world by a new railroad. This however did not lead to fast development as the industry preferred other regions of Poland.

During the Polish Defensive War of 1939, there was an armed unrest of local Jewish inhabitants against the Polish Army and Polish reffugees, and in support of the invading Soviet forces. Until June 27, 1941 the town was occupied by the Soviet Union and then until July of 1944 by Nazi Germany. During the German occupation most of the Jewish inhabitants of the area perished in the Holocaust. On January 22, 1943 30 local Poles were murdered as a reprisal for "Ponury's" action against the Gestapo prison in Pinsk. Occupied by the Soviet 61st Army, the town was annexed by the USSR to the Byelorussian SSR.

A seat of a rayon between 1954 and 1962 and again from 1965, since 1991 the town is part of Belarus.

External links

* [http://radzima.org/pub/miesta.php?lang=en&miesta_id1=brjajana Photos on Radzima.org]
* [http://www.szukamypolski.com/arch/art/gap/941 Pre-war photos of Janów Poleski]
* [http://www.pinakoteka.zascianek.pl//Orda/Images/Janow.jpgJanów on a lithography by] Napoleon Orda
* [http://www.kolej.pl/~maron/janow.htm Janów-Kamień Koszyrski railroad as of 1926]