Brest, Belarus

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For a city in France, see Brest, France.
Image:BelarusBrestCoatOfArms.png

Brest (Belarusian: Бе́расьце, Брэст | Bieraście, Brest; also known as Brest-Litovsk and in Polish as Brześć Litewski, Brześć nad Bugiem or Brześć Białoruski; Russian: Брест, Lithuanian: Lietuvos Brasta (literally meaning "shallows of Lithuania") is a city (population 290,000 in 2004) in Belarus close to the Polish border where the Western Bug and Mukhavets Rivers meet. It is the capital city of the Brest voblast and is located at 52°08′ N 23°40′ E.

It was a main railroad transfer point during Soviet times and it remains a rail transfer point and customs/immigration checkpoint on the Berlin/Moscow rail line. Some of the land in the rail yards is contaminated due to transhipping of radioactive materials during the Soviet regime. In Brest the rail cars had to be transferred between the Russian broad gauge and the European standard gauge.

Contents

History

The city was founded by Slavs. As Berestye it was first mentioned in the Russian Primary Chronicle in 1019 as a town in Kievan Rus. It was subdued several times by Poland and by Lithuania, conquered by the Mongols in 1241. It was renamed Brest-Litovsk in the 16th century, after it became part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569. In 1596 it hosted the council which established the Eastern Catholic or Uniate Church. Brest passed to Russia when Poland-Lithuania was partitioned for a third time in 1795.

It was captured by the German Empire in 1915, during World War I. In March 1918, in the Brest-Litovsk fortress on the western outskirts of Brest at the confluence of the Western Bug and Mukhavets Rivers, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed, ending the war between Russia and the Central Powers and transferring the city and its surrounding region to the sphere of influence of the German Empire. This treaty was subsequently annulled by the treaties which ended the war.

The newly reconstituted Poland took control of Brest in 1919. The city changed hands twice during the Polish-Soviet War and eventually stayed inside Polish borders, a development that was formally recognised by the Treaty of Riga in 1921. In the former Brest-Litovsk fortress, heavily damaged during World War I, Polish troops with the headquarters of the 9th Military District were stationed. In 1930 Wincenty Witos and some other prominent Polish statesmen were detained here before the notorious trial in Warsaw. During the Polish September Campaign in 1939the city was defended by a small garison of four infantry battalions under Gen. Konstanty Plisowski against the XIX Panzer Corps of Gen. Heinz Guderian. After four days of heavy fighting the Polish forces withdrew southwards on September 17.

The city was invaded and annexed by the Soviet Union in 1939 in accordance with the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact partitioning Poland signed with Nazi Germany in August, 1939. Most Belarusans considered it a reunification of the Belarusan nation under one constituency (BSSR at that time).

On June 22, 1941 the fortress and the city was attacked by Nazi Germany at the beginning of the surprise war, codenamed Operation Barbarossa. The fortress did not surrender and acted as the focal point of the resistance of the enclosed 4,000 Red Army soldiers. The fortress held out within a month, establishing the status as the only Hero-Fortress among the Hero Cities of the former Soviet Union. Brest's Jewish community was decimated under Nazi rule in 1942. The city was regained by the Soviet troops in July 1944.

According to the agreements of the Yalta Conference of February 1945, Brest changed hands yet again, being passed to the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic. It is now part of the independent country of Belarus.

Sights in and around Brest

A majestic Soviet style war memorial was constructed on the site of the 1941 battle, to commemorate the known and unknown defenders of the Hero-Fortress. This war memorial is the largest tourist attraction of the city. In addition, an archeological museum of the old city Brestye is located on the southern island of the fortress. It offers objects and huts dated back to the 11th - 13th century, that were unearthed during excavations in the 1970s.

Belavezhskaya Pushcha National Park, 70 km north of Brest, is a biosphere reserve of world distinction and can be reached by car or bus. This medieval forest is home to rare European bison (wisent). There is a museum and a zoo, available for tourists in the forest, animals can be seen in inclosures all the year round. 2 hotels and some restaurants and bars are there. Excursions can also be taken by horse and cart into the interior of the forest. As a new touridt attraction, the forest features the residence of Father Frost,Russian Sant Claus, that works all the year round. Kamyanets, Belarus, that lies on the way to the National park from Brest, features an outstanding landmark, the tower of Kamyanets. The village of Kosava, where Tadeusz Kosciuszko was born, is also in the Brest region and features 19th century palace and a nice Roman Catholic church.

Brest also hosts the first Belarusian outdoor railway museum.

A Holocaust memorial commemorates the dead Jews of Brest ghetto.

The local airport (code BQT),is operating flights to the capital city Minsk and to Moscow and Novgorod in Russia on a weekly basis.

Individuals associated with Brest

See also

External links

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