Pinsk


Pinsk is a city in Brest Region of Belarus, in the Polesia region, at the confluence of the Pina River and the Pripyat River. The region was known as the Marsh of Pinsk and is southwest of Minsk. The city's population is about 138,202.
The historic city has a restored city centre, with two-story buildings from the 19th century and the early 20th century. The centre has become an active place for youths of all ages with summer theme parks and a new association football stadium, which houses the city's football club, FC Volna Pinsk.

History

Timeline

Pinsk was occupied by the German Empire on 15 September 1915, during the First World War. After the German defeat, Pinsk became the subject of dispute between the Belarusian People's Republic and the Ukrainian People's Republic, both short-lived. Pinsk was taken by the advancing Red Army on 25 January 1919, during the Soviet westward offensive of 1918–19. It was retaken by Polish troops on 5 March 1919 during the Polish–Soviet War but was retaken by the Red Army on 23 July 1920 and finally retaken by the Polish on 26 September 1920. Pińsk became part of the reborn Poland in 1920 when the Polish-Soviet War ended with the Peace of Riga, signed in March 1921.

Like many other cities in Eastern Europe, Pinsk had a significant Jewish population before World War II. According to the Russian census of 1897, out of the total number of 28,400 inhabitants, Jews were approximately 74% of the population, making it one of the most Jewish cities under tsarist rule. During the Polish-Soviet War, 35 Jewish civilians from Pinsk were executed by the Polish Army in April 1919 after being accused of collaborating with Russian Bolsheviks. The incident, the Pinsk massacre, created a diplomatic crisis noted at the Versailles Conference. in Pinsk

Interwar period

Pińsk was the initial capital of the Polesie Voivodeship, but it moved to Brześć-nad-Bugiem after a citywide fire on 7 September 1921. The population of the city grew rapidly in interwar Poland from 23,497 in 1921 to 33,500 in 1931. Pińsk became a bustling commercial centre, and 70% of the population was Jewish in spite of considerable migration.

Recent history

Following the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939, Pinsk and the surrounding area was annexed to the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. It was the seat of the Pinsk Oblast from 1940.
After Operation Barbarossa, Germany occupied Pinsk from 4 July 1941 to 14 July 1944, as part of the Reichskommissariat Ukraine. Most Jews were killed in late October 1942 during the liquidation of the Pińsk Ghetto by the German Ordnungspolizei and the Byelorussian Auxiliary Police, 10,000 being murdered in one day. In 1945, after postwar border adjustments of Poland, Pinsk again became part of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic.
In 1954 it became part of the Brest Voblast.
Pinsk has formed part of the Republic of Belarus since Belarusian independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

Landmarks

Three main sights of the town are lined along the river: the Assumption Cathedral of the Monastery of the Greyfriars, with a campanile from 1817, the Jesuit collegium ; a large Mannerist complex, whose cathedral was demolished after World War II by communists; and the Butrymowicz Palace, built for Mateusz Butrymowicz, an important political and economical figure of Pinsk and Polesie. The Church of St. Charles Borromeo and St. Barbara Cathedral of the Monastery of the St. Bernard Order are placed near historic centre in the former Karolin suburb, which is now part of Pinsk. The foremost modern buildings is the black-domed Orthodox Cathedral of St. Theodore.

Climate

Notable residents