Brańsk ( Podlachian language: ''Бранськ, Branśk'', , ) is a town in eastern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. It is situated within

Podlaskie Voivodeship Podlaskie Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship in northeastern Poland. The name of the voivodeship refers to the historical region of Podlachia (in Polish, ''Podlasie''), and significant part of its territory corresponds to th ...

(province).

Etymology

The name of the town comes from the river Bronka, a nearby tributary of the Nurzec River.

Geography

Location

Brańsk is located in the geographical region of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

known as the ''Wysoczyzny Podlasko–Białoruskie'' (English: Podlaskie and Belarus Plateau) and the mesoregion known as the Bielsk Plain (Polish: ''Równina Bielska''). The Nurzec River, a tributary of the

Bug River The Bug or Western Bug is a major river in Central Europe that flows through Belarus (border), Poland, and Ukraine, with a total length of .Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, the capital of

* southwest of

Białystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the List of cities and towns in Poland, tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Biał ...

, the capital of the

* west of

Bielsk Podlaski Bielsk Podlaski (, , ) is a town in eastern Poland, within Bielsk County in the Podlaskie Voivodeship. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 24,883. Geography Bielsk Podlaski is located in the geographical region of Europe known as ...

, the seat of

Bielsk County Bielsk County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Podlaskie Voivodeship, north-eastern Poland. It came into being on 1 January 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its a ...

Climate

The region has a

continental climate Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm to hot summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in central and eastern parts of the three northern-tier continents (North America, Europe, and Asia), typi ...

characterized by high temperatures during summer and long and frosty winters. The average annual rainfall exceeds .

History

Bransk 500th anniversary of granting the city rights monument 2016 P01

On 23–25 June 1264 the Battle of Brańsk was fought in the town's vicinity. Polish forced led by Duke Boleslaw V the Chaste defeated the forces of Yotvingia led by Komata (''Kumata''). On 18 January 1493, Brańsk received a town charter based on

Magdeburg rights Magdeburg rights (, , ; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within cities and villages gr ...

from the Grand Duke of

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

Alexander Jagiellon Alexander Jagiellon (; ; 5 August 1461 – 19 August 1506) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1492 and King of Poland from 1501 until his death in 1506. He was the fourth son of Casimir IV and a member of the Jagiellonian dynasty. Alexander was el ...

. It was the first town in

Podlachia Podlachia, also known by its Polish name Podlasie (; ; ), is a historical region in north-eastern Poland. Its largest city is Białystok, whereas the historical capital is Drohiczyn. Similarly to several other historical regions of Poland, e.g ...

to receive such a charter. Bransk AGE 1804

Brańsk was a royal town of Poland, administratively located in the

in the Lesser Poland Province. The 3rd Polish National Cavalry Brigade was stationed in Brańsk before the Third Partition of Poland. In 1795, as a result of the Third Partition of Poland, Brańsk was annexed to the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

and administered as a part of the newly formed Białystok Department. In 1807, as a result of the Treaties of Tilsit, Brańsk was annexed to the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

and administered at first as a part of Belostok Oblast and from 1842 on as a part of

Grodno Governorate Grodno Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Northwestern Krai of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Grodno. It encompassed in area and consisted of a population of 1,603,409 inhabitants by 1897. Gro ...

. The town was reintegrated with Poland, after the country regained independence following

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in 1918.

World War II

On 1 September 1939 Germany attacked Poland and started

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Within days of the war's beginning, Brańsk suffered German bombardment. On 17 September 1939 the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

attacked Poland from the east, and in partnership with

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

, partitioned Poland under the terms of the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact of August 23. Brańsk along with all areas of Poland east of the Bug River was then occupied by the Soviet Union. All Polish and Jewish businesses of substance were confiscated by the Communist State. Several Poles from Brańsk were murdered by the Russians in the large

Katyn massacre The Katyn massacre was a series of mass killings under Communist regimes, mass executions of nearly 22,000 Polish people, Polish military officer, military and police officers, border guards, and intelligentsia prisoners of war carried out by t ...

in 1940. The Soviets remained in control of Brańsk until June 1941 when the Germans invaded their erstwhile Soviet allies. The

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

occupied the town and ordered the Jewish community to build a

ghetto A ghetto is a part of a city in which members of a minority group are concentrated, especially as a result of political, social, legal, religious, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished than other ...

surrounded by barbed wire, to which the Jewish population (some 65% of the town) was confined. On 8 November 1942 the Jews of Brańsk were ordered to report to the town center, forced to march to the nearby town of Bielsk, and then transported by train to Treblinka. Within weeks, the vast majority were murdered by gassing at the

Treblinka extermination camp Treblinka () was the second-deadliest extermination camp to be built and operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II. It was in a forest north-east of Warsaw, south of the village of Treblinka in what is now the Mas ...

. Several local Jews were hidden and rescued by Poles (including the local parish priest) in Brańsk and nearby villages. Some hiding places in nearby villages were discovered by the Germans, who then murdered captured Jews. Their Polish rescuers were either also murdered or managed to hide from the Germans until the end of the German occupation. On 1 August 1944 the town was captured by Soviet forces. On 4 August 1944 the Russians arrested 12 officers of the Polish underground

Home Army The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...

in Brańsk, after they were deceitfully gathered for a supposed formal meeting with the command of the Soviet 65th Army. The town was soon restored to Poland.

Demographics

Population

According to the 1921 census, the town was inhabited by 3,739 people, among whom 1,474 were Roman Catholic, 100 Orthodox, and 2,165 Jewish. At the same time, 1,530 inhabitants declared Polish nationality, 2,165 Jewish, 32 Belarusian and 12 Russian. There were 493 residential buildings in the village.''Skorowidz miejscowości Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej: opracowany na podstawie wyników pierwszego powszechnego spisu ludności z dn. 30 września 1921 r. i innych źródeł urzędowych.'', t. T. 5, województwo białostockie, 1924, s. 14. Detailed data as of 30 June 2021:

Municipal government

It is the seat of

Gmina Brańsk __NOTOC__ Gmina Brańsk is a rural gmina (Polish:''gmina wiejska'') in Bielsk County, Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is located in north-eastern Poland. Etymology The name Brańsk comes from the river Bronka, a nearby tributary of the Nurzec Ri ...

, but is not part of

Executive branch

The chief executive of the government is the

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

(Polish: ''Burmistrz'').

Legislative branch

The legislative portion of the government is the

Council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

(Polish: ''Rada'') composed of the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

(Polish: ''Przewodniczšcy''), the

Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

(Polish: ''Wiceprzewodniczšcy'') and thirteen councilors.

Neighbouring political subdivisions

Brańsk is bordered by Gminy Rudka and

Brańsk Brańsk (Podlachian language: ''Бранськ, Branśk'', , ) is a town in eastern Poland. It is situated within Podlaskie Voivodeship (province). Etymology The name of the town comes from the river Bronka, a nearby tributary of the Nurzec River ...

Transport

Roads and highways

Brańsk is at the intersection of a

National Road The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and was a main tran ...

and a

Voivodeship Road According to classes and categories of public roads in Poland, a voivodeship A voivodeship ( ) or voivodate is the area administered by a voivode (governor) in several countries of central and eastern Europe. Voivodeships have existed sinc ...

: * National Road -

Zambrów Zambrów is a town in northeastern Poland with 21,166 inhabitants (2020). It is the capital of Zambrów County. Situated in the Podlaskie Voivodeship (since 1999), previously in Łomża Voivodeship (1975–1998). History The name of the town co ...

- Brańsk -

- Kleszczele - Czeremcha - Połowce Border Crossing (Belarus) *Voivodeship Road - Roszki-Wodźki - Łapy - Brańsk -

Ciechanowiec Ciechanowiec (; )JewishGen Locality Page - Ciechanowiec, Poland
, f ...

Streets

The major streets (Polish: ''Ulica'') in Brańsk are: * Rynek * Armii Krajowej (National Road ) * Bielska * Binduga * Boćkowska * Błonie * Jagiellońska * Jana Pawła II (Voivodeship Road ) * Kapicy Milewskiego * Kasztanowa * Klonowa * Konopnickiej * Kościelna * Kościuszki (Voivodeship Road ) * Mickiewicza * Piłsudskiego * Poniatowskiego * Senatorska * Sienkiewicza * Skłodowskiej-Curie * Szkolna * Słowackiego * Witosa * Wyszyńskiego * Ściegiennego

Public transport

Bus service

Regular bus service is provided by Państwowa Komunikacja Samochodowa (''State Car Communication'', PKS) via PKS Bielsk Podlaskie
PKS Białystok
an
PKS Siemiatycze

Rail service

The closest passenger train service is provided by Polskie Koleje Państwowe (''Polish State Railways'', PKP) SA from the following stations: * Szepietowo - express and local service to

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

and

- northwest *

- express and local service to

Siedlce Siedlce () ( ) is a city in the Masovian Voivodeship in eastern Poland with 77,354 inhabitants (). The city is situated between two small rivers, the Muchawka and the Helenka, and lies along the European route E30, around east of Warsaw. It is ...

and

- east

Economy

The land-use is as follows: * Agricultural use: 66% * Forest land: 27% * City: 2.34%

Major business

* Financial:Banking
Bank Spóldzielczy w Brańsku
ul. Kosciuszki 2A, 17-120 Brańsk, Poland * Manufacturing:Plastics
Wald-Gold
ul. M. Konopnickiej 20, 17-120 Brańsk, Poland

Local attractions

Places of worship

* Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Roman Catholic. The parish is serving Brańsk, Bronka, Brzeźnica, Glinnik,

Jarmarkowszczyzna Jarmarkowszczyzna is a settlement in the administrative district of Gmina Brańsk, within Bielsk County, Podlaskie Voivodeship Podlaskie Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship in northeastern Poland. The name of the voivodesh ...

, Kalnica, Kiersnówek,

Majerowizna Majerowizna is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Brańsk, within Bielsk County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. It lies approximately south-east of Brańsk, west of Bielsk Podlaski, and south of the regional c ...

, Oleksin,

Otapy Otapy is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Brańsk, within Bielsk County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. It lies approximately south-east of Brańsk, west of Bielsk Podlaski, and south-west of the regional c ...

, Patoki, Popławy,

Świrydy Świrydy () is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Brańsk, within Bielsk County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. It lies approximately north of Brańsk, west of Bielsk Podlaski, and south-west of the regional capit ...

, Załuskie Koronne, Załuskie Kościelne. It is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Drohiczyn. * St. Simeon Stylites - Polish Orthodox. It is a mission church of the Church of the Apostles St. Peter and Paul in Malesze, part of the Polish Orthodox Diocese of Warsaw-Bielsk.

Nearby attractions

* Our Lady of Hodyszewo Sanctuary (''Sanktuarium Matki Bożej Pojedniania'') in Hodyzewo - northwest * Ossoliński Palace in Rudka - west

Notable people

* Jan Klemens Branicki – Polish nobleman * Cezary Kosiński – Polish actor *

Ignatius Kapitsa-Milewski Ignatius is a male given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name Religious * Ignatius of Antioch (35–108), saint and martyr, Apostolic Father, early Christian bishop * Patriarch Ignatius of Constantinople, Ignati ...

– archivist and author * Shimon Shkop – Jewish scholar and rabbi (1906–1920) * Moshe Rosen (Nezer HaKodesh) - Jewish scholar and rabbi (1870–1957) * Zofia Drzewiecka – Recipient of the

Righteous among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( ) is a title used by Yad Vashem to describe people who, for various reasons, made an effort to assist victims, mostly Jews, who were being persecuted and exterminated by Nazi Germany, Fascist Romania, Fascist Italy, ...

Medal * Waclawa and Pawel Sobolewski – posthumous recipients of the

Medal *

Antoni Sobolewski Antoni is a Catalan, Polish, and Slovene given name and a surname used in the eastern part of Spain, Poland and Slovenia. As a Catalan given name it is a variant of the male names Anton and Antonio. As a Polish given name it is a variant of the ...

– posthumous recipient of the

Medal *

Aleksander Sobolewski Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are ...

– posthumous recipient of the

Medal

Miscellanea

* The

Medal has been granted to 14 current and former residents of Brańsk by

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem (; ) is Israel's official memorial institution to the victims of Holocaust, the Holocaust known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (). It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; echoing the stories of the ...

External links

Jewish cemetery in Brańsk
(in Polish

Video tour of Brańsk on YouTube

References

{{Authority control Bielsk County Cities and towns in Podlaskie Voivodeship Populated riverside places in Poland Holocaust locations in Poland Historic Jewish communities in Poland