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Brest ( be, Брэст / Берасьце, Bieraście, ; russian: Брест, ; uk, Берестя, Berestia; lt, Brasta; pl, Brześć; yi, בריסק, Brisk), formerly Brest-Litovsk (russian: Брест-Литовск, lit=Lithuanian Brest; be, links=no, translit=Berastze Litouski (Berastze), Берасце Літоўскі (Берасце); lt, links=no, Lietuvos Brasta; pl, links=no, Brześć Litewski, ), Brest-on-the-Bug ( pl, links=no, Brześć nad Bugiem), is a city (population 350,616 in 2019) in
Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
at the border with
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
opposite the Polish city of
Terespol Terespol (; be, Тэрэ́спаль, Teréspaĺ) is a town in eastern Poland on the border with Belarus. It lies on the border river Bug, directly opposite the city of Brest, Belarus, making it a border town. It has 5,794 inhabitants as of ...
, where the Bug and
Mukhavets __NOTOC__ The Mukhavets or Mukhovets ( be, Мухаве́ц (''Muchaviec''), , BGN/PCGN romanization: ''Mukhavyets''; russian: Мухове́ц (''Muchovec''), pl, Muchawiec) is a river in western Belarus, a tributary to the Bug. The river ris ...
rivers meet, making it a
border town A border town is a town or city close to the boundary between two countries, states, or regions. Usually the term implies that the nearness to the border is one of the things the place is most famous for. With close proximities to a different cou ...
. It is the capital city of the
Brest Region Brest Region or Brest Oblast or Brest Voblasts ( be, Брэ́сцкая во́бласць ''(Bresckaja vobłasć)''; russian: Бре́стская о́бласть (''Brestskaya Oblast)'') is one of the regions of Belarus. Its administrative cen ...
. Brest is a historical site for many cultures, as it hosted important historical events, such as the
Union of Brest The Union of Brest (; ; ; ) was the 1595–96 decision of the Ruthenian Orthodox Church eparchies (dioceses) in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth to break relations with the Eastern Orthodox Church and to enter into communion with, and place i ...
and
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (also known as the Treaty of Brest in Russia) was a separate peace, separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Russian SFSR, Russia and the Central Powers (German Empire, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Kingdom of ...
. Furthermore, the Brest Fortress was recognized by the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
as a
Hero Fortress Hero Fortress ( Russian: крепость-герой, ''krepost'-geroy'') is the honorary title awarded in 1965 to the Soviet Brest Fortress in Brest, Belarus, (previously part of the Byelorussian SSR) for the defence of the frontier stronghold du ...
in honour of the defense of Brest Fortress in June 1941. From
Late Middle Ages The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the Periodization, period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Eur ...
to 1795, the city was part of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Li ...
, which later became a part of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...
from 1569. In 1795, it was incorporated into the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
with the
Third Partition of Poland The Third Partition of Poland (1795) was the last in a series of the Partitions of Poland–Lithuania and the land of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth among Prussia, the Habsburg monarchy, and the Russian Empire which effectively ended Polish ...
. After
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, the city became part of by the
Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...
. In 1939, during the
Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...
by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, the city was first captured by the
Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...
and soon passed on to the USSR per the German–Soviet Frontier Treaty. In 1941, it was retaken by the Germans during
Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...
. In 1944, it was taken by the Soviet Red Army during the
Lublin–Brest offensive The Lublin–Brest Offensive (russian: Люблин‐Брестская наступательная операция, 18 July – 2 August 1944) was a part of the Operation Bagration strategic offensive by the Soviet Red Army to clear the Nazi ...
. The city was in the Belarusian SSR until the breakup of the USSR in 1991. Since then, Brest has been part of
Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
.


Etymology

Several theories attempt to explain the origin of the city's name. It may have the Slavic root ''beresta'' meaning "
birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...
", or "bark". The name could also originate from Slavic root ''berest'' meaning "
elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of North ...
". It could likewise have come from the Lithuanian word ''brasta'' meaning "ford". Once a center of Jewish scholarship, the city has the
Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...
name (), hence the term "Brisker" used to describe followers of the influential
Soloveitchik Soloveitchik ( he, סולובייצ'יק yi, סאָלאָווייטשיק) (also Soloveichik) is a surname. The name is a diminutive form of the Russian word соловей, "nightingale", since the Soloveitchiks are a family of Levites, who are co ...
family of
rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
s. Traditionally, Belarusian-speakers called the city (). Brest became a part of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Li ...
in 1319. In the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...
formed in 1569, the town became known in
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
as , historically (literally: "Lithuanian Brest", in contradistinction to
Brześć Kujawski Brześć Kujawski (Polish pronunciation: ; or ''Kujawisch Brest''; often anglicized to Kuyavian Brest) is a town in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland. Once a royal seat of Kuyavia, the town has been the seat of one of two small du ...
). became part of the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
under the name or (russian: Брест-Литовск, , literally "Lithuanian Brest") in the course of the
Third Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth The Third Partition of Poland (1795) was the last in a series of the Partitions of Poland–Lithuania and the land of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth among Prussia, the Habsburg monarchy, and the Russian Empire which effectively ended Polis ...
in 1795. After World War I, and the rebirth of Poland in 1918, the government of the
Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...
renamed the city as ("Brest on the Bug") on 20 March 1923. After World War II, the city became part of the
Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, or Byelorussian SSR; be, Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Savieckaja Sacyjalistyčnaja Respublika; russian: Белор ...
with the name simplified as Brest. Brest's coat of arms, adopted on 26 January 1991, features an arrow pointed upwards and a bow (both silver) on a sky-blue shield. An alternative coat of arms has a red shield.
Sigismund II Augustus Sigismund II Augustus ( pl, Zygmunt II August, lt, Žygimantas Augustas; 1 August 1520 – 7 July 1572) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548. He was the first ruler ...
, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, first granted Brest a coat of arms in 1554.


History

The city was founded by the
Slavs Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...
. As a town, Brest – ''Berestye'' in
Kievan Rus Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of ...
– was first mentioned in the ''
Primary Chronicle The ''Tale of Bygone Years'' ( orv, Повѣсть времѧньныхъ лѣтъ, translit=Pověstĭ vremęnĭnyxŭ lětŭ; ; ; ; ), often known in English as the ''Rus' Primary Chronicle'', the ''Russian Primary Chronicle'', or simply the ...
'' in 1019 when the
Kievan Rus' Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of ...
took the stronghold from the Poles. It is one of the oldest cities in Belarus. It was hotly contested between the Polish rulers (kings, principal dukes and dukes of
Masovia Mazovia or Masovia ( pl, Mazowsze) is a historical region in mid-north-eastern Poland. It spans the North European Plain, roughly between Łódź and Białystok, with Warsaw being the unofficial capital and largest city. Throughout the centurie ...
) and Kievan Rus princes, laid waste by the
Mongols The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal membe ...
in 1241 (see:
First Mongol invasion of Poland The Mongol Invasion of Poland from late 1240 to 1241 culminated in the Battle of Legnica, where the Mongols defeated an alliance which included forces from fragmented Poland and their allies, led by Henry II the Pious, the Duke of Silesia. ...
), and was not rebuilt until 1275. Later it was part of the territory of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Li ...
.


In the Grand Duchy of Lithuania

In 1390 Brest became the first city in the lands that now are Belarus to receive
Magdeburg rights Magdeburg rights (german: Magdeburger Recht; 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 ...
. In 1419 it became a seat of the starost in the newly created
Trakai Voivodeship lt, Trakų vaivadija pl, Województwo trockie , conventional_long_name = Trakai Voivodeship , common_name = Trakai , subdivision = Voivodeship , nation = Grand Duchy of Lithuania (1413–1569) Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1795) , year_ ...
.


Lithuanian Crusade

Its suburbs were burned by the
Teutonic Knights The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...
in 1379. In 1409 it was a meeting place of King
Władysław II Jagiełło Jogaila (; 1 June 1434), later Władysław II Jagiełło ()He is known under a number of names: lt, Jogaila Algirdaitis; pl, Władysław II Jagiełło; be, Jahajła (Ягайла). See also: Names and titles of Władysław II Jagiełło. w ...
, Grand Duke
Vytautas the Great Vytautas (c. 135027 October 1430), also known as Vytautas the Great ( Lithuanian: ', be, Вітаўт, ''Vitaŭt'', pl, Witold Kiejstutowicz, ''Witold Aleksander'' or ''Witold Wielki'' Ruthenian: ''Vitovt'', Latin: ''Alexander Vitoldus'', O ...
and a
Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary
is an umbrella term for different
khan under the Archbishop
Mikołaj Trąba Mikołaj Trąba (; 1358 – 2 December 1422), of Trąby coat of arms, was a Polish Roman Catholic priest, Royal Notary from 1390, Deputy Chancellor of the Crown 1403–12, bishop of Halicz 1410–12, archbishop of Gniezno from 1412, and first pr ...
's initiative, to prepare for war with the Teutonic Knights. In 1410 the town mustered a cavalry banner that participated in the Polish-Lithuanian military victory at the
Battle of Grunwald The Battle of Grunwald, Battle of Žalgiris or First Battle of Tannenberg was fought on 15 July 1410 during the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War. The alliance of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, led respec ...
.


=17th century

= In 1500 it was burned again by
Crimean Tatars , flag = Flag of the Crimean Tatar people.svg , flag_caption = Flag of Crimean Tatars , image = Love, Peace, Traditions.jpg , caption = Crimean Tatars in traditional clothing in front of the Khan's Palace ...
. In 1566, following the decree of
Sigismund II Augustus Sigismund II Augustus ( pl, Zygmunt II August, lt, Žygimantas Augustas; 1 August 1520 – 7 July 1572) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548. He was the first ruler ...
, a new
voivodeship A voivodeship is the area administered by a voivode (Governor) in several countries of central and eastern Europe. Voivodeships have existed since medieval times and the area of extent of voivodeship resembles that of a duchy in western medieval ...
was created – Brest Litovsk Voivodeship. During the union of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...
and the
Swedish Empire The Swedish Empire was a European great power that exercised territorial control over much of the Baltic region during the 17th and early 18th centuries ( sv, Stormaktstiden, "the Era of Great Power"). The beginning of the empire is usually ta ...
under king
Sigismund III Vasa Sigismund III Vasa ( pl, Zygmunt III Waza, lt, Žygimantas Vaza; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden and Grand Duke of Finland from 1592 to ...
(
Polish–Swedish union The Polish–Swedish union was a short-lived personal union between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Kingdom of Sweden between 1592 and 1599. It began when Sigismund III Vasa, elected King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, was ...
), diets were held there. In 1594 and 1596, it was the meeting-place of two remarkable councils of regional bishops of the
Roman-Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
and
Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...
. The 1596 council established the
Uniate Church The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous ('' sui iuris'') particular churches of t ...
(also known as the Belarusian Greek Catholic Church in Belarus and
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church , native_name_lang = uk , caption_background = , image = StGeorgeCathedral Lviv.JPG , imagewidth = , type = Particular church (sui iuris) , alt = , caption = St. George's C ...
in
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
).


Onslaught

In 1657, and again in 1706, the town and castle were captured by the
Swedish Army The Swedish Army ( sv, svenska armén) is the land force of the Swedish Armed Forces. History Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1521, when the men of Dalarna chose 16 young able men as body guards for the insurgent nobleman Gustav Vas ...
during its invasions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Then, in an attack from the other direction, on 13 January 1660, the invading Streltsy of the
Tsardom of Russia The Tsardom of Russia or Tsardom of Rus' also externally referenced as the Tsardom of Muscovy, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of Tsar by Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter I i ...
under Ivan Andreyevich Khovansky took the
Brest Castle Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...
in an early morning surprise attack, the town having been captured earlier, and massacred the 1,700 defenders and their families (according to an Austrian observer, Captain Rosestein).


Partitions

On 23 July 1792, the defending
Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army The Lithuanian Armed Forces () are the military of Lithuania. The Lithuanian Armed Forces consist of the Lithuanian Land Forces, the Lithuanian Naval Force and the Lithuanian Air Force. In wartime, the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service (whi ...
and the invading
Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...
fought a battle. On 19 September 1794, the area between Brest and
Terespol Terespol (; be, Тэрэ́спаль, Teréspaĺ) is a town in eastern Poland on the border with Belarus. It lies on the border river Bug, directly opposite the city of Brest, Belarus, making it a border town. It has 5,794 inhabitants as of ...
was the site of another
battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
won by the Russian invaders led by
Alexander Suvorov Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov (russian: Алекса́ндр Васи́льевич Суво́ров, Aleksándr Vasíl'yevich Suvórov; or 1730) was a Russian general in service of the Russian Empire. He was Count of Rymnik, Count of the Holy ...
over a Polish-Lithuanian division under General Karol Sierakowski. Thereafter, Brest was annexed by Russia when the Poland-Lithuania Commonwealth was partitioned for the third time in 1795.


19th century

During Russian rule in the 19th century, Brest Fortress was built in and around the city. The Russians demolished the Polish Royal Castle and most Old Town "to make room" for the fortress. The main Jewish synagogue in the city, the Choral Synagogue, was completed c. 1862.


World War I

During
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, the town was captured by the
Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (german: Deutsches Heer), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the l ...
under
August von Mackensen Anton Ludwig Friedrich August von Mackensen (born Mackensen; 6 December 1849 – 8 November 1945), ennobled as "von Mackensen" in 1899, was a German field marshal. He commanded successfully during World War I of 1914–1918 and became one of t ...
on 25 August 1915, during the Great Retreat of 1915. Shortly after Brest fell into German hands,
war poet A war poet is a poet who participates in a war and writes about their experiences, or a non-combatant who writes poems about war. While the term is applied especially to those who served during the First World War, the term can be applied to a p ...
August Stramm August Stramm (29 July 1874 – 1 September 1915) was a German war poet and playwright who is considered the first of the expressionists. Stramm's radically experimental verse and his major influence on all subsequent German poetry has caused h ...
, who has been called "the first of the
Expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...
s" and one of "the most innovative poets of the First World War," was shot in the head during an attack on nearby Russian positions on 1 September 1915. In March 1918, in the Brest Fortress on the western outskirts of Brest at the confluence of the
Bug River uk, Західний Буг be, Захо́дні Буг , name_etymology = , image = Wyszkow_Bug.jpg , image_size = 250 , image_caption = Bug River in the vicinity of Wyszków, Poland , map = Vi ...
and Mukhavets Rivers, the
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (also known as the Treaty of Brest in Russia) was a separate peace, separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Russian SFSR, Russia and the Central Powers (German Empire, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Kingdom of ...
was signed, ending the war between
Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
and the
Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...
and transferring the city and its surrounding region to the
sphere of influence In the field of international relations, a sphere of influence (SOI) is a spatial region or concept division over which a state or organization has a level of cultural, economic, military or political exclusivity. While there may be a formal al ...
of the
German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
. This treaty was subsequently annulled by the Paris Peace Conference treaties which ended the war and even more so by events and developments in
Central and Eastern Europe Central and Eastern Europe is a term encompassing the countries in the Baltics, Central Europe, Eastern Europe and Southeast Europe (mostly the Balkans), usually meaning former communist states from the Eastern Bloc and Warsaw Pact in Europe. ...
. During 1918, the city became a part of the
Podolia Governorate The Podolia Governorate or Podillia Governorate (), set up after the Second Partition of Poland, was a governorate (''gubernia'', ''province'', or ''government'') of the Russian Empire from 1793 to 1917, of the Ukrainian People's Republic from 1 ...
of the
Ukrainian People's Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR), or Ukrainian National Republic (UNR), was a country in Eastern Europe that existed between 1917 and 1920. It was declared following the February Revolution in Russia by the First Universal. In March 1 ...
as a result of negotiations and own treaty between delegation of the
Ukrainian Central Rada The Central Council of Ukraine ( uk, Українська Центральна Рада, ) (also called the Tsentralna Rada or the Central Rada) was the All-Ukrainian council (soviet) that united deputies of soldiers, workers, and peasants deputie ...
and Central Powers.


The Second Polish Republic

Following the
Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (Polish–Bolshevik War, Polish–Soviet War, Polish–Russian War 1919–1921) * russian: Советско-польская война (''Sovetsko-polskaya voyna'', Soviet-Polish War), Польский фронт (' ...
Brest became part of the
Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...
, with borders formally recognized by the
Treaty of Riga The Peace of Riga, also known as the Treaty of Riga ( pl, Traktat Ryski), was signed in Riga on 18 March 1921, among Poland, Soviet Russia (acting also on behalf of Soviet Belarus) and Soviet Ukraine. The treaty ended the Polish–Soviet War. ...
of 1921. It was renamed Brześć nad Bugiem on 20 March 1923 (''Brest on the Bug'') in Poland, and named the capital of the
Polesie Voivodeship Polesie Voivodeship ( pl, województwo poleskie) was an administrative unit of interwar Poland (1918–1939), named after the historical region of Polesia. It was created by the Council of Ministers of the Second Polish Republic on February 19, 1 ...
in accordance with the pre-1795 tradition. In the twenty years of Poland's sovereignty, of the total of 36 brand new schools established in the city, there were ten public, and five private Jewish schools inaugurated, with
Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...
and
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
as the language of instruction. The first-ever Jewish school in Brześć history opened in 1920, almost immediately after Poland's return to independence. In 1936 Jews constituted 41.3% of the Brześć population or 21,518 citizens. Some 80.3% of private enterprises were run by Jews. Norman Davies, ''
God's Playground ''God's Playground: A History of Poland'' is a history book in two volumes written by Norman Davies, covering a 1000-year history of Poland. Volume 1: ''The origins to 1795'', and Volume 2: ''1795 to the present'' first appeared as the Oxford Cl ...
'' (Polish edition), Second volume, p.512-513
Stosunki polsko-białoruskie pod okupacją sowiecką
(''Polish-Byelorussian relations under the Soviet occupation''). ''Bialorus.pl''
The
Polish Army The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stre ...
troops of the 9th Military District along with its headquarters were stationed in Brest Fortress. During the German
Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...
in 1939, the city was defended by a small garrison of four infantry battalions under General
Konstanty Plisowski Konstanty Plisowski of Odrowąż (8 June 1890 – 1940) was a Polish general and military commander. He was the Commander in the battle of Jazłowiec and the battle of Brześć Litewski. He was murdered on Stalin's orders in the Katyn massacre. ...
against General
Heinz Guderian Heinz Wilhelm Guderian (; 17 June 1888 – 14 May 1954) was a German general during World War II who, after the war, became a successful memoirist. An early pioneer and advocate of the " blitzkrieg" approach, he played a central role in t ...
's
XIX Panzer Corps The XIX Army Corps ( German: ''XIX. Armeekorps'') was an armored corps of the German Wehrmacht between 1 July 1939 and 16 November 1940, when the unit was renamed Panzer Group 2 (German: ''Panzergruppe 2'') and later 2nd Panzer Army (German: ''2. P ...
. After four days of heavy fighting, the Polish forces withdrew southwards on 17 September. The
Soviet invasion of Poland The Soviet invasion of Poland was a military operation by the Soviet Union without a formal declaration of war. On 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east, 16 days after Nazi Germany invaded Poland from the west. Subs ...
began on the same day. As a result, the Soviet
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
entered the city at the end of September 1939 following the
Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , long_name = Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , image = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H27337, Moskau, Stalin und Ribbentrop im Kreml.jpg , image_width = 200 , caption = Stalin and Ribbentrop shaking ...
's Secret Protocol, and a joint Nazi-Soviet military parade took place on 22 September 1939. While Belarusians consider it a reunification of the Belarusian nation under one constituency (the
Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, or Byelorussian SSR; be, Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Savieckaja Sacyjalistyčnaja Respublika; russian: Белор ...
at that time), Poles consider it the date when the city was lost. During the Soviet control (1939–41), the Polish population was subject to arrests, executions and mass deportations to
Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
and the
Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic ; kk, Қазақ Советтік Социалистік Республикасы) *1991: Republic of Kazakhstan (russian: Республика Казахстан; kk, Қазақстан Республикасы) , linking_name = the ...
. The city had an overwhelmingly Jewish population in the
Russian Partition The Russian Partition ( pl, zabór rosyjski), sometimes called Russian Poland, constituted the former territories of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that were annexed by the Russian Empire in the course of late-18th-century Partitions of Po ...
: 30,000 out of 45,000 total population according to Russian 1897 census, which fell to 21,000 out of 50,000 according to the
Polish census of 1931 The Polish census of 1931 or Second General Census in Poland ( pl, Drugi Powszechny Spis Ludności) was the second census taken in sovereign Poland during the interwar period, performed on December 9, 1931 by the Main Bureau of Statistics. It e ...
.Christopher R. Browning, ''Nazi policy, Jewish workers, German killers'
Google Print, p.124
/ref>


Operation Barbarossa and beyond

On 22 June 1941, Brest Fortress and the city were attacked by
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
on the first day of
Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...
,
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
's invasion of the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. The fortress held out for six days. Nearly all its Soviet army defenders perished. The Germans placed Brest under the administration of the ''
Reichskommissariat Ukraine During World War II, (abbreviated as RKU) was the civilian occupation regime () of much of Nazi German-occupied Ukraine (which included adjacent areas of modern-day Belarus and pre-war Second Polish Republic). It was governed by the Reich Min ...
''. The remaining municipal Jewish population (about 20,000) was sequestered in the Brest ghetto established by the German authorities in December 1941 and later murdered in October 1942. Only seven Jews survived the Nazi executions. The city was liberated by the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
on 28 July 1944. In early 2019, a mass grave containing the remains of 1,214 people were found in the Brest Ghetto area during a construction project. Most are believed to have been Jews murdered by Nazis.


Geography

Brest lies astride the
Mukhavets __NOTOC__ The Mukhavets or Mukhovets ( be, Мухаве́ц (''Muchaviec''), , BGN/PCGN romanization: ''Mukhavyets''; russian: Мухове́ц (''Muchovec''), pl, Muchawiec) is a river in western Belarus, a tributary to the Bug. The river ris ...
River, which is known to Bresters as "the river". The river flows west through the city, dividing it into north and south, and meets the
Bug River uk, Західний Буг be, Захо́дні Буг , name_etymology = , image = Wyszkow_Bug.jpg , image_size = 250 , image_caption = Bug River in the vicinity of Wyszków, Poland , map = Vi ...
in the Brest Fortress. The river flows slowly and gently. You can hop into a tire innertube and take a relaxing float down this river. Today the river looks quite broad in Brest. The terrain is fairly flat around Brest. The river has an extremely broad
floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...
, that is about across. Brest was subject to flooding in the past. One of the worst floods in recorded history occurred in 1974. Part of the
floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...
was reclaimed with
hydraulic mining Hydraulic mining is a form of mining that uses high-pressure jets of water to dislodge rock material or move sediment.Paul W. Thrush, ''A Dictionary of Mining, Mineral, and Related Terms'', US Bureau of Mines, 1968, p.560. In the placer mining of ...
. In the 1980s, big cutter-suction
dredgers Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...
mined sand and clay from the riverbed to build up the banks. In the 2000s, two new residential areas were developed in the southwest of Brest. To the east of Brest, the
Dnieper–Bug Canal , image = Селішча._Дняпроўска-Бугскі_канал._Водападзел_(15).jpg , image_caption = , original_owner = , engineer = , other_engineer ...
was built in the mid-nineteenth century to join the river to
Pina Pina may refer to: People * Pina (name), a list of people with the given name, nickname, surname or stage name Places * Pina, Nepal, a village development committee * Pina, Mallorca, Spain, a town * Pina de Ebro, a municipality of the provin ...
, a tributary of the
Pripyat River The Pripyat or Prypiat ( , uk, Прип'ять, ; be, Прыпяць, translit=Prypiać}, ; pl, Prypeć, ; russian: Припять, ) is a river in Eastern Europe, approximately long. It flows east through Ukraine, Belarus, and Ukraine ag ...
which in turn drains into the
Dnieper } The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and B ...
. Thus Brest has a shipping route all the way to the
Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...
. If not for a dam and neglected
weir A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...
s west of Brest, north-western European shipping would be connected with the Black Sea also.


Climate

Brest has a
humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...
but slightly leans towards oceanic due to the irregular winter temperatures that mostly hover around the freezing point. However, summers are warm and influenced by its inland position compared to areas nearer the
Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
.


Points of interest

A majestic Soviet-era war memorial was constructed on the site of the 1941 battle to commemorate the known and unknown defenders of the Brest Fortress. This war memorial is the largest tourist attraction in the city. The Berestye Archeological Museum of the old city is located on the southern island of the
Hero-Fortress Hero Fortress ( Russian: крепость-герой, ''krepost'-geroy'') is the honorary title awarded in 1965 to the Soviet Brest Fortress in Brest, Belarus, (previously part of the Byelorussian SSR) for the defence of the frontier stronghold du ...
. It has objects and huts dating from the 11th – 13th century that were unearthed during the 1970s. The Museum of Rescued Art Treasures has a collection of paintings and icons. Brest City Park is over 100 years old and underwent renovations from 2004 to 2006 as part of a ceremony marking the park's centennial. In July 2009, the Millennium Monument of Brest was unveiled. Sovetskaya Street is a popular tourist destination in Brest; it was dramatically reconstructed in 2007–2009. Other important landmarks include the Brest Railway Museum.


Education

Brest is home to two Universities:
A.S. Pushkin Brest State University A.S. Pushkin Brest State University is an institution of higher education in Brest, Belarus Brest ( be, Брэст / Берасьце, Bieraście, ; russian: Брест, ; uk, Берестя, Berestia; lt, Brasta; pl, Brześć; yi, ...
and
Brest State Technical University Brest State Technical University s situated in Brest, Belarus. It began as Brest State Civil Engineering Institute on April 1, 1966, that was reorganized into Brest State Polytechnic Institute in 1989 and eventually into a university in 2000. ...
.


Transport

Being situated on the main railway line connecting Berlin and Moscow, and a transcontinental highway (the M1 highway is part of the
European route E30 European route E30 is an A-Class European route from the port of Cork in Ireland in the west to the Russian city of Omsk, near the border with Kazakhstan in the east. For much of the Russian stretch, it follows the Trans-Siberian Highway an ...
running from
Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...
to
Omsk Omsk (; rus, Омск, p=omsk) is the administrative center and largest city of Omsk Oblast, Russia. It is situated in southwestern Siberia, and has a population of over 1.1 million. Omsk is the third largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk ...
, where it links with Asian Highway 6 leading to
Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...
), Brest became a principal border crossing out of the Soviet Union in the postwar era. Today it links the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
and the
Commonwealth of Independent States The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an area of and has an estimated population of 239,796,010. ...
. The city of Brest is served by Brest-Tsentralny railway station. Because of the
break-of-gauge With railways, a break of gauge occurs where a line of one track gauge (the distance between the rails, or between the wheels of trains designed to run on those rails) meets a line of a different gauge. Trains and rolling stock generally cannot ...
at Brest, where the Russian
broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...
meets the European
standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...
, all passenger trains, coming from
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
, must have their
bogie A bogie ( ) (in some senses called a truck in North American English) is a chassis or framework that carries a wheelset, attached to a vehicle—a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of transp ...
s replaced here, to travel on across
Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
. The freight must be transloaded from cars of one gauge to cars of another. Some of the land in the Brest rail yards remains contaminated due to the transhipment of
radioactive Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is consid ...
materials here since Soviet days. However, cleanup operations have been taking place. The local airport,
Brest Airport Brest Airport ( be, Аэрапорт Брэст, Aeraport Brest; russian: Аэропорт Брест) is an airport serving Brest, a city in Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officiall ...
(code BQT), operates flights on a seasonal schedule to
Kaliningrad Kaliningrad ( ; rus, Калининград, p=kəlʲɪnʲɪnˈɡrat, links=y), until 1946 known as Königsberg (; rus, Кёнигсберг, Kyonigsberg, ˈkʲɵnʲɪɡzbɛrk; rus, Короле́вец, Korolevets), is the largest city and ...
in the Russian Federation and seasonal charter flights to
Burgas Burgas ( bg, Бургас, ), sometimes transliterated as ''Bourgas'', is the second largest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in the region of Northern Thrace and the fourth-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia, Plovdiv, and Varna, with a popu ...
and
Antalya Antalya () is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, fifth-most populous city in Turkey as well as the capital of Antalya Province. Located on Anatolia's southwest coast bordered by the Taurus Mountains, Antalya is the largest Turkish cit ...
.


Sport

HC Meshkov Brest HC Meshkov Brest (Myashkov Brest, officially A. P. Myashkow Brest Handball Club, ) is a handball club from Brest, Belarus. They currently compete in the Belarusian First League of Handball, in the SEHA League and competed in the EHF Champions ...
is the most successful team of the
Belarusian Men's Handball Championship The Belarusian Men's Handball Championship is the national league for team handball in Belarus. The current champions are HC Meshkov Brest, who won 14th title in 2021/22 season. After the launching of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Eu ...
, as well as the current (2018–19) champions. Also, there is a Women's handball club in Brest –
HC Victoria-Berestie HC Victoria-Berestie is a handball club from Brest, Belarus. It currently competes in the Belarusian Women's Handball Championship, the Cup of Belarus and the Domestic - Brest Christmas Cup. Head coaches *2020 - Vasil Kozar European Cups per ...
. HK Brest of the
Belarusian Extraleague The Belarusian Extraleague (abbreviated BHL, also known as the Belarusian Open Championship), officially formed in 2006, is the top ice hockey league in Belarus. In its past, it has switched several times between being and not being an open leagu ...
are the local pro hockey team. The sports venues are located on the northern riverside on the hydraulic fill, consisting of an indoor track-and-field centre, the
Brest Ice Rink Brest may refer to: Places * Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport ** Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France **Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...
, and Belarus' first outdoor baseball stadium. On the opposite riverside is a large rowing course opened in 2007, home of the National Center for Olympic Training in Rowing. It meets international requirements and can host international competitions. Moreover, it has accommodation and training facilities, favourable location, away from the border crossing along Warsaw Highway (the
European route E30 European route E30 is an A-Class European route from the port of Cork in Ireland in the west to the Russian city of Omsk, near the border with Kazakhstan in the east. For much of the Russian stretch, it follows the Trans-Siberian Highway an ...
).


Media

There are some newspapers in Brest: Brestskaya Gazeta,
Brestskiy Kurier ''Brestskiy Kurier'' (russian: Брестский курьер, translated as ''Brest Courier'') is a weekly Belarusian newspaper founded in 1913 under the name ''Brest-Litovskiy Kurier'', and re-founded in 1990 as ''Brestskiy Kurier''. The paper ...
, Vecherniy Brest.


International relations


Sister cities

Sister cities A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...
of Brest include: *
Astrakhan Astrakhan ( rus, Астрахань, p=ˈastrəxənʲ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in Southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the ...
, Russia * Dorogomilovo District (Moscow), Russia *
Izhevsk Izhevsk (russian: Иже́вск, p=ɪˈʐɛfsk; udm, Ижкар, ''Ižkar'', or , ''Iž'') is the capital city of Udmurtia, Russia. It is situated along the Izh River, west of the Ural Mountains in Eastern Europe. It is the 21st-largest city i ...
, Russia *
Kaliningrad Kaliningrad ( ; rus, Калининград, p=kəlʲɪnʲɪnˈɡrat, links=y), until 1946 known as Königsberg (; rus, Кёнигсберг, Kyonigsberg, ˈkʲɵnʲɪɡzbɛrk; rus, Короле́вец, Korolevets), is the largest city and ...
, Russia *
Kovrov Kovrov (russian: Ковро́в) is a city in Vladimir Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Klyazma River, a tributary of the Oka. Kovrov's population as of the 2021 Census was 132,417, down from 145,214 recorded in the 2010 Censu ...
, Russia *
Malgobek Malgobek (russian: Малгобе́к; Ingush: , ''Maghalbike'') is a town in the Republic of Ingushetia, Russia, located northwest of the republic's capital of Magas. Population: History In 1934, the '' selo'' of Voznesenskoye was granted wo ...
, Russia * Nevsky District (Saint Petersburg), Russia *
Nizhny Tagil Nizhny Tagil ( rus, Нижний Тагил, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj tɐˈgʲil) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, located east of the boundary between Asia and Europe. Population: History The prehistor ...
, Russia *
Novorossiysk Novorossiysk ( rus, Новоросси́йск, p=nəvərɐˈsʲijsk; ady, ЦIэмэз, translit=Chəməz, p=t͡sʼɜmɜz) is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is one of the largest ports on the Black Sea. It is one of the few cities hono ...
, Russia *
Oryol Oryol ( rus, Орёл, p=ɐˈrʲɵl, lit. ''eagle''), also transliterated as Orel or Oriol, is a city and the administrative center of Oryol Oblast situated on the Oka River, approximately south-southwest of Moscow. It is part of the Central Fed ...
, Russia *
Petrozavodsk Petrozavodsk (russian: Петрозаводск, p=pʲɪtrəzɐˈvotsk; Karelian, Vepsian and fi, Petroskoi) is the capital city of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, which stretches along the western shore of Lake Onega for some . The population ...
, Russia *
Ryazan Ryazan ( rus, Рязань, p=rʲɪˈzanʲ, a=ru-Ryazan.ogg) is the largest city and administrative center of Ryazan Oblast, Russia. The city is located on the banks of the Oka River in Central Russia, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 Census ...
, Russia *
Tyumen Tyumen ( ; rus, Тюмень, p=tʲʉˈmʲenʲ, a=Ru-Tyumen.ogg) is the administrative center and largest city of Tyumen Oblast, Russia. It is situated just east of the Ural Mountains, along the Tura River. Fueled by the Russian oil and gas indu ...
, Russia *
Ivano-Frankivsk Ivano-Frankivsk ( uk, Іва́но-Франкі́вськ, translit=Iváno-Frankívśk ), formerly Stanyslaviv ( pl, Stanisławów ; german: Stanislau), is a city located in Western Ukraine. It is the administrative centre of Ivano-Frankivsk O ...
, Ukraine *
Lutsk Lutsk ( uk, Луцьк, translit=Lutsk}, ; pl, Łuck ; yi, לוצק, Lutzk) is a city on the Styr River in northwestern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Volyn Oblast (province) and the administrative center of the surrounding Luts ...
, Ukraine *
Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...
, Ukraine *
Siedlce County __NOTOC__ Siedlce County ( pl, powiat siedlecki) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Masovian Voivodeship, east-central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government r ...
, Poland *
Terespol Terespol (; be, Тэрэ́спаль, Teréspaĺ) is a town in eastern Poland on the border with Belarus. It lies on the border river Bug, directly opposite the city of Brest, Belarus, making it a border town. It has 5,794 inhabitants as of ...
, Poland * Baienfurt, Germany * Baindt, Germany *
Berg Berg may refer to: People *Berg (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) *Berg Ng (born 1960), Hong Kong actor * Berg (footballer) (born 1989), Brazilian footballer Former states * Berg (state), county and duchy of the Hol ...
, Germany *
Ravensburg Ravensburg ( Swabian: ''Raveschburg'') is a city in Upper Swabia in Southern Germany, capital of the district of Ravensburg, Baden-Württemberg. Ravensburg was first mentioned in 1088. In the Middle Ages, it was an Imperial Free City and an impo ...
, Germany * Weingarten, Germany *
Baiyin Baiyin () is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Gansu province, People's Republic of China. Established in the 1950s as a base for mining non-ferrous metals, its mines are becoming exhausted in recent decades, requiring the city to reinvent ...
, China *
Xiaogan Xiaogan () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Hubei province, People's Republic of China, some northwest of the provincial capital of Wuhan. According to the 2020 census, its population totaled 4,270,371, of whom 988,479 lived in the built ...
, China *
Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ) is the second largest city of Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast of the Black Sea in Georgia's southwest. It is situated in a subtropical zone at the foot of th ...
, Georgia * Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan *
Coevorden Coevorden (; nds-nl, Koevern) is a city and municipality in the province of Drenthe, Netherlands. During the 1998 municipal reorganisation in the province, Coevorden merged with Dalen, Sleen, Oosterhesselen and Zweeloo, retaining its name. In ...
, Netherlands *
Port-sur-Saône Port-sur-Saône () is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. It was probably the Roman ''Portus Abucini''. Population Twin towns Port-sur-Saône is twinned with: * Brest, Belaru ...
, France *
Subotica Subotica ( sr-cyrl, Суботица, ; hu, Szabadka) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the North Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. Formerly the largest city of Vojvodina region, ...
, Serbia Former twin towns: *
Biała Podlaska Biała Podlaska ( la, Alba Ducalis) is a city in eastern Poland with 56,498 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is situated in the Lublin Voivodeship (since 1999), having previously been the capital of Biała Podlaska Voivodeship (1975–1998). ...
, Poland In March 2022, the Polish city of Biała Podlaska suspended its partnership with Brest as a reaction to the Belarusian involvement in the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
.


Other forms of cooperation

Brest maintains partnership with: * Ashdod, Israel * Botoșani, Romania *
Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...
, France *
Ludza Ludza (; pl, Lucyn, german: Ludsen, russian: Лудза, ''Ludza'') is a town in the Latgale region of eastern Latvia. Ludza is the oldest town in Latvia and this is commemorated by a key in its coat of arms. Ludza is the administrative centre o ...
, Latvia *
Maldon Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the River Blackwater, Essex, Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea ...
, England, United Kingdom *
Pleven Pleven ( bg, Плèвен ) is the seventh most populous city in Bulgaria. Located in the northern part of the country, it is the administrative centre of Pleven Province, as well as of the subordinate Pleven municipality. It is the biggest ...
, Bulgaria


Honours

A
minor planet According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is exclusively classified as neither a planet nor a comet. Before 2006, the IAU officially used the term ''minor ...
, 3232 Brest, discovered by the Soviet astronomer Lyudmila Ivanovna Chernykh in 1974, is named after the city.


Notable people

: * Rabbi
Yehoshua Leib Diskin Moshe Yehoshua Yehuda Leib Diskin (1818–1898), also known as the Maharil Diskin, was a leading rabbi, Talmudist, and Biblical commentator. He served as a rabbi in Łomża, Mezritch, Kovno, Shklov, Brisk, and, finally, Jerusalem, after moving t ...
, Rabbi of Brisk *
Menachem Begin Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'' (); pl, Menachem Begin (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ''Menakhem Volfovich Begin''; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of Israel. B ...
, late Prime Minister of
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
*
Jarosław Dąbrowski Jarosław Żądło-Dąbrowski (; 13 November 1836 – 23 May 1871), also known as Jaroslav Dombrowski, was a Polish nobleman and military officer in the Imperial Russian Army, a left-wing independence activist and radical republican for Poland ...
, Polish revolutionary and general *
David Dubinsky David Dubinsky (; born David Isaac Dobnievski; February 22, 1892 – September 17, 1982) was a Belarusian-born American labor leader and politician. He served as president of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) between 1932 ...
, head of the
International Ladies Garment Workers' Union The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU), whose members were employed in the women's clothing industry, was once one of the largest labor unions in the United States, one of the first U.S. unions to have a primarily female memb ...
*
Andrej Dyńko Andrej Dyńko ( be, Андрэй Дынько) (born 1974) is a Belarusian journalist. In 2000-2006 he served the chief editor of the oldest Belarusian weekly newspaper '' Naša Niva''. Later he headed magazines Nasha Historyja (''Наша гіс ...
(b. 1974), journalist and editor *
Louis Gruenberg Louis Gruenberg ( ; June 10, 1964) was a Russian-born American pianist and prolific composer, especially of operas. An early champion of Schoenberg and other contemporary composers, he was also a highly respected Oscar-nominated film composer in Ho ...
, composer *
Nikolay Karpol Nikolay Vasilyevich Karpol (russian: Николай Васильевич Карполь; 1 May 1938) is a Soviet and Russian women's volleyball coach. Known as ''The Howling Bear'', Karpol was a regular at the Olympic Games, with his teams usuall ...
, Russian women's volleyball coach *
Jerzy Kolendo Jerzy Władysław Kolendo (9 June 1933, Brześć, Poland – 28 February 2014, Warsaw) was an acknowledged Polish authority on the history and archaeology of Ancient Rome. He was an exponent of the French Annales school, an epigraphist and spec ...
, Polish classical archaeologist and historian * Harry Kopp (1880–1943), American lawyer and politician *
Pyotr Masherov Pyotr Mironovich Masherov, ''Piotr Mironavič Mašeraŭ''russian: Пётр Миронович Машеров (né Mashero; – 4 October 1980) was a Soviet partisan, statesman, and one of the leaders of the Belarusian resistance during Wo ...
, secretary of Belarusian committee of the Communist Party of Soviet Union * Yulia Nesterenko, Olympian women's 100 m champion * Dzmitryj Rubašeŭski (nom de guerre (“Hans”))(1992-2022), Belarusian volunteer killed in action defending Ukraine during the 2022 Russian invasion * Hienadz Shutau (1975 – 2020), a protestor killed during the protests against the 2020 Belarusian presidential election * The
Soloveitchik Soloveitchik ( he, סולובייצ'יק yi, סאָלאָווייטשיק) (also Soloveichik) is a surname. The name is a diminutive form of the Russian word соловей, "nightingale", since the Soloveitchiks are a family of Levites, who are co ...
rabbinical family associated with the Brisk yeshivas, and descendant Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik * David B. Steinman, American structural engineer; the designer of the
Mackinac Bridge The Mackinac Bridge ( ) is a suspension bridge spanning the Straits of Mackinac, connecting the Upper and Lower peninsulas of the U.S. state of Michigan. Opened in 1957, the bridge (familiarly known as "Big Mac" and "Mighty Mac") is the worl ...
called "Big Mac" * Aliaksandar Cvikievič (1888 – 1937), Belarusian politician, historian, jurist, philosopher and a victim of Stalin's purgesЦВІКЕВІЧ Аляксандр Іванавіч (Tsvikievich Alyaksandr Ivanavich)
in Belarusian)
*
Ganna Walska Ganna Walska (born Hanna Puacz on June 26, 1887 – March 2, 1984) was a Polish opera singer and garden enthusiast who created the Lotusland botanical gardens at her mansion in Montecito, California. She was married six times, four times to we ...
, Polish opera singer *
Liubov Charkashyna Liubov Viktorovna Charkashyna ( be, Любоў Віктараўна Чаркашына; russian: Любовь Викторовна Черкашина, born December 23, 1987) is a retired Belarusian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2012 ...
, Belarusian bronze medallist in the individual all-around rhythmic gymnastics competition at the
2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
* Rabbi Aaron ben Meir of Brest, eighteenth-century rabbi * Rabbi
Aharon Leib Shteinman Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman ( he, אהרן יהודה לייב שטינמן), also Shtainman or Steinman (November 3, 1914 – December 12, 2017), was a Haredi rabbi in Bnei Brak, Israel. Following the death of Yosef Shalom Elyashiv in 201 ...
, haredi rabbi in Israel * Sara Szweber, Bundist


Further reading

* Kristian Gantser hristian Ganzer Irina Yelenskaya, Yelena Pashkovich
t al. T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is deri ...
(ed.): Brest. Leto 1941 g. Dokumenty, materiyaly, fotografii. Smolensk: Inbelkul’t, 2016.


See also

* Names of European cities in different languages: B


References


External links


''Brest Stories Guide'' – Audiotheatre on the history of anti-semitism and the Shoah in Brest from 1937 to 1944 by the independent Brest theatre "Krylja Cholopa"
(English/Russian) * {{Authority control Archaeological sites in Belarus Belarus–Poland border crossings Cities in Belarus Brest Litovsk Voivodeship Brestsky Uyezd Polesie Voivodeship Populated places established in the 11th century Populated places in Brest Region 1019 establishments in Europe Holocaust locations in Belarus Jewish communities destroyed in the Holocaust