Dyvin ( be, Дзівін, russian: Дивин, pl, Dywin) is a small town (formally a village) in Belarusian region of Polesia. Located in the Kobryn District of Brest Region, on the southern bank of the
Prypiat
Pripyat ( ; russian: При́пять), also known as Prypiat ( uk, При́пʼять, , ), is an abandoned city in northern Ukraine, located near the border with Belarus. Named after the nearby river, Pripyat, it was founded on 4 February 19 ...
Kovel
Kovel (, ; pl, Kowel; yi, קאוולע / קאוולי ) is a city in Volyn Oblast (province), in northwestern Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Kovel Raion (district). Population:
Kovel gives its name to one of the oldest runi ...
road, it is close to the modern borders with Poland and Ukraine.
History
First mentioned in 1466, around 1546 the village of Dyvin received
city rights
Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...
. Around that time the town had 184 houses, a
market square
The market square (or sometimes, the market place) is a Town square, square meant for trading, in which a market is held. It is an important feature of many towns and cities around the world.Władysław IV Vasa granted the burghers with Magdeburg Law. The charter however was withdrawn by king
Stanisław August Poniatowski
Stanisław II August (born Stanisław Antoni Poniatowski; 17 January 1732 – 12 February 1798), known also by his regnal Latin name Stanislaus II Augustus, was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1764 to 1795, and the last monarch ...
in 1776. In 1795 the town, along with the rest of eastern Poland, was annexed by the Russian Empire in the effect of the
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for 12 ...
. Two years later the town, by then demoted to a mere village, was donated to
Pyotr Rumyantsev
Count Pyotr Alexandrovich Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky (russian: Пётр Алекса́ндрович Румя́нцев-Задунайский; – ) was one of the foremost Russian generals of the 18th century. He governed Little Russia in the name ...
as his personal property and its inhabitants were turned into
serfs
Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which developed ...
.
In 1878 the town had 2490 inhabitants, including 998 Jew The town also had four mills, two Orthodox churches, once Catholic church and a synagogu According to the 1921 Polish census the population of the town was 2299. Soon however the town was downgraded to a village again and attached to a
gmina
The gmina (Polish: , plural ''gminy'' , from German ''Gemeinde'' meaning ''commune'') is the principal unit of the administrative division of Poland, similar to a municipality. , there were 2,477 gminas throughout the country, encompassing over 4 ...
of Dywin.
The town became a part of Poland as a result of the 1921 Peace of Riga. It was retaken by the USSR in 1939, and annexed to the
Belarusian SSR
The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, or Byelorussian SSR; be, Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Savieckaja Sacyjalistyčnaja Respublika; russian: Белор ...
.
The German occupied the town in 1941. Jews of the town are imprisoned in a ghetto before being murdered in a mass execution in 1942 In October 1942 the first detachment of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army was created in Dyvin. In November 2012 Belarusian authorities forbade the inauguration of a memorial tablet honouring the UPA.Centre for Transition Studies & Anglo-Belarusian Society: ''The Journal of Belarusian Studies.'' p. 29
It remained part of the USSR following the war. It was made a town and a centre of a
rayon
Rayon is a semi-synthetic fiber, made from natural sources of regenerated cellulose, such as wood and related agricultural products. It has the same molecular structure as cellulose. It is also called viscose. Many types and grades of viscose f ...
, but in 1959 it was demoted back to a village. Since 1991 it is part of independent Belarus.