Pruzhany ( be, Пружа́ны, ; russian: Пружаны, pl, Prużana, yi, פרוזשענע, Pruzhene) is a town in Brest Voblast, Belarus. Pruzhany is the center of the district in Brest Region, Belarus. Its population is about 18,500 people. The town is located at the confluence of the

Mukha River Mukha may refer to: * ''Mukha'' (1958 film), a Pakistani film * ''Mukha'' (TV series), a Philippine television drama *Mukha (game) or makha, a form of traditional Pashtun archery *Museum of Modern Art, Antwerp, formerly known as MuKHA * Mocha, Yem ...

and the

Vets Canal Vet, VET or the Vet may refer to: * Veterinary physician, a professional who treats disease, disorder and injury in animals * Veterinary medicine, the branch of science that deals with animals * Veteran, a person with long experience in a particula ...

, which give the start to Mukhavets River.

History

Pruzhany has been known as Dabuchyn since 1487. In the 16th century, it belonged to queen

Bona Sforza Bona Sforza d'Aragona (2 February 1494 – 19 November 1557) was Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania as the second wife of Sigismund I the Old, and Duchess of Bari and Rossano by her own right. She was a surviving member of ...

of Poland. She brought Renaissance influence and development of trades in this part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1589, her daughter Anna granted a town charter and the coat of arms of Pruzhany (a blue snake swallowing a baby on a silver shield). The coat of arms was borrowed from that of the Sforza family of Milan. Pruzhany was a center of pottery trade at those times. In the mid-19th century, a wealthy Polish landlord, Walenty Szwykowski, laid out a park and built a pretentious palace that houses a museum today, after a restoration. The museum has a rich collection on the history and arts of the region. Another tourist attraction is the landmark at the confluence of the Mukha River and the Vets Canal. It presents a statue of a passionate pair rising over waves. The Catholic Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was consecrated in 1884. The Jewish population in 1900 was 5,080. During World War II, Pruzhany was occupied by the Germans from 26 June 1941 to 17 July 1944. In 1941, the Nazis herded the Jews of

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

and the vicinity here to create a ghetto. In ''Aktion'' roundups on 28-31 January 1943, the Nazis deported 10,000 Jews of the Pruzhany ghetto to

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

, via

Birkenau Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

, where the men, women and children were murdered. In 2003, the central part of the town was reconstructed to prepare the town for the national harvest festival “ Dažynki” in autumn 2003. Pruzhany is the birthplace of

Joseph B. Soloveitchik Joseph Ber Soloveitchik ( he, יוסף דב הלוי סולובייצ׳יק ''Yosef Dov ha-Levi Soloveychik''; February 27, 1903 – April 9, 1993) was a major American Orthodox rabbi, Talmudist, and modern Jewish philosopher. He was a scion o ...

, the Torah scholar and Jewish leader. Also, the American actor Mandy Patinkin descends from ancestors from Pruzhany (as well as the nearby shtetl of

Drahichyn Drahichyn (Belarusian language, Belarusian: Драгічын, uk, Дорогичин, russian: Дрогичин, pl, Drohiczyn, yi, דראהיטשין ''Drohichin'', lt, Drohičinas) is a city in the Brest Region of Belarus. It the administrati ...

Raisa Žuk-Hryškievič Raisa Žuk-Hryškievič (, née Žukoŭskaja; 22 October 1919 – 2 April 2009) was a prominent figure of the Belarusian diaspora. Early life Žuk-Hryškievič was born on 22 October 1919 in Pruzhany, Pružany (then Brest district within the C ...

, a prominent figure of the

Belarusian diaspora The Belarusian diaspora refers to emigrants from the territory of Belarus as well as to their descendants. According to different researchers, there are between 2.5 and 3.5 million Belarusian descendants living outside the territory of the Rep ...

, was born in Pruzhany in 1919.

Gallery

File:Pruzhany river.jpg, One of the tourist attractions in today's Pruzhany is the landmark at the confluence of the

and the

File:Pru mem 1.jpg, The war memorial to commemorate the villages of Pruzhany District burnt to ashes by Nazis in the last war

References

External links

Photos on Radzima.org

* Pruzhany District Populated places in Brest Region Towns in Belarus Brest Litovsk Voivodeship Pruzhansky Uyezd Polesie Voivodeship Holocaust locations in Belarus {{Belarus-stub

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links