Ivanava or Ivanovo is a town in Brest Region,

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

. It serves as the administrative center of

Ivanava District Ivanava district (; ) is a district (raion) of Brest region in Belarus. Its administrative center is Ivanava. As of 2024, it has a population of 35,097. Demographics At the time of the 2009 Belarusian census, Ivanava district had a population ...

. As of 2025, it has a population of 16,017.

History

First mentioned in the 14th century, initially, it was a village named ''Porkhovo''. In 1423 it was granted by the king

Władysław Jagiełło Władysław is a Polish given male name, cognate with Vladislav. The feminine form is Władysława, archaic forms are Włodzisław (male) and Włodzisława (female), and Wladislaw is a variation. These names may refer to: People Mononym * Włodzis ...

to the cathedral in

Lutsk Lutsk (, ; see #Names and etymology, below for other names) is a city on the Styr River in northwestern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Volyn Oblast and the administrative center of Lutsk Raion within the oblast. Lutsk has a populati ...

. Renamed to Janów, in 1465 it was granted city rights. A small town in

Polesia Polesia, also called Polissia, Polesie, or Polesye, is a natural (geographic) and historical region in Eastern Europe within the East European Plain, including the Belarus–Ukraine border region and part of eastern Poland. This region shou ...

, it shared the fate of the region. On May 16, 1657, it was the seat of the

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

dom of Saint Andrzej Bobola. Annexed by Russia during the

Partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partition (politics), partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the eli ...

in 1795, the town did not develop much, mostly because of the proximity to the much more populous town of

Pinsk Pinsk (; , ; ; ; ) is a city in Brest Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Pinsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. It is located in the historical region of Polesia, at the confluence of t ...

. At the end of the 19th century, it had circa 3000 inhabitants, mostly peasants and workers in a local minor textile works. Between 1915 and 1918 occupied by Germany, in 1919 it was transferred to Poland. During the Polish-Bolshevik War it was briefly occupied by the Russians between July and October 1920. After retaken by Poland, the town was the centre of mobilization of Gen. Jarosławcew's 3rd Volga Infantry Division, part of Gen.

Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz (10 February 1883 – 10 May 1940) was a Polish-Belarusian general and veteran of World War I, the Russian Civil War, Estonian War of Independence, Polish-Soviet War, and the Invasion of Poland at the start of Wor ...

's forces. Between the wars, the town remained a minor and rather non-notable centre of commerce in the area. In 1926 it was linked with the world by a new

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

. This however did not lead to fast development as the industry preferred other regions of Poland. In 1939, the town was retaken by 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 ...

and annexed to the

Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, Byelorussian SSR or Byelorussia; ; ), also known as Soviet Belarus or simply Belarus, was a Republics of the Soviet Union, republic of the Soviet Union (USSR). It existed between 1920 and 19 ...

. On June 27, 1941 the town was occupied by

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. During the German occupation most of the Jewish inhabitants of the area were murdered in the Holocaust. On January 22, 1943 30 locals were murdered as a reprisal for ''

Ponury Jan Piwnik (31 August 1912 – 16 June 1944) was a Polish World War II soldier, a '' cichociemny'' and a notable leader of the Home Army in the Świętokrzyskie Mountains. He used the nickname ''Ponury'' ("Gloomy" or "Grim") and ''Donat''. Biog ...

's'' action against the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

prison in Pinsk (see 1943 Pinsk Prison Raid). In July 1944 the town was liberated by the Soviet 61st Army. As a seat of a

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

between 1954 and 1962 and again from 1965, since 1991 the town is part of independent Belarus.

Notes

References

External links

Photos on Radzima.org

Pre-war photos of Janów Poleski

Janów on a lithography by

Napoleon Orda Napoleon Mateusz Tadeusz Orda (; ; 11 February 1807 – 26 April 1883) was a Polish–Lithuanian identity, Polish–Lithuanian musician, pianist, composer, and artist, best known for numerous sketches of historical sites of the former Polish–Lit ...

Janów-Kamień Koszyrski railroad as of 1926
* {{Authority control Populated places in Belarus Populated places in Brest region Holocaust locations in Belarus Historic Jewish communities in Belarus Ivanava district