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Rakaw (; ; , ) is an agrotown in Valozhyn District, Minsk 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 stands on the Islach River from
Valozhyn Valozhyn or Volozhin (, ; ; ; ; ) is a town in Minsk Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Valozhyn District. It is located northwest of the capital Minsk, on the Valozhynka River in the Neman, Neman River basin, and the begi ...
and from
Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...
, the capital of Belarus. In 2001, it had a population of 2,106.


History

The area has been inhabited since ancient times, which was proven when the settlement known as Valy was found on the river Islach. In the 16th century, the ruins were used as a platform for feudal castle building. The Rakaw castle can be found on the map created by Tomasz Makowski in 1613. In 14th-century documents, settlements near-contemporary Rakaw are mentioned for the first time. Rakaw itself is mentioned in 15th-century chronicles. In 1465
Casimir Jagiellon Casimir IV (Casimir Andrew Jagiellon; ; Lithuanian: ; 30 November 1427 – 7 June 1492) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447 until his death in 1492. He was one of the most active Polish-Lithuanian rulers; under ...
gave Rakaw as a gift to the chancellor of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...
,
Mykolas Kęsgaila Mykolas Kęsgaila Valimantaitis''Mykolas'' (Michael) is his Christian given name, ''Kęsgaila'' is his pagan given name, and ''Valimantaitis'' is his patronymic used as last name. His sons used ''Kęsgaila'' as their last name. (died ) was a Lit ...
. In 1550, it passed to Jan Zawisza of
Zadora coat of arms Zadora (''Płomień, Płomienie, Płomieńczyk'') is a Polish heraldry, Polish coat of arms which was used by many szlachta families in the former territories of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. History The ea ...
as a part of an inheritance. Raków was a
private town Private towns in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth were privately owned towns within the lands owned by magnates, bishops, knights and princes, among others. Amongst the most well-known former private magnate towns are Białystok, Zamość, R ...
, administratively located in the Mińsk Voivodeship of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...
. In the 17th century, it passed to the
Sanguszko The House of Sanguszko is a Polish and Lithuanian noble and aristocratic family of Lithuanian and Ruthenian origin, connected to the Gediminid dynasty. Like other princely houses of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, its origins are considered m ...
family. In 1686, noblewoman Konstancja Teodora Sanguszko founded a Dominican Catholic monastery, and in 1702 Kazimierz Sanguszko, voivode of Minsk, founded a Basilian
Uniat The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also known as the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous (''sui iuris'') particular churches of ...
monastery. The town was annexed by 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 ...
in the
Second Partition of Poland The 1793 Second Partition of Poland was the second of partitions of Poland, three partitions (or partial annexations) that ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. The second partition (politics), partition occurred i ...
in 1793. The first stone castle in the town was constructed. In 1794, Russian Empress
Catherine the Great Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter I ...
seized Rakaw from the Sanguszko family and gave it to General Saltykov, who, however, sold it to Wawrzyniec Zdziechowski in 1804. Following the unsuccessful Polish
November Uprising The November Uprising (1830–31) (), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in Russian Partition, the heartland of Partitions of Poland, partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. ...
, in the 1830s, the Dominican and Basilian monasteries were closed by the Tsarist authorities. After the unsuccessful Polish
January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...
, the stone castle was turned into an Orthodox church, which still exists to this day. The Polish Zdziechowski family owned Rakaw until 1939. This period marked a time of prosperity for Rakaw: in 1843, they opened factories to produce agricultural machines. By 1880, about 16 glass factories operated in Rakaw. The village had
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 ...
and privileges. There were two watermills, a brick factory, a lumber mill, and a postal telegraph office (its ruins still remain). By the end of the 19th century, the population of Rakaw was about 3,600 people, almost 60% of whom were Jews. From 1904 to 1906, the construction of the Church of Saint Virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit Castle was finished. It was built with donations from the local people, and is an example of
Neo-Gothic architecture Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...
. In 1915, the local citizen Nevah-Girsha Haimov Pozdnyakov organized automobile shipping between Rakaw and
Zaslawye Zaslawye or Zaslavl is a town in Minsk District, Minsk Region, Belarus. It is located northwest of the capital Minsk. In 2009, its population was 14,400. As of 2025, it has a population of 17,317. History According to chronicles, Zaslawye was f ...
, a nearby town. During the
Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (14 February 1919 – 18 March 1921) was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, following World War I and the Russian Revolution. After the collapse ...
, it was recaptured by the Poles, and with the
Treaty of Riga The Treaty of Riga was signed in Riga, Latvia, on between Poland on one side and Soviet Russia (acting also on behalf of Soviet Belarus) and Soviet Ukraine on the other, ending the Polish–Soviet War (1919–1921). The chief negotiators of ...
of 1921 confirmed it as part of the reborn
Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...
. Administratively, Raków was located in the Stołpce County in the Nowogródek Voivodeship until 1927, and afterwards in the Mołodeczno County in the Wilno Voivodeship. In the 1921 census, 63.7% people declared
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...
nationality, 31.9% declared Jewish nationality, and 4.2% declared Belarusian nationality. During the joint German-Soviet
invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...
at the start of
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 ...
, launched in accordance to the
Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, officially the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and also known as the Hitler–Stalin Pact and the Nazi–Soviet Pact, was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Ge ...
, on 17 September 1939, it was the site of fierce Polish defense against the much more numerous Soviet invaders. Afterwards the town was plundered by the Soviets, and local
intelligentsia The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the i ...
and wealthy residents were persecuted. Princess Drucka-Lubecka, wife of Polish colonel Konstanty Drucki-Lubecki, who himself was murdered in the
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 ...
, took refuge in the town, and was aided by the local population.Węglicka, p. 195 Under
Soviet occupation During World War II, the Soviet Union occupied and annexed several countries effectively handed over by Nazi Germany in the secret Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939. These included the eastern regions of Poland (incorporated into three differe ...
it was included within 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 ...
. From 1941, it was occupied by
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 ...
. The Germans imposed a ban on the Polish language. On 21 August 1941, a ghetto was established in Rakaw. The ghetto lasted until 4 February 1942, when its population was herded into one of the ghetto's four synagogues and burned to death. The Polish resistance movement was active, including the ''Związek Młodych Orląt'' organization and the
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 ...
. Local Polish youth later also fought against Germany in the
Naliboki forest Naliboki Forest (; ) (''pushcha'': wild forest, primeval forest)) is a large forest complex in northwestern Belarus, on the right bank of the Neman River, on the Belarusian Ridge.Dagnoslaw Demski, NALIBOKI I PUSZCZA NALIBOCKA — ZARYS DZIEJÓW I ...
,
Kampinos Forest Kampinos Forest () is a large forest complex located in Masovian Voivodeship, west of Warsaw in Poland. It covers a part of the ancient valley of the Vistula basin, between the Vistula and the Bzura rivers. The forest began to form 14-11,000 yea ...
and
Kielce Kielce (; ) is a city in south-central Poland and the capital of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. In 2021, it had 192,468 inhabitants. The city is in the middle of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (Holy Cross Mountains), on the banks of the Silnic ...
region.Węglicka, p. 196 In 1944, the town was re-occupied by the Soviet Union, and eventually annexed from Poland in 1945.


Attractions

*Glacial conglomerate near the
Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...
–Volozhin highway *Ancient settlement *Jewish cemetery (1642) *Our Saviour and Transfiguration Church (1793) *Catholic St. Ann Chapel (1862) *Orthodox cemetery (19th century) * Church of Saint Virgin Mary (1904–1906) *Crypt and burial vault of Drucka-Lubecka *Felix Yanushkevich Ethnographic museum


Notable people

* Kazimierz Zdziechowski (1878–1942), Polish writer and publicist, murdered in the
Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...
*
Ida Rosenthal Ida Rosenthal (née Kaganovich; January 9, 1886 – March 29, 1973) was a Belarusian-born American dressmaker and businesswoman who co-founded Maidenform. Ida is considered to be the creator of the modern bra and her company Maidenform went o ...
(1886–1973), Russian Empire-born American dressmaker and businesswoman who co-founded
Maidenform Maidenform Brands is a manufacturer of women's bras, underwear, and shapewear founded in 1922. History The company was founded in Bayonne, New Jersey in 1922 and sought to appeal to the flapper subculture of the time. Maidenform converted ...
* Avraham Kalmanowitz (1887–1964),
Rav ''Rav'' (or ''Rab'', Modern Hebrew: ) is the Hebrew generic term for a person who teaches Torah or is a Jewish spiritual guide or a rabbi. For example, Pirkei Avot (in the Talmud) states (1:6) that: The term ''rav'' is also Hebrew for ''rabbi ...
of Rakov


References


External links


The murder of the Jews of Rakaw
during
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 ...
, at
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 ...
website * {{Authority control Valozhyn district Agrotowns in Belarus Populated places in Minsk region