Ruzhany ( be, Ружаны, pl, Różana, yi, ראָזשינאָי, Rozhinoy, lt, Ružanai; former / alternative spellings include Różana and Ruzhinoy) is a small town located in Pruzhany Raion of

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 ...

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 ...

Geography

Ruzhany is situated on the river Ruzhanka and surrounded by picturesque hills. It is 140 km away from Brest, 38 km from

Ivatsevichy Ivacevičy ( be, Івацэ́вічы, russian: Ивацевичи, pl, Iwacewicze, lt, Ivasevičai) is a city in the Brest Province of Belarus, an administrative center of the Ivacevičy district. Sports Belarusian football club FC Ivatsevic ...

(where the nearest railway station is located), 45 km north-east from

Pruzhany 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 ...

, on the crossing of the roads from

Slonim Slonim ( be, Сло́нім, russian: Сло́ним, lt, Slanimas, lv, Sloņima, pl, Słonim, yi, סלאָנים, ''Slonim'') is a city in Grodno Region, Belarus, capital of the Slonimski rajon. It is located at the junction of the Ščar ...

and from Vaukavysk to Kosava.

History

The earliest mentioning of Ruzhany dates back to 1552. Following the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

the town was part of

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 populou ...

until September 1939, when it was occupied 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 nationa ...

and incorporated into the

Byelorussian SSR The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, or Byelorussian SSR; be, Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Savieckaja Sacyjalistyčnaja Respublika; russian: Белор� ...

. From 23 June 1941 until 13 July 1944, Ruzhany was occupied by Nazi Germany and administered as a part of

Bezirk Bialystok Bialystok District (German: ''Bezirk Bialystok'') was an administrative unit of Nazi Germany created during the World War II invasion of the Soviet Union. It was to the south-east of East Prussia, in present-day northeastern Poland as well as in sm ...

. Almost the entire pre-war population of 3,500 Jews were killed in the Holocaust, mostly at

Treblinka extermination camp Treblinka () was an extermination camp, built and operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II. It was in a forest north-east of Warsaw, south of the village of Treblinka in what is now the Masovian Voivodeship. The camp ...

. On Sept. 19, 1659, R.Yisrael ben Shalom and R.Tuvyah Bachrach were killed in Ruzhany on Rosh HaShana 5420, in the infamous

blood libel Blood libel or ritual murder libel (also blood accusation) is an antisemitic canardTurvey, Brent E. ''Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis'', Academic Press, 2008, p. 3. "Blood libel: An accusation of ritual mur ...

Notable residents

Some notable past residents of Ruzhany include: * The

Sapieha family The House of Sapieha (; be, Сапега, ''Sapieha''; lt, Sapiega) is a Polish-Lithuanian noble and magnate family of Lithuanian and Ruthenian origin,Энцыклапедыя ВКЛ. Т.2, арт. "Сапегі" descending from the medi ...

, influential Polish-Lithuanian aristocrats, who built a palace at Ruzhany (see below). * I. M. Pines, a famous writer and Zionist. *

Yitzhak Shamir Yitzhak Shamir ( he, יצחק שמיר, ; born Yitzhak Yezernitsky; October 22, 1915 – June 30, 2012) was an Israeli politician and the seventh Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms, 1983–1984 and 1986–1992. Before the establishment ...

, former

Prime Minister of Israel The prime minister of Israel ( he, רֹאשׁ הַמֶּמְשָׁלָה, Rosh HaMemshala, Head of the Government, Hebrew acronym: he2, רה״מ; ar, رئيس الحكومة, ''Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma'') is the head of government and chief exe ...

. *

Melech Epstein Melech Epstein ( yi, מלך עפשטײן, 1889–1979) was an American journalist and historian. His two most famous books, ''Jewish labor in U.S.A.'' and ''The Jew and communism'' are considered standard works. Early life Epstein was born i ...

, a US Yiddish language journalist. *

Louis Leon Ribak Louis Leon Ribak (3 December 1902 – 1979) was an American Social realism, social realist and Abstract art, abstract painter who was a member of the "Taos art colony#Taos Moderns, Taos Moderns" group of artists. Biography Born in the Grodno ...

, a US artist.

Notable sights

Interesting sights in Ruzhany include: * Ruzhany Palace: a large and impressive, but mostly ruined complex. Now undergoing complete renovation. * Two large churches: Trinity Church (Catholic, dating from 1617 ) and St Peter & Paul (Orthodox, built 1762-88 ) * A small chapel named for St. Casimir is in the town cemetery * An ancient Jewish graveyard and a large ruined synagogue * A small German cemetery

References

External links

"All About Ruzhany" (Unofficial Ruzhany Site)

Ruzhany at Radzima.org

Jewish Electronic Encyclopedia page on Ruzhany (in Russian)

Ruzhany
on KehilaLinks * Populated places in Brest Region Urban-type settlements in Belarus Nowogródek Voivodeship (1507–1795) Slonimsky Uyezd Polesie Voivodeship Holocaust locations in Belarus Pruzhany District {{Belarus-geo-stub