Pruzhany is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

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 Pruzhany District. 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, an ABS CBN TV show focus on public affairs *Mukha (game) or makha, a form of traditional Pashtun archery *Museum of Modern ...

and the Vets Canal, where the

Mukhavets The Mukhavets ( ; , ) is a river in western Belarus. A tributary of the Bug River, the Mukhavets rises in Pruzhany, Belarus, where the Mukha river and the canal converge, flows through south-western Belarus and merges with the Bug River in B ...

River rises. As of 2025, it has a population of 18,824.

History

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

Bona Sforza Bona Sforza (2 February 1494 – 19 November 1557) was Queen consort, Queen of Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569), Poland and List of Lithuanian consorts, Grand Duchess of Lithuania as the second wife of Sigismund the Old, and Duchess of Bari and ...

of Poland. She brought

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

influence and development of trades in this part 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 1589, her daughter Anna granted a

town charter A city charter or town charter (generically, municipal charter) is a legal document (''charter'') establishing a municipality such as a city or town. The concept developed in Europe during the Middle Ages. Traditionally, the granting of a 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 Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. 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 A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

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 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 ...

, Pruzhany was occupied by the Germans from 26 June 1941 to 17 July 1944. In 1941, the

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 ...

s herded the

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

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

and the vicinity here to create a

ghetto A ghetto is a part of a city in which members of a minority group are concentrated, especially as a result of political, social, legal, religious, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished than other ...

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

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, 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 consisted of Auschw ...

, via

Birkenau 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 ...

, 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 ( ''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 of the Lithuanian Jewish Soloveitchik rabbinic ...

, the Torah scholar and Jewish leader. Also, the American actor

Mandy Patinkin Mandel "Mandy" Bruce Patinkin (; born November 30, 1952) is an American actor and singer, known for his work in musical theatre, television, and film. As a critically acclaimed Broadway (theatre), Broadway performer he has collaborated with Step ...

descends from ancestors from Pruzhany (as well as the nearby

shtetl or ( ; , ; Grammatical number#Overview, pl. ''shtetelekh'') is a Yiddish term for small towns with predominantly Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi Jewish populations which Eastern European Jewry, existed in Eastern Europe before the Holocaust. The t ...

Drahichyn Drahichyn or Drogichin is a town in Brest Region, in south-western Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Drahichyn District. As of 2025, it has a population of 14,743. History The settlement was first mentioned as ''Dowieczorowic ...

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 Belarus which includes their descendants. According to different researchers, there are between 2.5 and 3.5 million Belarusian descendants living outside the territory of the Republic of Bel ...

, was born in Pruzhany in 1919. The former Pruzhany (air base) is nearby.

Climate

Gallery

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

Notes

References

External links