Drahichyn (Belarusian: Драгічын, romanizedDrahičyn; Russian: Дрогичин, romanizedDrogichin; Polish: Drohiczyn; Yiddish: דראהיטשין, romanizedDrohichin; Lithuanian: Drohičinas) is a town in Brest Region, in south-western Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Drahichyn District.[1] As of 2024, it has a population of 14,804.[1]

Drahichyn
Драгічын (Belarusian)
Дрогичин (Russian)
Railway station
Railway station
Flag of Drahichyn
Coat of arms of Drahichyn
Drahichyn is located in Belarus
Drahichyn
Drahichyn
Location in Belarus
Coordinates: 52°11′N 25°09′E / 52.183°N 25.150°E / 52.183; 25.150
CountryBelarus
RegionBrest Region
DistrictDrahichyn District
First mentioned1452
Population
 (2024)[1]
 • Total
14,804
Time zoneUTC+3 (MSK)
Postal code
225830
Area code+375 1644
License plate1

History

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Drohiczyn County seat in the 1930s

The settlement was first mentioned as Dowieczorowicze in 1452.

The Treaty of Drohiczyn between the city of Riga and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was signed in Drohiczyn in 1518.[citation needed]

It was located in the Pinsk County in the Brześć Litewski Voivodeship of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth until the Third Partition of Poland in 1795, when it was annexed by Russia. During World War I, the town was occupied by Germany from 1915 to 1918. After the war, it was part of reborn Poland, within which it was a county seat within the Polesie Voivodeship of Poland. At the time the town was also known as Drohiczyn Poleski, after the region of Polesie within which it is located, in order to distinguish it from the more historically significant town of Drohiczyn in Podlachia.

Following the joint German-Soviet invasion of Poland, which started World War II in September 1939, the town was first occupied by the Soviet Union until 1941, and then by Nazi Germany until 1944. The German occupiers established and operated a Nazi prison, a forced labour battalion for Jews,[2][3] and the Drahichyn Ghetto for local Jews during the Holocaust. In 1944 it was re-occupied by the Soviet Union, which eventually annexed it from Poland in 1945.

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Численность населения на 1 января 2024 г. и среднегодовая численность населения за 2023 год по Республике Беларусь в разрезе областей, районов, городов, поселков городского типа". belsat.gov.by. Archived from the original on 2 April 2024. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
  2. ^ "Gefängnis Drahicyn". Bundesarchiv.de (in German). Retrieved 22 August 2024.
  3. ^ "Jüdisches Arbeitsbataillon Drahicyn". Bundesarchiv.de (in German). Retrieved 22 August 2024.
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