Brest (Belarusian: Бе́расьце, Брэст | Bieraście, Brest; also known as Brest-Litovsk and in Polish as Brześć Litewski, Brześć nad Bugiem or Brześć Białoruski; Russian: Брест, Lithuanian: Lietuvos Brasta (literally meaning "shallows of Lithuania") is a city (population 290,000 in 2004) in Belarus close to the Polish border where the Western Bug and Mukhavets Rivers meet. It is the capital city of the Brest voblast and is located at 52°08′ N 23°40′ E. Brest, Belarus Coat of Arms. ... 2004(MMIV) is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Bug at Wlodawa One of the two rivers called Bug (pronounced Boog), the Western Bug, or Buh (Belarusian: Захо́дні Буг; Russian: За́падный Буг; Ukrainian: Західний Буг, Zakhidnyi Buh), flows from central Ukraine to the west, forming part of the boundary between that nation and Poland, passes along the Polish-Belarusian... Muchawiec River (Belarusian: Мухаве́ц) is a river in Belarus. ... Brest voblast is one of the administrative regions in the Republic of Belarus located in the south-west of Poland and Ukraine. ...

It was a main railroad transfer point during Soviet times and it remains a rail transfer point and customs/immigration checkpoint on the Berlin/Moscow rail line. Some of the land in the rail yards is contaminated due to transhipping of radioactive materials during the Soviet regime. In Brest the rail cars had to be transferred between the Russian broad gauge and the European standard gauge. State motto (Russian): Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! (Transliterated: Proletarii vsekh stran, soedinyaytes!) (Translated: Workers of the world, unite!) Official language None; Russian (de facto) Capital Moscow Area  - Total  - % water Largest on the planet 22,402,200 km²  ?% Population  - Total  - Density 3rd before collapse 293,047,571 (July 1991) 13. ... Transshipment is the shipment of goods to an intermediate destination, and then from there to yet another destination. ... Radioactive decay is the set of various processes by which unstable atomic nuclei (nuclides) emit subatomic particles. ... Great Western Railway broad gauge steam locomotives awaiting scrapping in 1892 after the conversion to standard gauge. ... As railways developed and expanded one of the key issues to be decided was that of the rail gauge (the distance between the two rails of the track) which should be used. ...

History

Brest train station during World War I. Photo ca. 1915. Boris Feldblyum Collection

The city was founded by Slavs. As Berestye it was first mentioned in the Russian Primary Chronicle in 1019 as a town in Kievan Rus. It was subdued several times by Poland and by Lithuania, conquered by the Mongols in 1241. It was renamed Brest-Litovsk in the 16th century, after it became part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569. In 1596 it hosted the council which established the Eastern Catholic or Uniate Church. The Slavic peoples are the most numerous ethnic and linguistic body of peoples in Europe. ... The Russian Primary Chronicle (Russian: Повесть временных лет, Povest vremennykh let, which is often translated in English as Tale of Bygone Years), is a history of the early East Slavic state, Kievan Rus, from around 850 to 1110. ... Events Toi invasion: Jurchen pirates invade Kyushu. ... The Mongols are an ethnic group that originated in what is now Mongolia, Russia, and China, particularly Inner Mongolia. ... Events April 5 - Mongols of Golden Horde under the command of Subotai defeat feudal polish nobility, including Knights Templar, in the battle of Liegnitz April 27 - Mongols defeat Bela IV of Hungary in the battle of Sajo. ... (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Events January 11 - First recorded lottery in England. ... Events February 5 - 26 catholics crucified in Nagasaki, Japan. ... The term Eastern Rites may refer to the liturgical rites used by many ancient Christian Churches of Eastern Europe and the Middle East that, while being part of the Roman Catholic Church, are distinct from the Latin Rite or Western Church. ...

Brest passed to Russia when Poland-Lithuania was partitioned for a third time in 1795. It was captured by the German Empire in 1915, during World War I. In March 1918, in a fortress on the western outskirts of Brest at the confluence of the Western Bug and Mukhavets Rivers, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed, ending the war between Russia and the Central Powers and transferring the city and its surrounding region to the sphere of influence of the German Empire. This treaty was subsequently annulled by the treaties which ended the war. The Commonwealth around 1619 Official languages Polish, Latin Established church Roman Catholic Capital Cracow (until 1596) Warsaw (from 1596) Largest City Gdańsk, later Warsaw Head of state King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania Area about 1 million km² Population about 11 million Existed 1569 - 1795 The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth... 1795 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... The term German Empire commonly refers to Germany, from its consolidation as a unified nation-state on January 18, 1871, until the abdication of Kaiser (Emperor) Wilhelm II on November 9, 1918. ... 1915 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... World War I was primarily a European conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, stalemate trench warfare, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machineguns, and poison gas. ... 1918 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... Bug at Wlodawa One of the two rivers called Bug (pronounced Boog), the Western Bug, or Buh (Belarusian: Захо́дні Буг; Russian: За́падный Буг; Ukrainian: Західний Буг, Zakhidnyi Buh), flows from central Ukraine to the west, forming part of the boundary between that nation and Poland, passes along the Polish-Belarusian... Muchawiec River (Belarusian: Мухаве́ц) is a river in Belarus. ... The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a peace treaty signed on March 3, 1918, at Brest, formerly Brest-Litovsk, between Russia and the Central Powers, marking Russias exit from World War I. The treaty was practically obsolete before the end of the year but is significant as a chief... The Central Powers are depicted in red. ...

The newly reconstituted Poland took control of Brest in 1919. The city changed hands twice during the Polish-Soviet War and eventually stayed inside Polish borders, a development that was formally recognised by the Treaty of Riga in 1921. The Brest fortress, heavily damaged during World War I, was turned into war materiel magazines and its central part into a prison. In 1930 a trial of Wincenty Witos took place there. During the Polish September Campaign the city was defended by a small force of four infantry battalions under Gen. Konstanty Plisowski against the XIX Panzer Corps of Gen. Heinz Guderian. After four days of heavy fighting the Polish forces withdrew southwards on September 17. 1919 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... The Polish-Soviet War or Russo-Polish War — in Polish, often called the Bolshevik War (Wojna bolszewicka) — was the war (February 1919 – March 1921) that determined the borders between two nascent states in post-World War I Europe, Soviet Russia and the Second Polish Republic. ... The Peace of Riga (also known as the Treaty of Riga, Polish: Traktat Ryski) signed on 18th March 1921 between Poland and Soviet Russia ended the Polish-Bolshevik War. ... 1921 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... World War I was primarily a European conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, stalemate trench warfare, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machineguns, and poison gas. ... 1930 is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... Categories: People stubs | 1874 births | 1945 deaths | Prime Ministers of Poland ... The Polish Smarch Campaign — also known as Polish-German War of 1939, in Poland often as Wojna obronna 1939 roku (Defensive War of 1939), in Germany as Polish Campaign (Polenfeldzug), codenamed Fall Weiss (Case White) in the German General Staff — was the invasion of Poland by the armies of Nazi... Konstanty Plisowski (1890-1940) was a Polish general and military commander. ... General Heinz Guderian Heinz Wilhelm Guderian (17 June 1888 - 14 May 1954) was a military theorist and innovative General of the German Army during the Second World War. ... September 17 is the 260th day of the year (261st in leap years). ...

The city was invaded and annexed by the Soviet Union in 1939 in accordance with the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact partitioning Poland signed with Nazi Germany in August, 1939. Most Belarusans considered it a reunification of the Belarusan nation under one constituency (BSSR at that time). Hey. ... Molotov (left), Ribbentrop (in black) and Stalin The Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, also known as the Hitler-Stalin pact or Nazi-Soviet pact, was a non-aggression treaty between Germany and Russia, or more precisely between the Soviet Union and the Third Reich. ... Hey. ... language None. ...

On June 22, 1941 the city was attacked by Nazi Germany at the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, with the fortress in which the 1918 treaty had been signed acting as the focal point for the resistance. It held out for a month, establishing the city's status as the only Hero-Fortress among the Hero Cities of the Soviet Union. Brest's Jewish community was decimated under Nazi rule. The city was retaken by Soviet forces in 1944. June 22 is the 173rd day of the year (174th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 192 days remaining. ... 1941 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... Original German plan Operation Barbarossa (Unternehmen Barbarossa) was the German codename for Nazi Germanys invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that commenced on June 22, 1941. ... Hero-Fortress (крепость-герой - krepost-geroy) is the honorary title awarded to the Soviet fortress now located in Brest, Belarus (then part of the Byelorussian SSR) in 1965 for the heroic defence of the frontier stronghold during the very first weeks of the Great Patriotic War of 1941 to 1945. ... Hero City (город-герой or gorod-geroy in Russian) is an honorary title awarded to twelve cities and one city-fortress in the Soviet Union for outstanding heroism during the Great Patriotic War of 1941 to 1945. ... The word Jew (Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity; and often a combination of these attributes. ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ...

According to agreements of the Yalta Conference of February 1945, Brest changed hands yet again, being passed to the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic. It is now part of the independent country of Belarus. The Yalta Conference, sometimes called the Crimea Conference and codenamed the Argonaut Conference, was the wartime meeting from February 4 to 11, 1945 between the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union. ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Sights in and around Brest

A majestic Soviet style memorial was constructed on the site of the 1941 battle to commemorate the known and unknown defenders of the fortress. This war memorial is the largest tourist attraction of the city. In addition, an archeological museum of the old city is located near the site of the fortress. It offers objects and huts dated back to the 13th century that were found during excavations in the 1970s. (12th century - 13th century - 14th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 to 1300. ... This article provides extensive lists of events and significant personalities of the 1970s. ...

Belavezhskaya Pushcha National Park, 70 km north of Brest, is a biosphere reserve of world distinction and can be reached by car or bus. This virginal forest is home to rare European bison (wisent). There is a museum and zoo for tourists in the forest along with a small hotel and restaurant. Animals can be seen also in inclosures all the year round. Excursions can also be taken by horse and cart into the interior of the forest. Much logging is being done in the area to the consternation of nature preservationists. Białowieża Primaeval Forest, known as Belavezhskaya Pushcha (Белавеская пушча) in Belarus and Puszcza Białowieska in Poland, is an ancient virginal forest straddling the border between Belarus and Poland, located 70 km north of Brest. ... Binomial name Bison bonasus (Linnaeus, 1758) The Wisent (pronounced vE-zent) is the European bison, species Bison bonasus. ...

Kamyanets, Belarus, that lies on the way to the National park from Brest, features an outstanding landmark, the tower of Kamenets. The village of Kosava, where Tadeusz Kosciuszko was born, is also in the Brest region and features 19th century palace and Roman Catholic church. Kamyanets (also spelled Kamenets) (Belarusian: Камяне́ц) is a town located 40 km north of Brest, Belarus. ... Tadeusz Kościuszko. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ...

Brest also hosts the first Belarusian outdoor railway museum.

A Holocaust memorial commemorates the dead Jews of Brest ghetto. Concentration camp inmates during the Holocaust The Holocaust was Nazi Germanys systematic genocide (ethnic cleansing) of various ethnic, religious, national, and secular groups during World War II. Early elements include the Kristallnacht pogrom and the T-4 Euthanasia Program established by Hitler that killed some 200,000 people. ... A ghetto is an area where people from a specific ethnic background or united in a given culture or religion live as a group, voluntarily or involuntarily, in milder or stricter seclusion. ...

The local airport (code BQT), which has been closed since the breakup of the Soviet Union has recently began operating flights to the capital city Minsk and to Moscow and Novgorod in Russia on a weekly basis. Victory Square, the central place of Minsk Minsk (Belarusian: Мінск (official spelling in Belarus), Менск; Russian: ) is the capital and a major city of Belarus with a population of 1. ... Moscow (Russian: Москва́, Moskva, IPA:   listen?) is the capital of Russia, located on the river Moskva. ... Velikiy Novgorod (Но́вгород) is the foremost historic city of North-Western Russia, situated on the highway (and railway) connecting Moscow and St Petersburg. ...

Individuals associated with Brest

• Menachem Begin, former prime minister of Israel.
• David Dubinsky, former head of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America
• Louis Gruenberg, composer
• The Soloveitchik Rabbinical family associated with the Brisk yeshivas, and descendant Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik

Menachem Begin on the front cover of TIME 1982. ... David Dubinsky (David Dubnievski) (February 22, 1892 - September 17, 1982) was a U.S. labor leader. ... The Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America was a United States labor union known for its support for social unionism and progressive political causes. ... Brisk yeshivas commonly known as Brisk (a name used by many Yiddish-speaking Jews to refer to the town of Brest-Litovsk, located in what is now Belarus). ... Joseph Ber (Yosef Dov) Soloveitchik (1903-1993) was an Orthodox rabbi, Talmudist and modern Jewish philosopher. ...

See also

• Brisk

Brisk as a proper name may refer to: Brest, Belarus (Brest-Litovsk) The Brisk yeshivas, rabbinical college originally founded in Brest and relocated to Jerusalem. ...

External links

• http://www.brestonline.com
• Photos on Radzima.org
• Entry in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine
• Historic images of Brest
• http://www.brest-bel.narod.ru