Babruysk — latest news, discussion & facts — IJR

History

Babruysk is one of the oldest cities in Belarus. It was first mentioned in writing in the middle of the 14th century. Investigations by archaeologists revealed that in the 5th and 6th centuries there existed Slavic settlements up the river Biarezina from where Babruysk is currently located; findings of stone tools and weapons suggest that people have lived in the area since the Stone Age.

During the reign of Vladimir I, Prince of Kiev, in place of modern-day Babruysk there was a village whose inhabitants were occupied with fishing and beaver trapping. This is where the name Babruysk originated. For many centuries Babruysk was part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and was an important militarily fortified border post. In the 14th century a castle was built on one of the hills near the Berezina River.

Babruysk was not only a major military base, but also a prominent trade center. There is evidence of a market containing nearly one hundred stalls, which implies significant financial activity. In the first half of the 17th century Babruysk became a big trade outpost thanks to its strategic position at the intersection of major trade routes and the Berezina river. There was a flowering of skilled tradesmen, including carpenters, blacksmiths, goldsmiths, and bakers. The population in the first half of the 17th century was between 2,000 and 5,000 people.

The town was surrounded by fortifications made from wood and earth, whose length stretched for over 3 km (2 mi). These included a protective earth barrier, wooden walls, and almost a dozen two-story watchtowers. In the walls there were openings designed for the placement of firearms. After the Second Partition of Poland in 1793 it came into the hands of Imperial Russia. In 1810, the construction of a fortress began to mark the border between Russia and Austria and Prussia; in 1812 it was almost completed and was successful in repelling Napoleon's attack for four months. After the war the building was renewed on a large scale, and it was completed in 1820. That was one of the western Russian fortresses. The Babruysk fortress has served its purpose for many decades and today it is a major tourist attraction.

The 1861 census showed a population of 15,766. The ethnic groups living in Babruysk included Belarusians, Ukrainians, Poles, and Jews. As in other cities of Belarus, most of the buildings were constructed from wood. In 1866 there were 1498 houses, only 29 of which were made from brick.

There was a steady increase in the Jewish population of Babruysk following the Napoleonic Wars. By 1897, in the population of 34,336 citizens, 60%, or 20,760 were Jews. Most of them were employed in crafts, industry, and trade.

During the 1890s, the citizens of Babruysk witnessed pogroms after the assassination of the Russian emperor Alexander II. Many of the attacks were repelled by armed Jewish self-defense.

In 1902, the Great Fire of Babruysk left 2,500 families homeless and destroyed over 250 businesses, 15 schools and the market. There were more than 7 million rubles in property damage. However, the city was quickly rebuilt, this time with brick and stone.

In 1904 the 40th Infantry Division of the Imperial Russian Army had its headquarters here.

Between February 2 and March 11, 1918, was a Battle of Bobrujsk, between units of the Polish I Corps in Russia, commanded by General Jozef Dowbor-Musnicki, fought with the Red Army over the control of the city and region of Babruysk.

In 1918–1920, the town was captured by Polish forces.

Notable people

Abba Ahimeir (November 2, 1897 – June 6, 1962), Jewish journalist, historian, maximalist ideologue and activist of Zionist Revisionist Movement

Andrei Arlovski (born 1979), former UFC heavyweight champion.

Bi-2 rock band (Russia): both founders are from Babruysk.

Maxim Neafit Bujnicki (born 1981), Ukrainian film director and screenwriter

Cheev (born 1993), Belarusian-Ukrainian singer and songwriter

Eliyahu Dobkin (December 31, 1898 – October 26, 1976), Labor Zionist leader, signatory of Israeli declaration of independence, a founder of the Israel Museum, active in the Jewish Agency and the Zionist Organization.

Celia Dropkin (1887–1956), American Yiddish poet

Arkadi Duchin (born 1963), Israeli singer-songwriter and musical producer

Baruch Epstein (1860–1941), Lithuanian rabbi, son of Rabbi Yechiel Michel Epstein. Best known for Temimah commentary on the Torah.

Yechiel Michel Epstein (January 24, 1829 – February 24, 1908), rabbi and authority in Jewish law in Lithuania, known for his book Aruch HaShulchan.

Joshua Louis Goldberg (1896–1994), American rabbi, first rabbi commissioned as U.S. Navy chaplain in WWII, third to serve in the Navy, first to reach the rank of Navy Captain, first to retire after full active-duty career

Zalman Gorelik (1908–1987), geologist (tectonics specialist)

Avraham Katznelson (1888–1956), Zionist politician in Mandate Palestine, signatory of the Israeli declaration of independence

Berl Katznelson (1887–1944), chief figure in Labor Zionism, instrumental to the establishment of the modern state of Israel

Rachel Katznelson-Shazar (1885–1975), Zionist activist, wife of Zalman Shazar, the third President of Israel

Ruslan Kogan (born 1982), Australian entrepreneur and self-made millionaire

Michaš Kukabaka (1936), Soviet Belarusian dissident described as „the last Soviet political prisoner in the USSR“

Aaron Lebedeff (1873–1960), Yiddish theater star, singer

Kadish Luz (1895–1972), Israeli Minister of Agriculture (1955–1959), Speaker of the Knesset (1959–1969), acting president for one month in 1963

Alexander Mikhailovich Orlov (born Leiba L. Feldbin; 1895-1973), Soviet secret police colonel, NKVD Rezident in Second Spanish Republic, avoided execution in 1938 by fleeing to the USA.

Grigory Nemtsov (1948–2010), Latvian journalist and politician

Yelena Piskun (born 1978), two-time world champion in artistic gymnastics

Dovid Raskin (1927–2011), rabbi associated with the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement

Ilia Rodov, Israeli art historian

Efraim Sevela (1928–2010), Soviet writer, screenwriter, director, and producer. Emigrated from the Soviet Union to Israel, then to the United States and Russia.

Shmaryahu Noah Schneersohn, chassidic rabbi

David Shimoni (1891–1956), Israeli poet, writer and translator

Eliyahu Simpson (1889–1976), rabbi

Yitzhak Tabenkin (1888–1971), Zionist activist and politician, co-founder of the Kibbutz Movement

Yosef Tunkel (1881–1949), Jewish–Belarusian–American writer of poetry and humorous prose in Yiddish

Gary Vaynerchuk (born 1975), serial entrepreneur, CEO, investor, author, public speaker

Avraam Zak (1829–1893), Russian-Jewish banker and philanthropist

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Etymology

History

World War II

Postwar era

Climate

Notable people

International relations

Places of interest

In popular culture

Related journals