Rakaw
Rakaw
Ракаў (Belarusian) | |
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Rakaw
History
The area has been inhabited since ancient times, which was proven when the settlement known as Valy (Валы) was found on the river
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The town was annexed by the Russian Empire in the Second Partition of Poland in 1793. The first stone castle in the town was constructed. In 1794, Russian Empress Catherine the Great seized Rakaw from the Sanguszko family and gave it to General Saltykov, who, however, sold it to Wawrzyniec Zdziechowski in 1804.[3] Following the unsuccessful Polish November Uprising, in the 1830s, the Dominican and Basilian monasteries were closed by the Tsarist authorities.[3] After the unsuccessful Polish January Uprising, the stone castle was turned into an Orthodox church, which still exists to this day.
The Polish Zdziechowski family owned Rakaw until 1939. This period marked a time of prosperity for Rakaw: in 1843, they opened factories to produce agricultural machines. By 1880, about 16 glass factories operated in Rakaw. The village had
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During the Polish–Soviet War, it was recaptured by the Poles, and with the Treaty of Riga of 1921 confirmed it as part of the reborn Second Polish Republic. Administratively, Raków was located in the Stołpce County in the Nowogródek Voivodeship until 1927, and afterwards in the Mołodeczno County in the Wilno Voivodeship. In the 1921 census, 63.7% people declared Polish nationality, 31.9% declared Jewish nationality, and 4.2% declared Belarusian nationality.[4]
During the joint German-Soviet invasion of Poland at the start of World War II, launched in accordance to the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, on 17 September 1939, it was the site of fierce Polish defense against the much more numerous Soviet invaders.[5] Afterwards the town was plundered by the Soviets, and local intelligentsia and wealthy residents were persecuted.[6] Princess Drucka-Lubecka, wife of Polish colonel Konstanty Drucki-Lubecki, who himself was murdered in the Katyn massacre, took refuge in the town, and was aided by the local population.[7] Under Soviet occupation it was included within the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. From 1941, it was occupied by Nazi Germany. The Germans imposed a ban on the Polish language.[7] On 21 August 1941, a ghetto was established in Rakaw. The ghetto lasted until 4 February 1942, when its population was herded into one of the ghetto's four synagogues and burned to death.[8] The Polish resistance movement was active, including the Związek Młodych Orląt organization and the Home Army.[9] Local Polish youth later also fought against Germany in the Naliboki forest, Kampinos Forest and Kielce region.[10] In 1944, the town was re-occupied by the Soviet Union, and eventually annexed from Poland in 1945.
Attractions
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2021) |
- Glacial conglomerate near the Minsk–Volozhin highway
- Ancient settlement
- Jewish cemetery (1642)
- Our Saviour and Transfiguration Church (1793)
- Catholic St. Ann Chapel (1862)
- Orthodox cemetery (19th century)
- Church of Saint Virgin Mary (1904–1906)
- Crypt and burial vault of Drucka-Lubecka
- Felix Yanushkevich Ethnographic museum
Notable residents
- Vyachaslau Ragoisha, translator, author of articles on the history of Belarusian literature
- Jazep Januszkiewicz (born 1959), coauthor of a book on the history of Belarusian literature, writer
- Kazimierz Zdziechowski (1878–1942), Polish writer and publicist, murdered in the Auschwitz concentration camp
- Ida Rosenthal (1886–1973), Russian Empire-born American dressmaker and businesswoman who co-founded Maidenform
- Avraham Kalmanowitz (1887–1964), Rav of Rakov
Notes
References
- ^ Rakaw (in Belarusian)
- ^ a b Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom IX (in Polish). Warszawa. 1888. p. 508.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ a b c Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom IX. p. 509.
- ^ Skorowidz miejscowości Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej. Tom VII. Część I (in Polish). Warszawa: Główny Urząd Statystyczny. 1923. p. 72.
- ISBN 83-05-13390-7.
- ^ Węglicka, pp. 194–195
- ^ a b Węglicka, p. 195
- ISBN 9856372194.)
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - ^ Węglicka, pp. 195–196
- ^ Węglicka, p. 196
External links
- The murder of the Jews of Rakaw during World War II, at Yad Vashem website
- Rakov, Belarus at JewishGen
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