Luninets (Horad Luninyets)
Luninets is said to be mentioned in print sources dating to 1540. Within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, it was part of Nowogródek Voivodeship. In 1793, the town was acquired by the Russian Empire in the course of the Second Partition of Poland. In 1888, while under Russian sovereignty, a railway junction was built in Luninets, linking it by rail to Warsaw, Rivne, Vilna and Homel, and a proper railroad station was added in 1905.
Luninets became part of the Second Polish Republic in 1921 following the Polish-Soviet War. In September 1939, Luninets was occupied by the Red Army and, on 14 November 1939, incorporated into the Byelorussian SSR.
Luninets was occupied by Nazi Germany from 10 July 1941 until 10 July 1944 and administered as a part of the Generalbezirk Wolhynien und Podolien of Reichskommissariat Ukraine. After 1944, Luninets remained part of the Soviet Union until 1991, at which time it became part of the newly independent Republic of Belarus.
The Jewish population was important in the town. From 1941 to 1943, 4 000 Jews were murdered in mass executions perpetrated by an Einsatzgruppe.
Map - Luninets (Horad Luninyets)
Map
Country - Belarus
Flag of Belarus |
Until the 20th century, different states at various times controlled the lands of modern-day Belarus, including Kievan Rus', the Principality of Polotsk, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Russian Empire. In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution in 1917, different states arose competing for legitimacy amid the Civil War, ultimately ending in the rise of the Byelorussian SSR, which became a founding constituent republic of the Soviet Union in 1922. After the Polish-Soviet War, Belarus lost almost half of its territory to Poland. Much of the borders of Belarus took their modern shape in 1939, when some lands of the Second Polish Republic were reintegrated into it after the Soviet invasion of Poland, and were finalized after World War II. During World War II, military operations devastated Belarus, which lost about a quarter of its population and half of its economic resources. The republic was redeveloped in the post-war years. In 1945, the Byelorussian SSR became a founding member of the United Nations, along with the Soviet Union.
Currency / Language
ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
---|---|---|---|
BYN | Belarusian ruble | Br | 2 |
ISO | Language |
---|---|
BE | Belarusian language |
RU | Russian language |