Miedzyrzec Podlaski
Encyclopedia
Międzyrzec Podlaski m is a city in Biała Podlaska County, Lublin Voivodeship
, Poland
, with the population of 17,162 inhabitants as of 2006. The total area of the city is 20.03 km2. Międzyrzec is located near the Krzna
river, not far from the border with Belarus.
, the city was annexed by Austro-Hungarian Empire. From 1809 until 1815, it belonged to the Duchy of Warsaw
, and after Napoleonic Wars
to Congress Poland
under the control of the Russian Tsar
. In 1867 the city became a stop on the Polish railway. Already since the 16th century Międzyrzec was home to a large Jewish community. At the end of the 1930s in the reborn Polish Republic
approximately 12,000 inhabitants, or ¾ of its population, were Jewish.
on September 13, 1939, and ceded to the Russians on September 25, in accordance with the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. Two weeks later, it was transferred back to Germany after the new Boundary Treaty. In 1940 six separate slave-labor camps were set up by the Nazis for some 2,000 local Jews; along with Judenrat
, and the Jewish police
.
The German army
entered the Soviet occupation zone
on June 22, 1941 under the codename Operation Barbarossa
. More Jews from the surrounding area including expellees from Kraków
were shipped in. On April 19, 1942 the Jews were ordered by the Gestapo to turn over 50 kilograms of gold within 3 days. Some 40 hostages were murdered on the streets. On August 25–26, 1942, the first mass deportation of Jews from Międzyrzec took place with around 10,000 prisoners forcibly put on 52 cattle cars (shipment #566 according to the German inventory) and sent to Treblinka extermination camp
. Two days later, the Międzyrzec Podlaski Ghetto
was established under the management of Judenrat
. Several more mass deportation actions followed. On the 17th of July 1943, the ghetto was officially liquidated, along with the local transit camp. Fewer than 1% of the Jewish population of the city survived the Nazi mass executions and deportations to death camps.
The town lies at the intersection of two important national roads: DK2 (Poland's main east-west connector) and DK19. In the future Expressway S19
will run just west of the town. A 6.6 km (4.1 mi) section of it already constructed as the town's bypass road and opened in 2008 allows north-south traffic on DK19 road to avoid the town centre.
with: Thouars
Kobryń
Lublin Voivodeship
- Administrative division :Lublin Voivodeship is divided into 24 counties : 4 city counties and 20 land counties. These are further divided into 213 gminas....
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, with the population of 17,162 inhabitants as of 2006. The total area of the city is 20.03 km2. Międzyrzec is located near the Krzna
Krzna
The Krzna is a river in eastern Poland, the left tributary of The Bug. The river is at 120 kilometers in length. The watershed area of the Krzna is 3353 square kilometers. The river flows through Poland's Lublin Voivodeship...
river, not far from the border with Belarus.
History of Międzyrzec Podlaski
The first official mention of Międzyrzec Podlaski as a city dates back to 1434, or (alternatively) 1455 and 1477 according to different historical sources. In 1795, during Partitions of PolandPartitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...
, the city was annexed by Austro-Hungarian Empire. From 1809 until 1815, it belonged to the Duchy of Warsaw
Duchy of Warsaw
The Duchy of Warsaw was a Polish state established by Napoleon I in 1807 from the Polish lands ceded by the Kingdom of Prussia under the terms of the Treaties of Tilsit. The duchy was held in personal union by one of Napoleon's allies, King Frederick Augustus I of Saxony...
, and after Napoleonic Wars
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
to Congress Poland
Congress Poland
The Kingdom of Poland , informally known as Congress Poland , created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna, was a personal union of the Russian parcel of Poland with the Russian Empire...
under the control of the Russian Tsar
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. In 1867 the city became a stop on the Polish railway. Already since the 16th century Międzyrzec was home to a large Jewish community. At the end of the 1930s in the reborn Polish Republic
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...
approximately 12,000 inhabitants, or ¾ of its population, were Jewish.
World War II
In 1939, during the Nazi–Soviet Invasion of Poland, the city was overrun by WehrmachtWehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
on September 13, 1939, and ceded to the Russians on September 25, in accordance with the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. Two weeks later, it was transferred back to Germany after the new Boundary Treaty. In 1940 six separate slave-labor camps were set up by the Nazis for some 2,000 local Jews; along with Judenrat
Judenrat
Judenräte were administrative bodies during the Second World War that the Germans required Jews to form in the German occupied territory of Poland, and later in the occupied territories of the Soviet Union It is the overall term for the enforcement bodies established by the Nazi occupiers to...
, and the Jewish police
Jewish Ghetto Police
Jewish Ghetto Police , also known as the Jewish Police Service and referred to by the Jews as the Jewish Police, were the auxiliary police units organized in the Jewish ghettos of Europe by local Judenrat councils under orders of occupying German Nazis.Members of the did not have official...
.
The German army
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
entered the Soviet occupation zone
Soviet occupation of Poland
Soviet occupation of Poland can refer to*Period from 1939 to 1941 - see Occupation of East Poland by Soviet Union*Period from 1945-1989 - see Northern Group of Forces...
on June 22, 1941 under the codename Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
. More Jews from the surrounding area including expellees from Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
were shipped in. On April 19, 1942 the Jews were ordered by the Gestapo to turn over 50 kilograms of gold within 3 days. Some 40 hostages were murdered on the streets. On August 25–26, 1942, the first mass deportation of Jews from Międzyrzec took place with around 10,000 prisoners forcibly put on 52 cattle cars (shipment #566 according to the German inventory) and sent to Treblinka extermination camp
Treblinka extermination camp
Treblinka was a Nazi extermination camp in occupied Poland during World War II near the village of Treblinka in the modern-day Masovian Voivodeship of Poland. The camp, which was constructed as part of Operation Reinhard, operated between and ,. During this time, approximately 850,000 men, women...
. Two days later, the Międzyrzec Podlaski Ghetto
Miedzyrzec Podlaski Ghetto
The Międzyrzec Podlaski Ghetto was one of the ghettos established by the German Nazis for the local Jewish population in the General Government during the Holocaust in World War II....
was established under the management of Judenrat
Judenrat
Judenräte were administrative bodies during the Second World War that the Germans required Jews to form in the German occupied territory of Poland, and later in the occupied territories of the Soviet Union It is the overall term for the enforcement bodies established by the Nazi occupiers to...
. Several more mass deportation actions followed. On the 17th of July 1943, the ghetto was officially liquidated, along with the local transit camp. Fewer than 1% of the Jewish population of the city survived the Nazi mass executions and deportations to death camps.
Economy
Of the approximately 4,900 employed citizens of the city, ca. 36% work in industrial fields, 19% in trade markets, and 11% in education. The unemployment rate in the city was 22% in October 2005.The town lies at the intersection of two important national roads: DK2 (Poland's main east-west connector) and DK19. In the future Expressway S19
Expressway S19 (Poland)
Expressway S19 or express road S19 is a major road in Poland which is planned to run from the border crossing to Belarus in Kuźnica through Białystok, Lublin and Rzeszów, to the border with Slovakia at Barwinek, where it will connect with future R4 expressway .The total planned length is...
will run just west of the town. A 6.6 km (4.1 mi) section of it already constructed as the town's bypass road and opened in 2008 allows north-south traffic on DK19 road to avoid the town centre.
International relations
Międzyrzec Podlaski is referred to by various names in different languages including Mezri'tsh, , , , , , and .Twin towns — Sister cities
Międzyrzec Podlaski is twinnedTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with: Thouars
Thouars
Thouars is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department in western France.It is on the River Thouet. Its inhabitants are known as Thouarsais.-History:...
Kobryń
Kobryn
Kobryn or Kobrin is a city in the Brest voblast of Belarus and the center of the Kobryn Raion. The city is located in the southwestern corner of Belarus where the Mukhavets River and Dnepr-Bug Canal meet. The city lies about 52 km east of the city of Brest. Kobryn is located at Latitude...
Notable people
- Jan BrożekJan BrozekJan Brożek was a Polish polymath: a mathematician, astronomer, physician, poet, writer, musician and rector of the Kraków Academy.-Life:...
- Dov Ber of Mezeritch
- Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski
- August Aleksander CzartoryskiAugust Aleksander CzartoryskiPrince August Aleksander Czartoryski was a Polish-Lithuanian noble , magnate, and founder of the family fortune.August became Major-General of the Polish Army in 1729, voivode of the Ruthenian Voivodship in 1731, General Starost of Podolia in 1750–1758, and a Knight of Malta...
- Konstanty Adam CzartoryskiKonstanty Adam CzartoryskiPrince Konstanty Adam Czartoryski was a Polish szlachcic. Colonel since 1809 in the Duchy of Warsaw and Brigadier General since 1815 in Congress Poland....
- Yehoshua Leib DiskinYehoshua Leib DiskinYehoshua Yehuda Leib Diskin , also known as the Maharil Diskin, was a leading rabbi, Talmudist and Biblical commentator. He served as a rabbi in Łomża, Mezritch, Kovno, Shklov, Brisk and finally Jerusalem, after moving to Eretz Yisrael in 1878....
- Morris Michael EdelsteinMorris Michael EdelsteinMorris Michael Edelstein was a Polish-born Congressional Representative from the state of New York. Edelstein was born in Meseritz , Poland, and at three years of age immigrated to the United States with his parents, who settled in New York City. He attended public schools and Cooper Union...
- Judah David Eisenstein
- Stanisław Jan Jabłonowski
- Jacob ben Wolf KranzJacob ben Wolf KranzJacob ben Wolf Kranz of Dubno , the Dubner Maggid , was a Lithuania -born preacher . - First I Shoot the Arrow :...
- Kazimierz KierzkowskiKazimierz KierzkowskiKazimierz Kierzkowski was a Polish political and social activist, major of the Polish Army and member of the Armia Krajowa....
- Ryszard KornackiRyszard KornackiRyszard Kornacki it a Polish poet and essayist from Międzyrzec Podlaski.* Wyjście z ciszy ,* Szukanie człowieka ,* Złote słońce słowa ,* Puszka Pandory ,* Miniatury ,* Zapis dnia ,...
- Sława Przybylska
- Franciszek StefaniukFranciszek StefaniukFranciszek Stefaniuk is Polish politician from Agrarian Polish People's Party , who serve as a Sejm Member since Contract Sejm...
- Stanisław Żmijan
External links
- Międzyrzec Podlaski Home Page (in Polish)
- Portal of young people of Międzyrzec Podlaski
- Międzyrzec Podlaski Amateur Photography Board (in Polish)