West Belarus facts for kids
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West Belarus is a name for a part of modern Belarus that used to belong to Poland between 1919 and 1939. This area was a special part of history because it changed hands between different countries.
Contents
Where Was West Belarus?
This land mainly covers what are now the Hrodna and Brest regions (called voblasts) in Belarus. It also includes smaller parts of today's Minsk and Vitsebsk regions.
Who Lived in West Belarus?
The people who lived in West Belarus came from many different backgrounds. The historical population included:
- Belarusians
- Poles
- Lithuanians
- Jews
- Russians
This mix of people made the area rich in different cultures and traditions.
How West Belarus Became Part of the Soviet Union
After World War I, Poland became an independent country again. West Belarus became part of Poland. However, in 1939, at the start of World War II, the Soviet Union invaded Poland. The Soviet Union then took control of West Belarus. This area was added to the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, which is now the country of Belarus.
Images for kids
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Outline of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth before the Partitions of Poland in 1772, 1793, and 1795, overlaid with the outline of the Second Republic (1918–1939). Most territories annexed by the Russian Empire during the partitions (in shades of green) remained in the Soviet Union after World War I.
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Presumed greatest extend of areas with Belarusian presence according to research by Belarusian ethnographers Yefim Karsky (1903, yellow) and Mitrofan Dovnar-Zapol'skiy (1919, red), overlaid with the territory of post 1991 Belarus (green)
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Children gathered at the dining hall of the Belarusian Gymnasium of Vilnia, Poland, 1935
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Residents of a town in Eastern Poland (now Western Belorussia) assembled to greet the arrival of the Red Army during the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939. The Russian text reads "Long Live the great theory of Marx, Engels, Lenin-Stalin". Such welcomings were organized by the activists of the Communist Party of West Belarus affiliated with the Communist Party of Poland, delegalized in both countries by 1938.
