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Białystok (pronounced: , , , Yiddish ביאַליסטאָק) is the largest city (pop. 295,000 in 2006) in north-eastern Poland and the capital of Podlasie Voivodship since 1999, previously of Bialystok Voivodship (1921-1998). Białystok is located in north-eastern Poland near the border with Belarus ; it is the largest city and the historical capital of the Podlachia region. HISTORY According to legend, Bialystok was given its name by the Lithuanian prince Gediminas in about 1320 . The first mention of the place in historical sources dates from 1437 when the land around the Bialka river was given by King Kazimierz Jagiellończyk of Poland to Raczko Tabutowicz, then in 1547 it passed to the Wiesiołowski family. They built a brick castle and a church here. In 1645 after the death of Krzysztof Wiesiołowski, the last of the clan, Białystok became the property of the Commonwealth. In 1661 it was given to Stefan Czarniecki as a reward for his service in the victory over the Swedes. Four years later, as a dowry of his daughter Alexandra, it passed to the Branicki Family . In the second half of the 18th Century Hetman Jan Klemens Branicki , a commander in chief, became the heir of the Białystok area. It was he who transformed the previously existing abode into the magnificent residence of a great noble. Several artists and scientists came to Białystok to take advantage of Branicki's patronage. Bialystok received its city charter in 1749 . After the Third Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795 it first belonged to the Prussian Kingdom , then after the Peace Of Tilsit signed in 1807 it passed to Russia . During the 19th Century the city became a major centre of Textile industry. Due to an industrial boom the population grew from 13,787 in 1857 , and 56,629 in 1889 , to 65,781 in 1901 . In this period the majority of the city's population was Jewish and Polish. After the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 , first heavy bombing of the town took place on 20 April 1915 . On 13 August 1915 German soldiers appeared in Białystok. The city was included in Ober Ost occupational region, in July of 1918 it was made part of Lithuanian Province and became capital of the Southern Lithuania government precinct. On February 19 , 1919 the city was taken by Poland . During 1920 , when overrun by Soviet forces during the Polish-Soviet War , it briefly served as headquarters of the Polish Revolutionary Committee headed by Julian Marchlewski , which attempted to declare the Polish Soviet Socialist Republic . In the years 1920 - 1939 the city was again part of independent Poland. In September 1939 , Białystok was occupied by the German Army , but then passed on to the Soviet Union with respect to the Secret protocol of Ribentrop-Molotov pact, when it was annexed into the Byelorussian SSR . On June 27 , 1941 , Białystok again fell into German hands, as a result of the invasion of the Soviet Union . From the very beginning, the Germans pursued a ruthless policy of pillage and extermination of the non-German population. The numerous Jewish population, some 50-60 thousand, were confined in a Ghetto , which during August 1941 was exterminated. On 24 July 1941 German troops locked over 3,000 Jew s within the ''Great Synagogue'' (the largest wooden synagogue in Eastern Europe ) and burned it down. A number of anti-fascist groups came into existence in Białystok during the first weeks of the occupation. In the following years, there developed a well-organized resistance movement. In the last year of the occupation, a clandestine upper Commercial School came into existence. The pupils of the school also took part in the underground resistance movement. As a result, some of them were jailed, some killed and others deported to Concentration Camps . EDUCATION in Białystok.]]
FAMOUS PEOPLE Birthplace of
POLITICS Bialystok constituency Members of Parliament ( Sejm ) elected from Bialystok constituency
Municipal politics to be written yet Administrative division The City of Białystok is divided into 27 districts:
MONUMENTS .]]
HISTORICAL POPULATION SPORTS
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