Grodno

The Curzon Line was a demarcation line proposed in 1919 by the British Foreign Secretary, Lord Curzon of Kedleston, as a possible armistice line between Poland, to the west, and Soviet Russia to the east, during the Polish-Soviet War of 1919–20. Curzon's plan was not accepted by the Soviet Russia, and in fact it did not play any role in establishing the Polish-Soviet border in 1921 because of the Polish demands. The final peace treaty in Riga (1921) provided Poland with almost 52,000 sq mi (135,000 sq km) of land east of the line (o ...

Including:

• Curzon Line - History of the Curzon Line
• Curzon Line - Ethnography to the east of the Curzon Line
• Curzon Line - Ethnography to the west of the Curzon Line

Read more here: » Curzon Line: Encyclopedia - Curzon Line

The Republic of Belarus is a landlocked nation-state in Eastern Europe, which borders Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Ukraine. Its capital city is Minsk, and other important cities include Brest, Grodno (Hrodna), Gomel (Homyel'), Mahilyow and Vitebsk. Throughout much of history, the area which is now known as Belarus was part of various countries including Lithuania, Poland and the Russian Empire. Eventually, in 1922, Belarus became a republic in the Soviet Union as the Byelorussian SSR. The republic officially declared i ...

Including:

• Belarus - History of the name
• Belarus - History
• Belarus - Politics
• Belarus - Subdivisions
• Belarus - Geography
• Belarus - Economy
• Belarus - Demographics
• Belarus - Culture
• Belarus - Related topics
• Belarus - International rankings

Read more here: » Belarus: Encyclopedia - Belarus

Crown land is a designated land belonging to the Crown, the equivalent of an entailed estate that passed with the monarchy and could not be alienated from it. In the United Kingdom and its predecessors, the hereditary revenues of Crown lands were a feature until at the start of the reign of George III when the Crown Estate was surrendered to Parliament in return for a fixed civil list payment - the monarch retains the income from the Duchy of Lancaster. The conception of Crown land in Canada and Australia has developed parall ...

Including:

• Crown land - United Kingdom and its predecessors
• Crown land - Anglo-Saxon and Norman
• Crown land - England Britain UK
• Crown land - Crown Estate
• Crown land - The British Commonwealth
• Crown land - Tasmanian Crown Lands Act 1976
• Crown land - Canada
• Crown land - Austro-Hungary
• Crown land - Poland
• Crown land - Reference
• Crown land - External link

Read more here: » Crown land: Encyclopedia - Crown land

Witold Pilecki (May 13, 1901 – May 25, 1948; pronounced ['vitɔld pi'leʦki]; codenames Roman Jezierski, Tomasz Serafiński, Druh, Witold) was a soldier of the Second Polish Republic, founder of the resistance movement Secret Polish Army (Tajna Armia Polska) and member of the Home Army (Armia Krajowa). During World War II he was the only known person to volunteer to be imprisoned at Auschwitz Concentration Camp. While there, he organized inmate resistance, and as early as 1940 informed the Western Allies of Nazi ...

Including:

• Witold Pilecki - Biography
• Witold Pilecki - Pilecki's early life
• Witold Pilecki - World War II breaks out
• Witold Pilecki - The Auschwitz campaign: 945 days
• Witold Pilecki - Back outside Auschwitz: the Warsaw Uprising.
• Witold Pilecki - Liberation: Soviet-dominated Poland
• Witold Pilecki - Summary of Pilecki's Polish Army career

Read more here: » Witold Pilecki: Encyclopedia - Witold Pilecki

The area of Suwałki has been populated by local Yotvingian and Prussians tribes since the early Middle Ages. However, with the arrival of the Teutonic Order to Sudovia, their lands were conquered and remained largely depopulated in the following centuries. The village of Suwałki was founded by Camedulian monks, who in 1667 were granted the area surrounding the future city by King Jan Kazimierz of Poland. Soon afterwards the monastic order built its headquarters in Wigry, where a monastery and a church were built. The new owners of the area ...

See also:

Suwałki, Suwałki - History, Suwałki - Tourist attractions, Suwałki - Education, Suwałki - People, Suwałki - External link

Read more here: » Suwałki: Encyclopedia II - Suwałki - History

President Alexander Lukashenko provoked outrage when he praised Hitler in a Russian NTV interview in 1995, saying that: The history of Germany is a copy of the history of Belarus. Germany was raised from the ruins thanks to firm authority, and not everything connected with that well known figure, Adolf Hitler, was bad. German order evolved over the centuries and under Hitler it attained its peak. In 2004, Charter 97 reported that for some government job applications Belarussians are required to state their nationality. This has ...

See also:

Human rights in Belarus, Human rights in Belarus - Freedom of the press, Human rights in Belarus - Gays and lesbians, Human rights in Belarus - Polish minority crisis, Human rights in Belarus - Anti-semitism, Human rights in Belarus - Freedom of religion, Human rights in Belarus - Political dissidents and prisoners, Human rights in Belarus - Industrial relations, Human rights in Belarus - Opposing views, Human rights in Belarus - Sources

Read more here: » Human rights in Belarus: Encyclopedia II - Human rights in Belarus - Anti-semitism

Shtetl - Poland. Note: Towns formerly in the Austro-Hungarian province of Galicia are marked with "(G)". Będzin (Bendin) Belchatów Białobrzegi Białystok Bielsk-Podlaski (Bielsk-Podliask) Bircza (G) Brzeznica Brzozów (G) Bukowsko (G) Bytom (Beuthen) Ciechanów Czeladź Częstochowa Czyzewo Dąbrowa Dębica (Dembits) (G) ...

See also:

Shtetl, Shtetl - History, Shtetl - Shtetls Listed by Present-day country, Shtetl - Poland, Shtetl - Other, Shtetl - Fictional Shtetls, Shtetl - Shtots larger towns with significant pre-war Jewish populations

Read more here: » Shtetl: Encyclopedia II - Shtetl - Shtetls Listed by Present-day country

As has been seen, surnames were not unknown among the Jews of the Middle Ages, and as Jews began to mingle more with their fellow citizens the practise of using or adopting civic surnames in addition to the "sacred" name, used only in religious connections, grew commensurately. Of course, among the Sephardim this practice was common almost from the time of the exile from Spain, and probably became still more common as a result of the example of the Maranos, who on adopting Christianity accepted in most cases the family names of their godfath ...

See also:

Onomastics on Judaism and Jewish history, Onomastics on Judaism and Jewish history - Significance, Onomastics on Judaism and Jewish history - Compound Names, Onomastics on Judaism and Jewish history - Post-Exilic Names, Onomastics on Judaism and Jewish history - Talmudic Period, Onomastics on Judaism and Jewish history - Post-Talmudic Period, Onomastics on Judaism and Jewish history - Titular Abbreviations, Onomastics on Judaism and Jewish history - Arabic Names, Onomastics on Judaism and Jewish history - In Spain France and England, Onomastics on Judaism and Jewish history - Surnames, Onomastics on Judaism and Jewish history - Local Names, Onomastics on Judaism and Jewish history - Official Names and Nicknames, Onomastics on Judaism and Jewish history - Change of Name, Onomastics on Judaism and Jewish history - Superstitions, Onomastics on Judaism and Jewish history - Pen-Names, Onomastics on Judaism and Jewish history - Bibliography, Onomastics on Judaism and Jewish history - Hebrew names, Onomastics on Judaism and Jewish history - Names from Judaism, Onomastics on Judaism and Jewish history - Translated Germanised Yiddishised names, Onomastics on Judaism and Jewish history - Old German pedigrees, Onomastics on Judaism and Jewish history - Old Eastern pedigrees, Onomastics on Judaism and Jewish history - From Yiddish names, Onomastics on Judaism and Jewish history - New surnames & others, Onomastics on Judaism and Jewish history - Germanised or German surnames, Onomastics on Judaism and Jewish history - From Eastern Europe, Onomastics on Judaism and Jewish history - Sephardic names, Onomastics on Judaism and Jewish history - Mizrahi surnames, Onomastics on Judaism and Jewish history - ItalianItalkim names, Onomastics on Judaism and Jewish history - TzarphatiFrench names, Onomastics on Judaism and Jewish history - Others

Read more here: » Onomastics on Judaism and Jewish history: Encyclopedia II - Onomastics on Judaism and Jewish history - Surnames

Leon was born Lev Rosenberg in Grodno (currently Belarus) in a middle class Jewish family. After graduating from gymnasium, he studied in St. Petersburg Academy of Arts as a noncredit student, working part-time as a book illustrator. On his first exhibition (1889) he took the name of Bakst based on his maternal grandmother's family name Baxter. In the beginning of 90-ies he exponated his works with Society of watercolourists. In 1893 - 1897 he lived in Paris, visiting Saint Petersburg often. Since mid-1890ies he became a member of the circle of writers and artists formed by Sergei Diaghilev and Alexandre Benois tha ...

See also:

Léon Bakst, Léon Bakst - Early life, Léon Bakst - Rise to fame, Léon Bakst - Stage design, Léon Bakst - Some works, Léon Bakst - Sources

Read more here: » Léon Bakst: Encyclopedia II - Léon Bakst - Early life

Polish is often said to be one of the most difficult languages for non-native speakers to learn; of course, this depends on one's native language. While difficult for English speakers, it is relatively easy for speakers of Russian and other Slavic languages. It has a complex gender system with five genders: neuter, feminine and three masculine genders (personal, animate and inanimate). There are 7 cases and 2 numbers. Nouns, adjectives and verbs are inflected, and both noun declension and verb conjugation are highly irregular. Every ...

See also:

Polish language, Polish language - Outside Influence, Polish language - Classification, Polish language - Geographic distribution, Polish language - Dialects, Polish language - Phonology, Polish language - Orthography, Polish language - Grammar, Polish language - Word order, Polish language - Conjugation, Polish language - Vocabulary, Polish language - Notes

Read more here: » Polish language: Encyclopedia II - Polish language - Grammar

Polish-Soviet War - 1919. Main article: Polish-Soviet War in 1919 In 1918 the German Army in the east began to retreat westwards. The areas abandoned by the Central Powers became a field of conflict among local governments created by Germany, other local governments that independently sprang up after the German withdrawal, and the Bolsheviks, who hoped to incorporate those areas into Bolshevik Russia. Many of those groups were fragmented, merged, divided, formed short alliances with others, and almost constantly ...

See also:

Polish-Soviet War, Polish-Soviet War - Names and dates of the war, Polish-Soviet War - Prelude to the war, Polish-Soviet War - The Campaign, Polish-Soviet War - 1919, Polish-Soviet War - 1920, Polish-Soviet War - Aftermath, Polish-Soviet War - List of battles, Polish-Soviet War - Notes

Read more here: » Polish-Soviet War: Encyclopedia II - Polish-Soviet War - The Campaign

Motol, 52'’ 19' N 25'’ 36' E, was in the Kobryn Uezd (district) of Grodno Gubernia (province) until the collapse of the Russian empire in 1917. Between WWI and WWII it was in the Drohiczyn district of the Polish Gubernia of Polesia. It is near the center of Polish Polesia which constituted an irregular rectangle of roughly 110 miles from east to west and 50 miles from north to south. In 1937, Motol had 4,297 inhabitants, of whom ...

See also:

Motal', Motal' - Location, Motal' - People, Motal' - Sources

Read more here: » Motal': Encyclopedia II - Motal' - Location

After the Polish-Bolshevik War the Polish eastern frontier was stretched from the border with Latvia to the north, to the Prut river and Romanian border to the south. Although the peace treaty had been signed, the eastern border of Poland was insecure. Armed bands of saboteurs were crossing the border on a daily basis and the weak police forces in the area could not cope with the problem. In 1924 a town of Stołpce located 20 kilometres from the border was seized by Soviet saboteurs and pillaged. Polish minister of war affairs Władysław Sikorski decided that the police could not cope with the problem and suggested that the control ...

See also:

Border Defence Corps, Border Defence Corps - History, Border Defence Corps - Commanders, Border Defence Corps - Support forces, Border Defence Corps - Order of Battle

Read more here: » Border Defence Corps: Encyclopedia II - Border Defence Corps - History

List of castles - Burgenland. Burg Bernstein Burg Forchtenstein Burg Güssing Burgruine Landsee Burg Lockenhaus Burg Schlaining List of castles - Carinthia. Burgruine Aichelberg Burgruine Aichelburg Klosterruine Arnoldstein Burgruine Dietrichstein Burgruine Falkenstein (Oberfalkenstein) Burg Falkenstein (Niederfalkenstein) Burgruine Feldsberg Burgruine ...

See also:

List of castles, List of castles - Castles of Africa, List of castles - Castles of Armenia, List of castles - Castles of Austria, List of castles - Burgenland, List of castles - Carinthia, List of castles - Lower Austria, List of castles - Salzburg, List of castles - Styria, List of castles - Tirol, List of castles - Upper Austria, List of castles - Vorarlberg, List of castles - Castles of Belarus, List of castles - Castles of Belgium, List of castles - Castles of Canada, List of castles - Castles of China, List of castles - Castles of Cyprus, List of castles - Castles of the Czech Republic, List of castles - Castles of Denmark, List of castles - Castles of Estonia, List of castles - Castles of Finland, List of castles - External links, List of castles - Castles of France, List of castles - Castles of Georgia, List of castles - Castles of Germany, List of castles - Castles of Greece, List of castles - Castles of Iran, List of castles - Castles in the Republic of Ireland, List of castles - Castles of Israel, List of castles - Castles of Italy, List of castles - South Tyrol former Austria, List of castles - Castles of Japan, List of castles - External link, List of castles - Castles of Latvia, List of castles - Castles of Lithuania, List of castles - Castles of Mexico, List of castles - Castles in Moldova, List of castles - Castles in the Netherlands, List of castles - Castles of New Zealand, List of castles - Castles of Norway, List of castles - Castles of Poland, List of castles - External links, List of castles - Castles of Portugal, List of castles - Castles of Romania, List of castles - Castles of Russia, List of castles - Castles of Slovakia, List of castles - External links, List of castles - Castles of Spain, List of castles - Castles of Switzerland, List of castles - Castles of Sweden, List of castles - Finnish castles, List of castles - Castles in Syria, List of castles - Castles in Ukraine, List of castles - Castles in the United Kingdom, List of castles - Castles in the United States, List of castles - Crusader Castles, List of castles - Fictional castles

Read more here: » List of castles: Encyclopedia II - List of castles - Castles of Austria

Polish-Soviet War - 1919. In 1918 the German Army in the east began to retreat westwards. The areas abandoned by the Central Powers became a field of conflict among local governments created by Germany, other local governments that independently sprang up after the German withdrawal, and the Bolsheviks, who hoped to incorporate those areas into Bolshevik Russia. Many of those groups were fragmented, merged, divided, formed short alliances with others, and almost constantly ...

See also:

Polish-Soviet War, Polish-Soviet War - Names and dates of the war, Polish-Soviet War - Prelude to the war, Polish-Soviet War - The Campaign, Polish-Soviet War - 1919, Polish-Soviet War - 1920, Polish-Soviet War - Aftermath, Polish-Soviet War - List of battles, Polish-Soviet War - Notes

Read more here: » Polish-Soviet War: Encyclopedia II - Polish-Soviet War - The Campaign

Life in the shtetls (villages) of the Pale of Settlement was hard and stricken by poverty. A sophisticated system of volunteer Jewish social welfare organizations developed to meet the needs of the population, following the time-honored Jewish tradition of tzedakah. Various organizations supplied clothes to poor students, provided kosher food to Jewish soldiers conscripted into the Czar's army, dispensed free medical treatment for the poor, offered dowries and household gifts to destitute brides, and arranged for technical education for orph ...

See also:

Pale of Settlement, Pale of Settlement - History, Pale of Settlement - Life in the Pale, Pale of Settlement - Territories of the Pale, Pale of Settlement - 1791, Pale of Settlement - 1794, Pale of Settlement - 1795, Pale of Settlement - 1805-1835, Pale of Settlement - Final

Read more here: » Pale of Settlement: Encyclopedia II - Pale of Settlement - Life in the Pale

Crown land - Anglo-Saxon and Norman. In Anglo-Saxon times the property of the king consisted of his private estate, the demesne of the crown, comprising palaces, and rights over the folkland of the kingdom, the "commonage" that the people held in common. By the time of the Norman Conquest, the three had become merged into the estate of the crown, that is, land annexed to the crown, held by the king only as king. The king, also, ceased to hold as a private owner but he had full power of disposal by grant of the crown lands, which were increased from time ...

See also:

Crown land, Crown land - United Kingdom and its predecessors, Crown land - Anglo-Saxon and Norman, Crown land - England Britain UK, Crown land - Crown Estate, Crown land - The Commonwealth of Nations, Crown land - Australia, Crown land - Tasmanian Crown Lands Act 1976, Crown land - Canada, Crown land - Austro-Hungary, Crown land - Poland, Crown land - Reference, Crown land - Internal links, Crown land - External link

Read more here: » Crown land: Encyclopedia II - Crown land - United Kingdom and its predecessors

Both the Polish Army and the opposing Red Army suffered heavy casualties in the course of war, and especially during the Russian summer offensive of 1920. Moreover, both opposing armies were still in the phase of organisation. By August, the Poles mobilised almost 1 million men, which allowed to reinforce most front-line units to approximately 50-60% of their nominal strength. Out of that number almost 350 000 were in active service on the eastern front, while the rest served in other units or were still training. The Polish brigades and div ...

See also:

Battle of the Niemen River, Battle of the Niemen River - Opposing forces, Battle of the Niemen River - Polish Army, Battle of the Niemen River - Soviet Army, Battle of the Niemen River - Before the battle, Battle of the Niemen River - The battle, Battle of the Niemen River - Aftermath

Read more here: » Battle of the Niemen River: Encyclopedia II - Battle of the Niemen River - Opposing forces

Henryk Dobrzański was born on June 22, 1897, in Jasło, to a Polish noble family of Henryk Dobrzański de Hubal and Maria Dobrzańska née Lubieniecka. In 1912 he joined the "Drużyny Strzeleckie", an underground Scouting organisation. When the World War I broke out he volunteered to Józef Piłsudski's Polish Legions. He served with distinction in the 2nd Regiment of Uhlans and participated in many battles such as Stawczany and Battle of Rarańcza. In 1918 after Poland rega ...

See also:

Henryk Dobrzański, Henryk Dobrzański - Biography

Read more here: » Henryk Dobrzański: Encyclopedia II - Henryk Dobrzański - Biography

The Polish armed forces resisted the German invasion, but their strategic position was hopeless since Poland was surrounded on three sides by Germany and German-controlled Czechoslovakia. It was in Poland that the Germans first used the tactics of Blitzkrieg ("lightning war"): rapid advance of Panzer (armored) divisions, dive bombing to break up troop concentrations, and aerial bombing of undefended cities to sap civilian morale. The Polish Army and Air Force had little modern equipment to match the onslaught. German forces wer ...

See also:

History of Poland 1939–1945, History of Poland 1939–1945 - German and Soviet Invasion, History of Poland 1939–1945 - Dismemberment of Poland, History of Poland 1939–1945 - The General Government, History of Poland 1939–1945 - Treatment of the Poles, History of Poland 1939–1945 - The Holocaust in Poland, History of Poland 1939–1945 - Governments in exile, History of Poland 1939–1945 - Resistance, History of Poland 1939–1945 - Aftermath of the War, History of Poland 1939–1945 - Yalta and the Soviet Occupation 1943–45

Read more here: » History of Poland 1939–1945: Encyclopedia II - History of Poland 1939–1945 - German and Soviet Invasion