Valozhyn is a city in Belarus, the administrative center of the
Volozhin district of the Minsk region (76 km north-west of Minsk),
on the Minsk-Grodno highway, on the Volozhinka river. According to
written sources, it has been known since the XIV century as a
settlement that belonged to the Monvyds, Vereisky, Gashtolds,
Slushki, Radziwills, Czartoryski, Tyshkevichs.
Valozhyn has
been known since the XIV century. The name of the city of Volozhin
and the Volozhinka River comes from the Finno-Ugric * valg, valkea -
"white, light". In the second half of the 15th century. Volozhin
belonged to the Monvid family, the first warlords of the Vilenskys;
then moved on to the Gashtolds. In 1542 Stanislav Gashtold, voivode
Trotsky and Novogrudok, husband of Varvara Radziwill, died
childless. Volozhin passed into the possession of King Sigismund the
Old.
In 1543, King Sigismund the Old handed over to his son
Sigismund Augustus.
Since the 16th
century in the Novogrudok Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of
Lithuania. Center for trade in livestock and agricultural raw
materials.
In 1614 the future Kashtelian Vilensky and the
future great hetman of Lithuania Christopher Radziwill sold Volozhin
to Alexander Slushka.
In 1681, a Bernardine monastery with a
theological school was founded in Volozhin by Jozef Boguslav
Slushka.
In 1790, there were 186 houses in Valozhyn.
Since 1793 as part of the Russian Empire, in the Oshmyany district.
On March 10, 1803, Adam Czartoryski sold Valozhyn for 100
thousand zlotys of chervonny to the headman of Veliatich Iosif
Ignatius Tyszkiewicz.
At the beginning of the 19th century, a
complex of palace buildings of Tyshkevich with a park, a church with
a brahma-belfry, a synagogue, an ancient church (1866), shopping
arcades, etc. were built. There were 2446 inhabitants.
In
1861, the estate of Volozhin in the Oshmyany district belonged to
Count Tyshkevich. On the estate, there were 3,788 male serfs
(including 28 courtyards) and 843 courtyards, of which 282
courtyards were published and 561 were quitrent. There were 16855
dessiatines (4.45 dessiatines per capita) in total convenient land
on the estate. Monetary rent was paid according to the amount of
land allotted, 2 rubles per tithe. Construction - 12 days. Delivery
of one fathom of firewood from the yard. One road to Vilno.
Guardians 3 queues, 3 days. In-kind duties were carried out from
each household: chicken, 10 eggs, 5 poods of hay, 20 sacks of straw.
The drive lasted 104 days for male serfs and 52 days for female
souls. The drive was 22 days for male and female workers.
In
1865, a fire destroyed more than 100 buildings in the town.
The city is famous for the yeshiva that existed intermittently until
the outbreak of World War II. In 1897, the city had 4,534
inhabitants, including 2,452 Jews.
On February 19, 1918, it
was occupied by German troops.
In 1920-1939. as part of
Poland, Valozhyn is the center of the county of the Novogrudok
Voivodeship.
Since 1939, as part of the BSSR, since January
15, 1940, Valozhyn was a regional center. In 1939 there were 6.8
thousand inhabitants.
On June 25, 1941, Valozhyn was occupied
by German troops. Released on July 5, 1944, by parts of the 3rd
Guards Tank Corps (the commander of the Guards Corps Major General
of Tank Forces Ivan Antonovich Vovchenko) of the 5th Guards Tank
Army:
3rd Guards Tank Brigade (brigade commander of the Guards
Lieutenant Colonel Konstantin Andreyevich Gritsenko);
18th Guards Tank Brigade (brigade
commander, Guards Lieutenant Colonel Vasily Ivanovich Esipenko);
2nd Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade (brigade commander, Guards
Colonel Dmitry Nikiforovich Dolganov).