Olyka

(1874) Olyka was founded in the early Middle Ages as one of the villages belonging to the Kievan Rus'. It was first mentioned in 1149 in the Hypatian Chronicle. In the 14th century it was conquered by Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1569, Olyka became part of Poland after the Union of Lublin. In the second half of the 16th century, during the Protestant Reformation, the town became one of the most important centres of Calvinism in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Its growth was halted by the Khmelnytsky Uprising of 1648, during which the town was captured by Cossacks, plundered and burnt. In the Third Partition of Poland (1795), the town was annexed by the Russian Empire and became part of the Volhynian Governorate. In the 19th century, it continued to play a role as a centre of wood and grain trade. During World War I in 1915 and 1916, the area was a scene of heavy fighting between the forces of Russia and Austria-Hungary. After the Polish-Bolshevik War, the town was restored to Poland as part of Wołyń Voivodeship, and the local palace was refurbished. Following the invasion of Poland of 1939 and the Nazi-Soviet Alliance, the town was occupied by Soviet Union forces. After Operation Barbarossa, when Germany attacked the Soviet Union, the German occupation started and lasted until 1944. Olyka was attacked and deeply damaged by Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) forces. After World War II the area was annexed by the Soviet Union and incorporated into the Ukrainian SSR. Since 1991 it is a part of independent Ukraine. Until 26 January 2024, Olyka was designated urban-type settlement. On this day, a new law entered into force which abolished this status, and Olyka became a rural settlement. On 23 April 2025, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine officially granted the rural settlement of Olyka the status of a city. ==Olyka Academy==

Between 1637 and 1774 a branch of Zamoyski Academy functioned in Olyka, making it an important educational centre in Volhynia. Created by prince Albrycht Stanisław Radziwiłł on the base of a previously existing school, the establishment received official recognition from the Polish king. ==Notable landmarks==

on a 19th-century map • Olyka Castle (surrounded by Radziwill Fortress) – late 16th century, expanded in the mid-18th century, damaged after 1945, restored after 1990 • The Calvinist Church, converted in 1580 to a Catholic church of the Holy Trinity, and from 1592 dedicated to Apostles Peter and Paul • The Lutsk Gate of the city (1630s) • Orthodox Christian Church of the Presentation in the Temple (1784) • Orthodox Christian Church of the Holy Trinity (1886) ==Other Radziwill estates==

• Dubingiai • Kėdainiai • Biržai Castle • Mir Castle • Niasvizh Castle ==Jewish presence==

Pre-World War II Jewish presence in Olyka dates back to the 16th century, and in the late 17th century the Jewish community became one of the largest in the Volhyn Region. Olyka was the cradle of the Olyker Hasidic dynasty that was founded by the famous Rabbi Hersh Leib Landa the first Olyker rebbe. He was followed by his son Rabbi Yosef (Yoseph) Dovid, who was followed by his son Rabbi Mordechai (he authored a book called Gedulas Mordechai). He was followed by his son Rabbi Shimon Shloima (he authored a book called Shekel Hakodesh, and was father-in-law of Rabbi Yochanan Perlow of the Karliner Dynasty), who was followed by his son Rabbi Alter Yosef (Yoseph) Dovid. In 1897 a total of 2,606 people – 50 percent of the total Olyka population – were Jews, and that amount increased when many Jewish refugees from nearby towns fled to Olyka during World War I. The Holocaust Olyka's large Jewish community was completely destroyed during the Holocaust, including Nazi persecutions at the site of the Radziwill Fortress/Olyka Castle. It is an important place of Jewish memory. Rabbi Alter Yosef Dovid Landa and his family perished. Around 150 Jews evacuated eastward; most Jews stayed in the ghetto. As part of the Einsatzgruppen Aktion of August 1941, 720 Jews, including Rabbi Alter Yosef Dovid Landa, were killed at the Olyka Castle and at the town's Jewish cemetery towards Czemeryn. In March 1942, Jews from surrounding villages were brought into Olyka, and a closed ghetto was created with barbed-wire fence to imprison those inside. Monuments outside Olyka commemorate this massacre. Accounts vary as to the total number of Jews in and around Olyka who had died by the time the Olyka ghetto was liquidated in July/August 1942. Given the circumstances of Nazi massacres, it has been difficult to accurately count the dead. Most reports state the total amounted to 5,220 to 5,673 Jews. In early 1943, 130 remaining Jewish artisans remaining in the ghetto were shot to death. Fewer than 30 Jews escaped to the forest in the summer of 1942. Of those survivors, 23 men created a partisan unit with 30 Jews already outside the village. They joined the underground resistance in the region against the Nazis, and a small number survived after early 1943. ==Population==

According to the last census from 2001, there were 3,255 people living in Olyka. It is estimated 3,083 people lived there as of 2017. ==Climate==

The climate in Olyka is cold and temperate, with significant rainfall that occurs mostly in July. ==Notable people==

• Janusz Chodnikiewicz (born 1936), film director and producer • Henry Orenstein (born c. 1923), toymaker, poker player, author, and entrepreneur (resided in Olyka 1939–1941) • Albrycht Stanisław Radziwiłł (1595–1656), Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth politician, Lithuanian chancellor • Michał Kazimierz "Rybeńko" Radziwiłł (1702–1762), equestrian, hetman, starost ==References==