Known since 1150 as Korchesk, Korets was fortified by Prince Theodor
Ostrogski in the late 14th century. At that time, the town was part of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Between the 15th and 17th centuries, the
Korets Castle was the seat of the princely
House of Korets that issued from Duke
Narimantas of
Volhynia. After the death of the last Prince Korecki in 1651, it passed through inheritance to the junior line of the House of
Czartoryski and became its main seat until the line died out in the early 1800s. Following the 1569
Union of Lublin, Korzec, as it was known in Polish, became part of the
Kingdom of Poland, where it remained for over 200 years, administratively located in the
Volhynian Voivodeship in the
Lesser Poland Province, until the
Partitions of Poland. The town then belonged to the
Volhynian Governorate of the
Russian Empire. The Korzec
porcelain plant was established by
Józef Klemens Czartoryski in 1783. It was managed by French brothers Francois and Michel de Mezer of
Sevres. Its products were famous across Poland. The plant burned in 1797, was rebuilt in 1800, and operated until 1832. Furthermore, Prince Jozef Czartoryski opened here a manufacturer of
cloth sash, popular among Polish-Lithuanian
szlachta. At the end of the 19th century, 70 to 80% of the inhabitants were Jewish. In the
Second Polish Republic,
Korzec, as it was called, was part of Równe County,
Volhynian Voivodeship. Most of its population was Jewish, with Polish and Ukrainian communities. In 1924, a local branch of the Polish
Sokół movement was founded. Following the joint German-Soviet
invasion of Poland, which started
World War II in September 1939, the town was
occupied by the
Soviet Union until 1941, then by Germany until 1944, and then re-occupied by the Soviet Union, which eventually annexed it from Poland in 1945. A local newspaper has been published here since June 1941. Before World War II, 6,000 Jews lived in the town. In May 1942, 2,200 Jews were murdered and survivors were kept prisoners in a
ghetto. In September 1942, 1,500 Jews were murdered in a mass execution. In the summer of 1943, local structures of the
Home Army were destroyed by the Germans. {{Historical populations|1989|9437|2013|7388 ==Sights==