Prehistory Prior to the 10th century, there were three fortified settlements on the territory of Vawkavysk. Swedish Mountain, along with Muravelnik, and Zamchishcha are considered the territories of current Vawkavysk. Swedish Mountain is a remnant of one of these fortifications. Gradually, as the settlement grew, the boundaries of the town extended to the neighboring hill of Zamchishcha. Industrial and commercial sites were located at the foot of Swedish Mountain along its northern, eastern, and southern sides. Muravelnik was also inhabited, but was not as populated as Swedish Mountain and Zamchishcha. Due to flooding of the Wołkowyja River, there are no other known archaeological sites.
Middle Ages Vawkavysk is one of the oldest towns in Eastern Europe and has played a role in the political development of medieval Slavic civilization. It is believed that Vawkavysk was founded in the 10th century. The origin of the town is developed by legends, one of which tells about a certain prince Wadislaw Zawejko, who in 738 found robbers named Woloko and Wisek and killed them. In the place of their shelter, 10 huts were built, which expanded into a settlement. According to the legend, the name Vawkavysk is derived from the names of the two robbers. Vawkavysk lies in a region formerly referred to as
Black Ruthenia that was subjugated to various invading forces from
Baltic and
Slavic tribes. At various times, the town was influenced by the
Principality of Polotsk and
Galicia-Volhynia. On the nights of 15 and 16 February 1038, the town was destroyed by a Baltic tribe of
Yatvingians. Up until 1084, this territory belonged to Slavic
Kievan Rus and later became a dependent vassal state. After Mindaugas conquered the area in 1239, it was incorporated into what would later become the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania and was administered from
Navahrudak from the 1240s to the 1250s. Vawkavysk's location on the border between Lithuania and neighboring Galicia-Volhynia resulted in frequent fighting over these territories. The
Ipatiev Chronicle mentions Vawkavysk in connection with an invasion of the Galicia-Volhynian prince
Daniel Romanovich Galitsky and his brother
Vasilko in 1252. Power exchanged periodically during the years of 1254-1258 between the princes of these two kingdoms. The chronicle continues with describing that a peace treaty was signed in 1254 where the Grand Duke of Lithuania,
Vaišvilkas, transferred Vawkavysk, along with several other towns, to Daniel's son,
Roman Danylovich Galitsky. Sometime after this event, in 1255, a prince named Gleb, who acknowledged himself as a vassal of the Grand Duke of Lithuania, became the ruler of Vawkavysk. Prince Gleb participated in a Galicia-Volhynian campaign against the
Yatvingians in 1256. It was not until 1258, after several years of war, that Vawkavysk and
Slonim settled as vassal states of Lithuania
Grand Duchy of Lithuania Vawkavysk came under the rule of Grand Duke
Vytenis and became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1293. On 16 March 1410, the town was seized again and burnt under the command of
Marshal Frederic von Wallenrode and its residents were murdered. On 15 July 1410, the Vawkavysk banner participated in the
Battle of Grunwald against the
Teutonic Order. In 1430 the church of St. Nicholas was built. In 1507, Vawkavysk became part of the
Nowogródek Voivodeship A church was mentioned as having existed since 1536, while a monastery of Jesuits was founded in 1598. From 1566, Vawkavysk was also a venue for
General Sejmiks, which provincial delegates and senators attended, that were held for the whole of Lithuania.
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The
Union of Lublin was signed July 1, 1569, in
Lublin,
Poland, and created a single state, the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It replaced the personal union of the
Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania with a
real union and an
elective monarchy, since
Sigismund II Augustus, the last of the
Jagiellons, remained childless after three marriages. Subsequent to this, Vawkavysk became a
royal town within the Commonwealth. The 17th century was a very difficult time in the history of Vawkavysk, in particular, and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in general. The region became the scene of many wars. It was during this time that the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth entered into a series of mid-17th century campaigns, known as
The Deluge, consisting of uprisings, invasions and
Northern Wars with Russia and Sweden. Following the popular uprising led by
Bohdan Khmelnytsky in
Ukraine, the rebellion brought into focus the rivalry between Russia and the Commonwealth for hegemony over Ukraine and over the eastern Slavic lands in general. In October 1653 the Russian
zemsky sobor declared war on the Commonwealth and in June 1654, the forces of Tsar
Alexis of Russia invaded the eastern half of Poland-Lithuania, starting the
Russo-Polish War of 1654-67. During this time, Vawkavysk was captured twice by Russian troops in 1655 and 1662 and left heavily damaged. At the same time, the
Swedish Empire, which technically already was in conflict, although with a cease-fire agreement, with the Commonwealth from the
Polish-Swedish War of 1626-29, invaded in July 1654 and occupied the remaining half of the country. In 1656, after three days of battle, Vawkavysk was destroyed and burned by the army of King
Charles X Gustav of Sweden.
Polish–Soviet War By 1919 Bolsheviks took control over Belarus and forced the country's democratic government into exile. Immediately afterwards, the
Polish–Soviet War ignited, and the territory of Belarus was divided between Poland and Soviet Russia. On 8 February 1919 Vawkavysk was occupied by Polish troops. The town was then captured by the 16th Bolshevik Army on 24 July 1920 and subsequently recaptured on 27 September 1920 by the
3rd Legions Infantry Division under the command of General
Leon Berbecki.
Second Polish Republic The
Treaty of Riga was signed in
Riga on 18 March 1921, between
Poland,
Soviet Russia (acting also on behalf of
Soviet Belarus) and
Soviet Ukraine. The treaty ended the Polish–Soviet War. Afterwards, the city remained part of the interwar
Second Polish Republic, and was the seat of the
Wołkowysk County in the
Białystok Voivodeship and the seat of
gmina Biskupice.
World War II Upon the
invasion of Poland by
Nazi Germany and the
Soviet Union, the Wołkowysk Reserve Cavalry Brigade was formed. Wołkowysk came under
Soviet occupation on 18 September 1939 as a result of the
German–Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Demarcation. On 2 November 1939, Vawkavysk, along with the rest of Western Belarus, was annexed by the Soviet Union. On November 14, 1939, it was included into the
Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. Vawkavysk became the regional capital of the
Belastok Region within the Byelorussian SSR on 15 January 1940. The town was a point of detention and deportation of German and
Polish prisoners of war, including
prisoner-of-war camp 281 by the
Red Army until 1941. Vawkavysk was occupied by the
German Army on 28 June 1941. At that time, about 7,000 Jews lived in the town, around 40 percent of the population. Around 1,000 people, mostly but not entirely Jews, were killed in the
Luftwaffe bombardment of the town. Upon arrival, the Germans, with some assistance by local
Poles and
Belarusians, murdered several dozen Jews within the first week; another 200 were murdered in mid July, mostly business and professional men along with those who had handicaps. That summer, the Germans established
a Jewish ghetto. The ghetto became a transit ghetto for Jews of Kreis Wolkowysk. About 20,000 Jews passed through it; most were sent on to
Treblinka In December 1942, part of the transit camp was converted to a closed ghetto for about 2,000 Jews, mostly essential male workers who were allowed to leave each day to go to the work sites. In January 1943, the final group of ghetto dwellers was sent to
Auschwitz where most were murdered immediately. About 70 Jews of the original 7,000 Jewish residents survived the war. Some of the survivors had fled to the Soviet Union at the beginning of the war; others fought in the forests as partisans and a few survived Auschwitz. During the
Belostok Offensive, on 14 July 1944, the
2nd Belarusian Front of the
Red Army was able to recapture the town. The town became the regional center of
Grodno Region in the BSSR on 20 September 1944.
After World War II Following the conclusion of the European front of World War II in 1945, Vawkavysk came under the authority of the
Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Since 1991, Vawkavysk has belonged to the
Republic of Belarus. ==Administration==