Editing Brest, Belarus (section)

==History==
[[File:Brest Lm.jpg|thumb|upright|left|In 1019, Brest was first mentioned in chronicles as "''Berestye''"]]
As a town, Brest – ''Berestij'' in [[Kievan Rus]] – was first mentioned in the ''[[Primary Chronicle]]'' in 1019 when the [[Kievan Rus']] took the stronghold from the Poles. It is one of the oldest cities in Belarus.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.minskguide.travel/about_belarus/brest_the_third_oldest_city_of_belarus.html|title=Brest as a tourist destination – private Minsk tours|date=20 June 2011|access-date=13 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318223102/http://www.minskguide.travel/about_belarus/brest_the_third_oldest_city_of_belarus.html|archive-date=18 March 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> It was hotly contested between the Polish rulers (kings, principal dukes and dukes of [[Masovia]]) and Kievan Rus princes. It was recaptured by Poland in 1020, and [[Yaroslav the Wise's attack on Brest|unsuccessfully besieged]] by Prince [[Yaroslav the Wise]] of Kiev in 1022. It was captured by Yaroslav the Wise, according to various sources, either in 1042{{sfn|Mondalski|1929|p=43}} or 1044,<ref name=sgk399/> then by 1076 recaptured by King [[Bolesław II the Bold]] of Poland,<ref name=sgk399/> but then lost again by his successor [[Władysław I Herman]]. Afterwards, it often passed between the principalities of [[Principality of Turov|Turov]] and [[Principality of Volhynia|Volhynia]].{{sfn|Mondalski|1929|p=43}} In 1164, it was briefly captured by Lithuanians.{{sfn|Mondalski|1929|p=43}} In 1178, it was captured by [[Casimir II the Just]] of Poland, and made the seat of his fraternal nephew [[Leszek, Duke of Masovia]], who, however, soon lost it to the [[Principality of Minsk]]. In 1182, Casimir II the Just captured the city once again, and built a castle there,{{sfn|Mondalski|1929|p=43}}<ref name=sgk399/> and then granted it as a [[fief]] to his sororal nephew [[Roman the Great]] the following year. From 1199 it was ruled by the [[Principality of Galicia–Volhynia]],<ref>{{cite book|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Вялікае Княства Літоўскае. Энцыклапедыя|volume=1|year=2007|language=be|location=Minsk|page=313|isbn=978-985-11-0393-1}}</ref> remaining under Polish suzerainty until 1205, when Roman the Great rebelled against Poland, but was [[killed in action]] in the [[Battle of Zawichost]].{{sfn|Mondalski|1929|p=43}} Passing under Polish suzerainty again, in 1207, it was granted by [[Leszek the White]] as a fief to Princess [[Anna-Euphrosyne]] and her children.<ref name=pocz>{{cite web|url=https://www.poczet.com/bialy.htm|title=Leszek I Biały|website=Poczet.com|language=pl|access-date=19 October 2024}}</ref> From 1210, it was directly part of Poland, until it passed to Galicia–Volhynia either in 1215<ref>{{cite book|last=Droba|first=Ludwik|title=Stosunki Leszka Białego z Rusią i Węgrami|year=1881|language=pl|publisher=[[Uniwersytet Jagielloński]]|location=Kraków|page=37}}</ref> or 1217.<ref name=pocz/> In 1220, it passed to the [[Principality of Turov|Principality of Pinsk]] as a fief of Galicia–Volhynia.{{sfn|Mondalski|1929|p=45}} It was laid waste by the [[Mongol Empire|Mongols]] in 1241, and was not rebuilt until 1275. Possibly since the 1270s, the city was contested by the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] and the [[Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Halecki|first=Oskar|year=2013|title=Dzieje Unii Jagiellońskiej. Tom I. W wiekach średnich|language=pl|location=Warszawa|publisher=Instytut Historyczny [[University of Warsaw|Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego]], Wydawnictwo Neriton|page=46|isbn=978-83-7543-277-0}}</ref>

===Grand Duchy of Lithuania===
In 1319, the city became part of the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]], and Grand Duke [[Gediminas]] stayed in the city in the winter of 1319–1320, preparing to capture [[Kyiv]].<ref name=sgk399/>{{sfn|Mondalski|1929|p=47}} In 1349, it was captured by King [[Casimir III of Poland]], however, it was restored to Lithuania in 1352.<ref>Halecki, p. 71</ref> Its suburbs were burned by the [[Teutonic Order]] in 1379. In 1385, it became part of the [[Polish–Lithuanian union]]. During the [[Lithuanian Civil War (1389–1392)]], in 1390, the city was captured by Polish forces of [[Władysław II Jagiełło]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Halecki|first=Oskar|year=2013|title=Dzieje Unii Jagiellońskiej. Tom I. W wiekach średnich|language=pl|location=Warszawa|publisher=Instytut Historyczny [[University of Warsaw|Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego]], Wydawnictwo Neriton|pages=133–134|isbn=978-83-7543-277-0}}</ref>

In 1390, Brześć became the second city in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (after the capital [[Vilnius]]), and the first in the lands that now are Belarus, to receive [[Magdeburg rights]].<ref name=jb>{{cite magazine|last=Bardach|first=Juliusz|title=Miasta na prawie magdeburskim w Wielkim Księstwie Litewskim od schyłku XIV do połowy XVII stulecia|magazine=Kwartalnik Historyczny|volume=87|issue=1|year=1980|language=pl|page=25}}</ref> Given its proximity to Poland, it was a significant centre for trade with Poland.<ref name=jb/>

In 1409 it was a meeting place of King [[Władysław II Jagiełło]], Grand Duke [[Vytautas|Vytautas the Great]] and Khan [[Jalal al-Din Khan ibn Tokhtamysh]] under the Polish [[Chancellor (Poland)|Deputy Chancellor]] [[Mikołaj Trąba]]'s initiative, to prepare for [[Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War|war with the Teutonic Knights]], which resulted in the Tatars aiding Poland and Lithuania in the [[Battle of Grunwald]] the following year.<ref name=sgk399/><ref>Halecki, p. 190</ref>{{sfn|Mondalski|1929|p=53}} In 1410 the city mustered a cavalry banner that participated in the [[Military of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|Polish-Lithuanian military]] victory at Grunwald.

In 1419 it became a seat of the [[starost]] in the newly created [[Trakai Voivodeship]]. Under Władysław II and Vytautas the city was significantly developed and granted privileges similar to those of the Polish city of [[Lublin]].<ref name=sgk399>{{cite book|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom I|year=1880|language=pl|location=Warszawa|page=399}}</ref>{{sfn|Mondalski|1929|pp=51, 53}} In 1425, the city hosted a congress attended by Władysław II, Vytautas, dukes of [[Masovia]] and Polish and Lithuanian nobles.<ref>Halecki, p. 229</ref> In 1440, a [[Sejm of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] was held in the city, at which [[Casimir IV Jagiellon]] was chosen Grand Duke of Lithuania.<ref name=sgk399/>{{sfn|Mondalski|1929|p=53}} In 1446, a meeting of Casimir IV, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, and Polish senators regarding the political affiliation of [[Volhynia]] took place in the city, and in 1454 Casimir IV met with Lithuanian nobility to convince them to participate in the [[Thirteen Years' War (1454–1466)|Polish–Teutonic War]] on the side of Poland.<ref name=sgk399/>{{sfn|Mondalski|1929|pp=53, 55}}

===Polish—Lithuanian Commonwealth===
[[File:Biblia brzeska.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Brest Bible]] from 1563, the second complete [[Bible translation into Polish]]]]
In 1500, it was burned again by [[Crimean Tatars]]. From 1513, the city was administratively located in the [[Podlaskie Voivodeship (1513–1795)|Podlaskie Voivodeship]]. In 1563, the [[Brest Bible]], the second complete [[Bible translation into Polish]] and the first such Protestant translation, was published in the city. In 1566, following the decree of [[Sigismund II Augustus]], a new [[Voivodeships of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth|voivodeship]] was created – [[Brest Litovsk Voivodeship]].

During the union of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] and the [[Swedish Empire]] under king [[Sigismund III Vasa]] ([[Polish–Swedish union]]), diets were held there. In 1594 and 1596, it was the meeting-place of two remarkable councils of regional bishops of the [[Roman-Catholic Church]] and [[Eastern Orthodox Church]]. The 1596 council [[Union of Brest|established]] the [[Uniate Church]] (also known as the [[Belarusian Greek Catholic Church]] in Belarus and [[Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church]] in [[Ukraine]]). A [[Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] was held in the city in 1653.<ref>{{cite book|last=Konopczyński|first=Władysław|year=1948|title=Chronologia sejmów polskich 1493–1793|language=pl|location=Kraków|publisher=[[Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences|Polska Akademia Umiejętności]]|page=153}}</ref> A royal mint was founded in the city by King [[John II Casimir Vasa]] in 1665.

[[File:Bieraście Litoŭskaje. Берасьце Літоўскае (E. Dahlbergh, 1657) (2).jpg|thumb|Siege of Brześć by [[Erik Dahlbergh|E. Dahlbergh]], 1657]]

In 1657, and again in 1706, the town and castle were captured by the [[Swedish Army]] during its [[Polish–Swedish wars|invasions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth]]. Then, in an attack from the other direction, on 13 January 1660, the invading [[Streltsy]] of the [[Tsardom of Russia]] under [[Ivan Andreyevich Khovansky (Tararui)|Ivan Andreyevich Khovansky]] took the [[Brest Castle (Belarus)|Brest Castle]] in an early morning surprise attack, the town having been captured earlier, and massacred the 1,700 defenders and their families (according to an Austrian observer, Captain Rosestein).

====Partitions====
On 23 July 1792, the defending [[Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army]], under the leadership of [[Szymon Zabiełło]], and the invading [[Imperial Russian Army]] fought a battle near Brześć. On 19 September 1794, the area between Brest and [[Terespol]] was the site of another [[Battle of Brest (1794)|battle]] won by the Russian invaders led by [[Alexander Suvorov]] over a Polish-Lithuanian division under General Karol Sierakowski. Thereafter, Brest was annexed by Russia when [[Third Partition of Poland|the Poland-Lithuania Commonwealth was partitioned for the third time]] in 1795.

===19th century to World War I===
[[File:Bieraście, Buh, Terespalski most. Берасьце, Буг, Тэрэспальскі мост (M. Zaleski, 1846).jpg|thumb|left|[[Brest Fortress]] on a painting by [[Marcin Zaleski]] from 1846]]
During Russian rule in the 19th century, [[Brest Fortress]] was built in and around the city. The Russians demolished the [[Brest Castle (Belarus)|Polish Royal Castle]] and most of the Old Town "to make room" for the fortress.{{Citation needed|date=October 2012}} The main Jewish synagogue in the city, the [[Choral Synagogue (Brest)|Choral Synagogue]], was completed c. 1862. In 1895, a massive fire rendered 15,000 people homeless, and dozens were killed.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1895-05-19 |title=Brest-Litovsk's Disastrous Fire. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1895/05/19/archives/brestlitovsks-disastrous-fire.html |access-date=2024-08-28 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

During [[World War I]], the town was captured by the [[Imperial German Army]] under [[August von Mackensen]] on 25 August 1915, during the [[Great Retreat (Russian)|Great Retreat of 1915]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Robson |first=Stuart |url=http://archive.org/details/firstworldwar0000robs_r5x1 |title=The First World War |publisher=Pearson Longman |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-4058-2471-2 |edition=1 |location=Harrow, England |pages=30 |language=en |ref=None |via=Archive Foundation}}</ref> Shortly after Brest fell into German hands, [[war poet]] [[August Stramm]], who has been called "the first of the [[Expressionist]]s" and one of "the most innovative poets of the First World War,"<ref>Tim Cross (1988) ''The Lost Voices of World War I'', page 124.</ref> was shot in the head during an attack on nearby Russian positions on 1 September 1915.

[[File:bfc Brest train station.jpg|thumb|Brest railway station during [[World War I]], c. 1915]]
In March 1918, in the Brest Fortress at the confluence of the [[Bug (river)|Bug]] and [[Mukhavets]] rivers on the city' western outskirts, the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (Russia–Central Powers)|Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]] was signed, ending the war between [[Soviet Russia]] and the [[Central Powers]] and transferring the city and its surrounding region to the [[Ober Ost|sphere of influence]] of the [[German Empire]]. This treaty was subsequently annulled by the [[Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920)|Paris Peace Conference]] treaties which ended the war and even more so by events and developments in [[Central and Eastern Europe]]. During 1918, the city became a part of the [[Volhynia Governorate]] of the [[Ukrainian People's Republic]] as a result of negotiations and own treaty between the delegation of the [[Ukrainian Central Rada]] and Central Powers.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Ivan Katchanovski|last2= Zenon E.|first2= Kohut|last3= Bohdan Y. |first3= Nebesio|last4= Myroslav|first4= Yurkevich|date= 2013|title= Historical Dictionary of Ukraine|publisher= Scarecrow Press|pages= 60–61|isbn= 9780810878471}}</ref>

===Interwar Poland===
On 9 February 1919, Polish troops entered the city, and it returned to [[Second Polish Republic|Poland]], which regained independence three months earlier.{{sfn|Mondalski|1929|p=96}}{{sfn|Pszczółkowski|2014|p=6}} During the [[Polish–Soviet War]] it was occupied by the Soviet Russians on 1 August 1920,{{sfn|Pszczółkowski|2014|pp=6–7}} and recaptured by the Poles on 20 August,{{sfn|Mondalski|1929|p=96}} with borders formally recognized by the [[Treaty of Riga]] of 1921. In 1921, it became the temporary capital of the [[Polesie Voivodeship]] instead of [[Pińsk]].{{sfn|Pszczółkowski|2014|p=7}}{{sfn|Mondalski|1929|p=97}} It was renamed Brześć nad Bugiem (''Brest on the Bug'') on 20 March 1923.

[[File:Bieraście, Bulvarny, Bank. Берасьце, Бульварны, Банк (1930) (3).jpg|thumb|left|Bank of Poland between the wars]]
The city was developed significantly and a number of representative public buildings were erected in [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]] and [[Modern architecture|Modernist]] styles, especially at ''Ulica Unii Lubelskiej'' ([[Union of Lublin]] Street, now Lenin Street), including the Bank of Poland, Tax Chamber, Regional Chamber of the State Control, Healthcare Fund and Voivodeship Office.{{sfn|Pszczółkowski|2014|pp=13, 15, 17, 29-30}} Other notable projects include the officials' housing estate, stylistically inspired by historic [[manor houses of Polish nobility]] and the [[garden city movement]], and the Warburg Residential Colony, dedicated to poor Jews who had lost their homes in World War I, founded by Felix M. Warburg, chairman of the Joint Distribution Committee of American Funds for Jewish War Sufferers.{{sfn|Pszczółkowski|2014|pp=18-21, 30-32}} In 1929, city limits were greatly expanded.<ref>{{Cite Polish law|title=Rozporządzenie Rady Ministrów z dnia 31 maja 1929 r. o rozszerzeniu granic miasta Brześcia n/Bugiem w powiecie brzeskim, województwie poleskiem.|year=1929|volume=43|number=354}}</ref>{{sfn|Pszczółkowski|2014|p=9}}

In the twenty years of Poland's sovereignty, of the total of 36 brand new schools established in the city, there were ten public, and five private [[Jewish day school|Jewish schools]] inaugurated, with [[Yiddish]] and [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] as the language of instruction. The first-ever Jewish school in Brześć history opened in 1920, almost immediately after Poland's return to independence. In 1936 Jews constituted 41.3% of the Brześć population or 21,518 citizens. Some 80.3% of private enterprises were run by Jews.<ref name="Davies">[[Norman Davies]], ''[[God's Playground]]'' (Polish edition), Second volume, p.512-513</ref><ref name="Jerzy Tomaszewski">{{cite book|title=Economic Change and the National Question in Twentieth-century Europe|author=Alice Teichova|author-link=Alice Teichova|author2=Herbert Matis|author3=Jaroslav Pátek|year=2000|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8UVxY-8Xk-sC&q=nowogrodek++++minorities&pg=PA345 | isbn=978-0-521-63037-5 | pages=342–344}}
</ref><ref name="Stosunki">{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20100529211839/http://old.bialorus.pl/index.php?secId=49&docId=57&&Rozdzial=historia Stosunki polsko-białoruskie pod okupacją sowiecką]}}, (''Polish-Byelorussian relations under the Soviet occupation''). ''Bialorus.pl'' {{in lang|pl}}</ref> The [[Polish Army]] troops of the 9th Military District along with its headquarters were stationed in Brześć Fortress.

The city had an overwhelmingly Jewish population during Russian rule: 30,000 out of 45,000 total population according to Russian 1897 census, which fell to 21,000 out of 50,000 according to the [[Polish census of 1931]].<ref>Joshua D. Zimmerman, ''Poles, Jews, and the politics of nationality'', [[University of Wisconsin Press]], 2004, {{ISBN|0-299-19464-7}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=6sbr9cZyw_4C&dq=population+Brest+Poles+Jews&pg=PA16 Google Print, p.16]</ref><ref name=Browning>Christopher R. Browning, ''Nazi policy, Jewish workers, German killers', [https://books.google.com/books?id=Ewncj-TwLycC&dq=population+Brest+Poles+Jews&pg=PA124 Google Print, p.124]</ref>

===World War II===
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-121-0011A-23, Polen, Siegesparade, Guderian, Kriwoschein.jpg|thumb|260px|[[German–Soviet military parade in Brest-Litovsk]] at the conclusion of the [[Invasion of Poland]]. In the centre are Major General [[Heinz Guderian]] from the [[Wehrmacht]] and Brigadier [[Semyon Krivoshein]] from the [[Red Army]].]]

In early September 1939, the Polish government evacuated a portion of the Polish [[gold reserve]] from [[Warsaw]] to Brześć, and then further southeast to [[Śniatyn]] at the Poland-[[Romania]] border, from where it was transported via Romania and [[Turkey]] to territory controlled by [[Franco-Polish alliance (1921)|Polish-allied]] [[France]].<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Wróbel|first=Janusz|year=2002|title=Wojenne losy polskiego złota|magazine=Biuletyn Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej|language=pl|publisher=[[Institute of National Remembrance|IPN]]|issue=8-9 (19-20)|pages=55–58|issn=1641-9561}}</ref>

During the German [[Invasion of Poland]] in 1939, the city was defended by a small garrison of four infantry battalions under General [[Konstanty Plisowski]] against General [[Heinz Guderian]]'s [[XIX Army Corps|XIX Panzer Corps]]. After [[Battle of Brześć Litewski|four days of heavy fighting]], the Polish forces withdrew southwards on 17 September. The [[Soviet invasion of Poland]] began on the same day. As a result, the Soviet [[Red Army]] entered the city at the end of September 1939 following the [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact]]'s Secret Protocol, and a joint [[German–Soviet military parade in Brest-Litovsk|Nazi-Soviet military parade]] took place on 22 September 1939. While Belarusians consider it a reunification of the Belarusian nation under one constituency (the [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic]] at that time), Poles consider it the date when the city was lost.

During the [[Occupation of Poland (1939–1945)|Soviet occupation]] (1939–41), the Polish population was subject to arrests, executions and mass deportations to [[Siberia]] and the [[Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic]]. The largest Soviet prison in the Byelorussian SSR was located in the city, and its prisoners were mostly Poles, including politicians, landowners, officers, educators, priests, both locals, including pre-war Polish mayor Franciszek Kolbusz, and people arrested in other places, including former Prime Minister of Poland [[Leopold Skulski]], and Jews fleeing the Germans from western and central Poland.<ref name=sk>{{cite web|url=https://przystanekhistoria.pl/pa2/teksty/74339,Sowieckie-wiezienie-w-Brzesciu-nad-Bugiem-w-latach-1939-1941.html|title=Sowieckie więzienie w Brześciu nad Bugiem w latach 1939-1941|website=Przystanek Historia|author=Sławomir Kalbarczyk|language=pl|date=14 September 2024|access-date=1 January 2025}}</ref> The prison had poor conditions, causing the spread of [[lice]] and [[bed bug]]s, and brutal interrogations, even resulting in two confirmed cases of suicide.<ref name=sk/> In February 1940, there was a mass prison escape in which first 28 people managed to escape, and then Soviet soldiers opened fire on further escapees.<ref name=sk/> Many prisoners were eventually moved to a prison in [[Minsk]].<ref name=ez>{{cite magazine|last=Ziółkowska|first=Ewa|year=2009|title=Kuropaty|magazine=Biuletyn Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej|language=pl|publisher=[[Institute of National Remembrance|IPN]]|issue=1–2 (96–97)|page=51|issn=1641-9561}}</ref> It is suspected that they were murdered by the Soviets in the [[Katyn massacre]] in 1940.<ref name=ez/>

{{further|Brześć Ghetto|The Holocaust in the Brest District}}
[[File:Kuibyshev street (ul Dluga) - Holocaust memorial 1b.jpg|thumb|Holocaust memorial]]
On 22 June 1941, Brest Fortress and the city were attacked by [[Nazi Germany]] on the first day of [[Operation Barbarossa]], [[Nazi Germany]]'s invasion of the [[Soviet Union]]. The fortress [[Defense of Brest Fortress|held out for six days]]. Nearly all its Soviet army defenders perished. The Germans placed Brest under the administration of the ''[[Reichskommissariat Ukraine]]''. The remaining municipal Jewish population (about 20,000) was sequestered in the [[Brześć Ghetto]] established by the German authorities in December 1941 and later murdered in October 1942. Only seven Jews survived the Nazi executions.<ref name=Browning/>

The Germans also operated a Nazi prison, a [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|forced labour]] "education" camp for men and women, a forced labour camp for Jews, the AGSSt 3 prisoner-of-war assembly center, the Dulag 314 transit [[German prisoner-of-war camps in World War II|POW camp]] for [[Italian Military Internees|Italians]], the Stalag 397 POW camp for Soviet POWs and a subcamp of the Stalag 360 POW camp in the city.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=545|title=Gefängnis Brest-Litowsk|website=Bundesarchiv.de|access-date=30 September 2023|language=de}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=543|title=Arbeitserziehungslager Brest|website=Bundesarchiv.de|access-date=30 September 2023|language=de}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=544|title=Zwangsarbeitslager für Juden Brest|website=Bundesarchiv.de|access-date=30 September 2023|language=de}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Megargee|first1=Geoffrey P.|last2=Overmans|first2=Rüdiger|last3=Vogt|first3=Wolfgang|year=2022|title=The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV|publisher=Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum|pages=39, 117, 363, 385–386|isbn=978-0-253-06089-1}}</ref>

The [[Polish resistance movement in World War II|Polish resistance movement]], including the Polesie District of the [[Home Army]], was active in the city.

The city was re-occupied by the [[Red Army]] on 28 July 1944, and eventually annexed from Poland the following year.

===Post-war period===
In 1945, the ''Związek Obrońców Wolności'' ("Freedom Defenders Association") Polish resistance organization was founded in the city, with its activities including secret Polish schooling, rescuing historical Polish monuments from devastation and organising aid for repressed people and those in a difficult material situation.<ref name=kktl>{{cite magazine|last1=Krajewski|first1=Kazimierz|last2=Łabuszewski|first2=Tomasz|year=2009|title=Ostatni obrońcy Kresow Połnocno-Wschodnich|magazine=Biuletyn Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej|language=pl|publisher=IPN|issue=1–2 (96–97)|pages=105–106|issn=1641-9561}}</ref> The organization was crushed by the [[NKVD]] in 1948, and its members were deported to [[Gulag]] [[Forced labor in the Soviet Union|forced labour]] camps for 25 years.<ref name=kktl/>

In early 2019, a mass grave containing the remains of 1,214 people were found in the Brest Ghetto area during a construction project. Most are believed to have been Jews murdered by Nazis.<ref>{{cite news |last=Liphshiz |first=Cnaan |date=22 February 2019 |title=Remains of Hundreds of Bodies Unearthed at Former Jewish Ghetto in Belarus |url=https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Antisemitism/Remains-of-hundreds-of-bodies-unearthed-at-former-Jewish-ghetto-in-Belarus-581444 |newspaper=[[The Jerusalem Post]] |access-date=28 February 2019 |agency=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]] |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-date=28 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190228094349/https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Antisemitism/Remains-of-hundreds-of-bodies-unearthed-at-former-Jewish-ghetto-in-Belarus-581444 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/27/world/europe/belarus-holocaust-mass-grave.html
|first=Andrew
|last=Higgins
|website=[[New York Times]]
|access-date=11 June 2021
|url-status=bot: unknown
|date=27 April 2019
|title=Belarus Building Site Yields the Bones of 1,214 Holocaust Victims
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512120257/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/27/world/europe/belarus-holocaust-mass-grave.html
|archive-date=12 May 2021
}}</ref>