Editing South River, New Jersey (section)

===Belarusians in South River===
[[File:Belarusian monument in South River.jpg|thumb|left|Monument for "Those who fought for Freedom and Independence of Byelorussia"]]
South River has become a center for [[Belarusian Americans]] in the postwar-period.

The first immigrants from present-day Belarus (from the areas of modern-day western [[Minsk Voblast]] and [[Hrodna Voblast]], around the towns of [[Vilejka]], [[Maladziečna]] and others) arrived to South River in the late 19th century.<ref name=Hardzijenka>{{cite book |last=Hardzijenka |first=Aleh |date=2009 |title=Беларускі Кангрэсовы Камітэт Амэрыкі (БККА) |trans-title=The Belarusian Congress Committee of America (BCCA) |language=be |location=Smolensk |publisher=BINIM }}</ref> Most of the immigrants of that time identified themselves as Polish or Russian depending on their faith.<ref name=Hardzijenka/> Immigrants from Belarus established a [[St. Mary's Church (South River Borough, New Jersey)|Roman Catholic church of Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn]] (a prominent Catholic icon in [[Vilnius]] venerated primarily by Catholics in Western Belarus and Lithuania) and a 250 members strong [[Russian Orthodox]] parish of St. Peter and St. Paul.<ref name=Hardzijenka/>

The postwar immigrants founded the [[Belarusian Congress Committee of America]] here in 1951.<ref name=Hardzijenka/> In the 1950s they reestablished the [[St. Euphrosynia Belarusian Orthodox Church|Belarusian Orthodox parish of St. Eufrasinnia]], that previously existed in [[Germany]]. A Belarusian cemetery was opened in 1953, that houses also [[Radasłaŭ Astroŭski]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20010306012407/http://www.belarus-misc.org/diaspora/yurevich/sriver.html South River], A Belarus Miscellany. Accessed July 13, 2016.</ref>