Vysokaye (Belarusian: Высокае, romanized: Vysokaje; Russian: Высокое, romanized: Vysokoye; Polish: Wysokie) is a town in Kamyenyets District, Brest Region, Belarus. The westernmost point of Belarus is located a few kilometers to the southwest from Vysokaye on the Bug River. As of 2024, it has a population of 4,913. The town has a railway station on the Brest line.
Etymology
Vysokaye means "high" (same as Polish: Wysokie), as in Wysokie Litewskie (Lithuanian Heights). That was also its name before 1940, when it belonged to Poland. It is about 15 kilometers from Polish border and majority of its citizens are Belarusians.
History
Within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Wysokie was a private town of the Sapieha, Jabłonowski and Potocki families, administratively located in the Brest Litovsk Voivodeship. King Stanisław August Poniatowski stopped in the town during his travel from Białystok to his birthplace of Wołczyn in 1775. In 1795, it was acquired by the Russian Empire as a result of the Third Partition of Poland.
From 1921 until 1939, Vysokaye (Wysokie Litewskie) was part of the Second Polish Republic.
In September 1939, Vysokaye was occupied by the Red Army and, on 14 November 1944, incorporated into the Byelorussian SSR. From 23 June 1941 until 28 July 1944, Vysokaye was occupied by Nazi Germany and administered as a part of Bezirk Bialystok. The Germans established a ghetto for local Jews. Before the war, the town had about 2000 Jews, 80% of its residents. They were murdered on November 2, 1942.
On New Year's Day 2023, the town hit 16.4 C, the highest ever January temperature recorded in the country.
Climate
Notes
References
Sources
- Staff (1978). Encyclopaedia Judaica, "Vysokoje". Keter Pub. House. p. 233.
- Room, Adrian (1979). Place-Name Changes Since 1900: a world gazetteer. Scarecrow Press. p. 176.
External links
- Wysokie Litewskie in the Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland (1895) (in Polish)
- Vysokaje, Belarus at JewishGen
