The Polish Cemetery of the First World War in Volkovysk

The Republic of Belarus is a country with a rich history. Studying it we can learn many interesting historical facts because everything that happened in Europe almost always affected our country.

Do you know that there is the town Volkovysk in Belarus? This is one of the most ancient towns not only in our country but also in the whole territory of Eastern Europe. Archaeological excavations tell us that the first Slavonic settlement in the territory where the town is located now dates back to the X century! Of course, over such a long period of time Volkovysk has been the scene of many wars and was part of many states. The testimonies of these armed conflicts and the ensuing changes in the political map of Europe have survived in the town up to now.

One of the evidences that the town Volkovysk had an uneasy fate is located in Charles Marx st, near the Church of St Vatslav. This place is called the Polish military cemetery, graves of which mainly refer to the period of the First World War of 1914-1918. This is due to the fact that most burial places in its territory are graves of soldiers and officers who were buried there during the occupation of the town by the German troops. Later the town was part of the Belarusian People's Republic and the Polish Republic. And, of course, most tombstones in the cemetery are signed in the Polish language. But not only graves of Poles can be found in this cemetery. A closer look shows that the graves are of soldiers of different nationalities because a war never changes and affects different people of different nationalities fr om different countries.

Among ordinary graves you can see a large military burial place of Polish soldiers and officers of 1920 years, who died in battles with the Red Army. This is evidenced by a memorial plate, wh ere it is written in Polish that it was installed on behalf of the residents of the town Volkovysk in honor of the heroes who dyed for the native country in the period of 1918-1920. If you wonder how such a monument appeared there, then it is necessary to remember history. On 1 January 1919, like other western towns of our country, Volkovysk became part of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. And in February of 1919 the Soviet-Polish war broke out. It so happened that during 1920 the town repeatedly passed from one opposing party to another. And after the Soviet-Polish war in 1921 Volkovysk finally came to possession of the Republic of Poland and was under its rule until 1939. It was then that Soviet troops, at that time they were called worker-peasant Red army annexed the territory of present Western Belarus.

 If you are fond of history you are sure to be interested in the fact that in the territory of the cemetery there is a memorial monument to those who died during the Polish uprising of 1863-1864. It is a wooden cross with attached at the cross point of beams a statuette of Jesus Christ and with a Latin letter V made of pole-arms. This is a sign symbolizing victory. It was installed in memory of those days when dissatisfied nobles decided to restore the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This rebellion was suppressed and was followed by repressions, of what the monument reminds.