Volhynia (Ukrainian: Волинь, Volyn’, Polish: Wołyń, Lithuanian: Voluinė, German: Wolhynien, Russian: Волынь, Volyn’; Yiddish: װאָהלין, Vohlin; also called Volynia) comprises the historic region in western Ukraine located between the rivers Prypiat and Western Bug -- to the north of Galicia and of Podolia. Ukrainian (in Ukrainian украї́нська мо́ва ukrayins'ka mova,) is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. Polish ( język polski, polszczyzna) is the Official language of Poland. Lithuanian ( lietuvių kalba) is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognised as one of the official languages of the European Union. The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages Yiddish (yi [[wiktייִדיש ייִדיש]] yidish or yi [[wiktאידיש אידיש]] idish, literally "Jewish" is a nonterritorial High Ukraine (Україна Ukrayina, /ukrɑˈjinɑ/ is a country in Eastern Europe. The Pripyat River (Прип’ять 'prɨpjatʲ Прыпяць Prypiać 'prɨpʲatsʲ Prypeć 'prɨpɛtsʲ Припять 'pripjatʲ is a river in Eastern Europe, of The Bug or Buh River (Bug; Західний Буг Zakhidnyy Buh; Захо́дні Буг Zakhodni Buh; Западный Буг Zapadnyy Bug Galicia (Галичина ( Halychyna) Galicja is a historical region in East Central Europe, currently divided between Poland and Ukraine, The region of Podolia (also spelled Podilia or Podillya) is a historical region in the west-central and south-west portions of present-day Ukraine, The area has one of the oldest Slavic settlements in Europe. Part of historical Volhynia now forms the Volyn, Rivne, and parts of Zhytomyr and Ternopil Oblast of Ukraine, as well as parts of Poland (see Chełm). Volyn Oblast (Волинська область translit Volyns’ka oblast’; also referred to as Volyn’) is an oblast (province in north-western Soborna Street-Rivne 2JPG|thumb|left|200px|Soborna (Cathedral Street]]Maidan Nezalezhnosti-Rivne Zhytomyr (Житомир ( Zhytomyr) Житомир ( Zhitomir) Żytomierz is a historic City in the North of the western half of Ukraine Ternopil Oblast (Тернопільська область translit Ukraine (Україна Ukrayina, /ukrɑˈjinɑ/ is a country in Eastern Europe. Chełm (Холм Kholm) is a city in eastern Poland with 72595 inhabitants (2005 Other major cities include Lutsk, Kovel, Kremenets, and Volodymyr-Volynskyi. Lutsk (Луцьк translit Luts’k, Łuck is a city located by the Styr River in north-western Ukraine. Kovel (Ковель translit Kovel’, Polish: Kowel is a City located in the Volyn Oblast ( province) in north-western Kremenets (Кременець translit Kremenets’ Krzemieniec is a City in the Ternopil Oblast ( province) of western Ukraine Volodymyr-Volynskyi or Vladimir-Volynsky (Володимир-Волинський translit Many Jewish shtetls like Trochenbrod and Lozisht were once an integral part of the region. A shtetl (שטעטל diminutive form of Yiddish shtot שטאָט "town" pronounced very similarly to the South German diminutive "Städtle" "little Trochenbrod or Trochinbrod in Russian (Трохимбрід Trokhymbrid) was a Jewish Shtetl (village with an area 1728 acres once located in what is Lozisht was a Jewish Shtetl (village located in what is now western Ukraine but which used to be a part of Poland and was called then Ignatowka ^[1]

History

The ancient city of Halych first appears in history in 981 when taken over by Vladimir the Great of Kievan Rus. Halych (Галич Гáлич Halicz Halyčas is a historic city on the Dniester River in western Ukraine. Saint Vladimir Svyatoslavich the Great ( Old Russian: Володимеръ Святославичь, c Volhynia's early history coincides with that of the duchies or principalities of Halych and Volodymyr-Volynsky. Volodymyr-Volynskyi or Vladimir-Volynsky (Володимир-Волинський translit These two successor states of Kievan Rus formed Halych-Volhynia between the 12th and the 14th centuries. Kievan Rus′ (Ки́евская Русь romanised: Kievskaya Rus', rusʲ also written as Kyivan Rus′ (Ки́ївська Русь or Kievan The Kingdom of Galicia-Volhynia ( Ruthenian: sla Галицко-Волинскоє Королѣвство Regnum Galiciæ et Lodomeriæ or Galicia-Vladimir, was

Pochayiv Lavra, the spiritual heart of the Orthodox in Volhynia

After the disintegration of the Grand Duchy of Halych-Volhynia (also called Galich-Vladimir Rus) circa 1340, the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania divided up the region between them, Poland taking Western Volhynia and Lithuania Eastern Volhynia (1352-1366). Pochayiv Lavra of the Assumption of the Theotokos (Почаївська Свято-Успенська Лавра Свято-Успенская Почаевская Лавра has for A grand duchy is a territory whose Head of state is a Grand Duke or Grand Duchess. The Kingdom of Poland ( pol Królestwo Polskie, lat Regnum Poloniae, ukr The Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė old literary Lithuanian Didi Kunigiste Letuvos, Ruthenian: Wialikaje Kniastwa Litowskaje After 1569 Volhynia formed a province of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, officially the Commonwealth of the Crown of the Polish Kingdom and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania also known as the Most Serene Republic During this period Poles and Jews settled in the area. The Polish people, or Poles, (Polacy) are a Western Slavic Ethnic group of Central Europe, living predominantly in Poland. PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ The Roman and Greek Catholic churches became established in the province, and many Orthodox churches were forcibly annexed by the latter. This article refers to Eastern Churches in full communion with the Holy See Records of the first agricultural colonies of Mennonites date from 1783. The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after Menno Simons (1496&ndash1561 though his teachings were a relatively

After the third Partition of Poland in 1795 Volhynia became a province (gubernia - the Volhynian Governorate) of the Russian Empire. The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Volhynian Governorate (Волынская губерния Волинська губернія was a Governorate of the Russian Empire, created in 1792 after the The Russian Empire ( Pre-reform Russian: Pоссійская Имперія Modern Russian: Российская Империя translit: Rossiyskaya By the end of the 19th century Volhynia had over 200,000 German settlers (colonists), most of whom immigrated from Congress Poland. This article is about the German diaspora See Germans for the German ethnicity in general A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established permanent residence there often to colonize the area Congress Poland Kongresówka, officially and formally Kingdom of Poland (Królestwo Polskie {{IPA-pl|'|p|o|l|s|kʲ|e}} Царство Польское Tsarstvo Polskoye A small number of Czech settlers also arrived. Czechs (Češi ˈt͡ʃɛʃɪ archaic Čechové) are a western Slavic people of Central Europe, living predominantly in the Czech Republic Although economically the area was developing rather quickly, upon the eve of the First World War, it was still the most rural province in Western Russia. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All

Mezhyrich Abbey in Ostroh was endowed by Princes Ostrogski in the 15th century

In 1921 after the end of the Polish-Soviet war, the treaty known as the Peace of Riga divided Volhynia between Poland and the USSR. Ostroh (Острог Острог translit Ostrog; Ostrogas Ostróg is a historic city located in Rivne Oblast ( province) of western Ostrogski (Ostrogiškiai Острозькі- Ostrozki) was one of the greatest Ruthenian Princely families of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Peace of Riga, also known as the Treaty of Riga; (Ри́жский ми́рный договóр -- Romanisation Rízhsky Mírny dogovór --, Rīgas Poland took the larger part and established a Volhynian Voivodeship. Wołyń Voivodeship or Volhynian Voivodeship (Polish Województwo Wołyńskie, Latin Palatinatus Volhynensis) was an administrative unit of interwar (See the map at Voivodeships of Poland). Voivodeship The voivodeship or province (województwo has been a high-level Administrative subdivision of Poland since the 14th century Most of eastern Volhynia became part of the Zhitomir Oblast. Zhytomyr Oblast (Житомирська область translit

In 1935-1938 Stalin had the Poles of Eastern Volhynia deported — the first ethnic deportation in the history of the Soviet Union — see Polish minority in Soviet Union. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991

In 1939 the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact transferred all of Volhynia territory to the Soviet Union. In the course of the Nazi-Soviet population transfers which followed this German-Soviet reconciliation, the German minority population of Volhynia migrated to Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany. At the beginning of World War II, significant Polish areas were annexed by Nazi Germany in contrary to Hague Convention IV 1907 and put under German civil The Nazi authorities later evacuated them. World War II evacuation and expulsion refers to forced deportation mass evacuation and displacement of peoples spurred on by the hostilities between Axis and Allied powers and the border Most of the Jewish and Polish minorities became victims of the ethnic cleansing by Nazis and Ukrainian groups. The Ukrainian Insurgent Army (Українська Повстанська Армія U krayins’ka P ovstans’ka A rmiya, UPA Between 1942 and 1944, there was a major escalation in armed ethnic conflicts between the Polish and Ukrainian populations resulting in ethnic cleansing operations. The Massacre of Poles in Volhynia (Rzeź wołyńska (lit Volhynian slaughter was a massive Ethnic cleansing operation in German-occupied Volhynia and Volhynia remained a part of Soviet Union after the end of World War II. Most of those Poles who survived the war were expatriated to Poland in 1945 (see: Recovered Territories). Recovered or Regained Territories (Ziemie Odzyskane was the official term used by the Polish post-war authorities to denote those territories which were transferred Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Volhynia has been part of independent Ukraine. The Soviet Union 's collapse into independent nations began early in 1985

See also

• Galicia (Central Europe)
• Marchlewszczyzna
• Massacre of Poles in Volhynia

References

External links

• The Journey to Trochenbrod and Lozisht aug 2006
• Imperial Russian Volhynia District Map
• Swiss-Volhynian Mennonites
• Germans in Volhynia - English
• Germans in Volhynia - Another English site
• Germans in Volhynia - German
• Volhynia-Galicia (Polish)