Berezne

Berezne (Ukrainian: Березне, Russian: Берёзно, Polish: Bereźne) is a city in Rivne Oblast, Ukraine, located on the Sluch River north of Rivne. It is the administrative centre of the Berezne Raion. Population is 13,390 (2011)

History

Berezne was established in 1445 within the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Since the Union of Lublin the town was part of the Kingdom of Poland, where it remained until the Partitions of Poland. Annexed by the Russian Empire, Berezne in 1919 returned to Poland. In the Second Polish Republic it was a garrison of the Berezne Battalion of the Border Protection Corps. Until 1939, Berezne belonged to Kostopol County, Volhynian Voivodeship.

In 1943, during the Volhynian Genocide, 96 ethnic Poles of Berezne were murdered by Ukrainian nationalists of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. The first attack on the town took place in June 1943. Other attacks occurred in the second half of that year, and as a result Polish survivors fled to larger towns, such as Rowne. In June 1945 the remaining Poles were forced to leave Berezne.