was seized by the Wehrmacht on June 27, 1941. It was part of Generalbezirk Weißruthenien in Reichskommissariat Ostland during the German occupation. In August 1941, a ghetto (the Baranavichy Ghetto) was created in the city, with more than 12,000 Jews kept in terrible conditions in six buildings at the outskirts. From March 4 to December 14, 1942, the entire Jewish population of the ghetto was sent to various extermination camps and killed in gas chambers. Only about 250 survived the war. The city was liberated by the Red Army on 8 July 1944. It was also the seat of the Baranavichy Voblast from 1939 to 1941 and again from 1944 to 1954. Meanwhile, intensive industrialization took place. In 1991, the city became part of independent Belarus. Climate Sights As a fairly young city, Baranavichy does not have many cultural heritage monuments. Most are buildings erected in the interwar period, including the Catholic Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the former Bank of Poland building, the building of the Polish Radio Baranowicze station, the fire station and the Orthodox Church of the Protection of the Holy Virgin. Few old houses from the early 20th century are preserved. There is a railway museum in the city. Transport The city is on the main east-west highway in Belarus, the M1, which forms a part of European route E30. The first rail line through the city opened in around 1870. Additional railways built helped the city become an important rail junction. The large airbase, south of the city, is used by the Belarusian Air Force. Notable people Mirosław Araszewski, Polish photographer and cinematographer Maja Berezowska, Polish painter Abraham Foxman, former CEO of Anti-Defamation League Alina Kabata-Pendias (1929-2019), scientist Lidia Korsakówna, Polish theater and film actress Ihar Losik (1992), Belarusian blogger and activist recognised by Amnesty International as a political prisoner Kazimierz Świątek, Roman Catholic Cardinal and archbishop Elchonon Wasserman, rabbi and Rosh Yeshiva Valeriya Novodvorskaya, Soviet dissident, writer and liberal politician Valanсin Taŭlaj (:be:Валянцін Таўлай), Belarusian Soviet poet Twin towns – sister cities Baranavichy is twinned with: Biała Podlaska, Poland Chibi, China Jelgava, Latvia Kaliningrad, Russia Karlovo, Bulgaria Kineshma, Russia Konyaaltı, Turkey Magadan, Russia Mytishchi, Russia Nacka, Sweden Poltava, Ukraine Solntsevo (Moscow), Russia Stockerau, Austria Sulęcin County, Poland Vasileostrovsky (Saint Petersburg), Russia Yeysky District, Russia Significant depictions in popular culture Baranavichy is one of the starting towns of Lithuania in the turn-based