through the town, which started a period of economic prosperity. In 1871, a Warsaw-Moscow railroad was laid only from the town, connecting the town with the nearby major cities of Brest and Minsk. In 1878, the town had a marketplace, 7 streets and approximately 200 houses. Both the town and the adjoining area had approximately 5,000 inhabitants. Apart from the Catholic and Uniate Churches, there was also a synagogue, Jewish baths and a market just outside the city limits. In the 20th century In 1915, during the First World War, the town was occupied by the Imperial Germany and in 1918 claimed by the short-lived Belarusian People's Republic. The town was captured by the Red Army on January 19, 1919, during the Soviet westward offensive of 1918–19 (Target-Vistula). Within one month, the Polish Army reclaimed the area, and recaptured the town on February 14, 1919. During the Polish-Bolshevik War the town became a notable location of two major battles including the war's very first and the second Battle of Bereza Kartuska (1920). At the end of the Polish–Soviet War the town was ceded to Poland in the Peace of Riga signed by Soviet Russia (acting also on behalf of Soviet Belarus). The peace treaty remained in force until the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939. Polish prison A Polish political prison camp was created in Bereza Kartuska in 1934. The former Russian barracks and prison were turned into an internment camp for both Polish right-wing extremists from the ONR, Ukrainian separatists from the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and members of the Communist Party of Poland and the Communist Party of Western Ukraine, and later also for members of opposition parties, journalists critical of the government and people suspected of common crimes. Inmates were sent there for up to three months without the involvement of the courts, based solely on the administrative decision of the police or the voivode. In this way, many Belarusians who resisted Polonization found themselves in the Bereza Kartuska camp. The legal basis for the camp opening was openly questioned and its existence was often criticized by opponents of the Sanacja movement, which from its inception called it a "concentration camp". The camp was closed in September 1939, during the invasion of Poland. After 1939 In 1939 the town was captured by the Red Army and incorporated into the Byelorussian SSR. After the outbreak of the German-Soviet