The town of David-Horoduk, now in the south of the state of Belarus, is known for many political upheavals in its history.
It was founded in the 11th century by a group of Tatars and is mentioned for the first time by its full name in the 14th century as belonging to the Principality of Pinskaia which passes from Lithuanian to Polish control and again to Lithuanian and again to Polish. Thus until 1793 when Poland was partitioned (the second partition) and David-Horoduk found itself in the Russian domain Until 1920. From 1920 to 1939 the city belonged to Poland again.
On September 19, 1939, the Red Army entered David-Horoduk and held it until July 1941, when the city was occupied by Hitler’s troops.
In 1944, Russia captures the city from the Germans and controls it until the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the establishment of the independent state of Belarus.
David Horodok is located in a land called Pulsia, administratively subordinated to nearby Pinsk which is subordinated to the provincial capital Brest.
The town is crossed by a branch of the Horyn River that splits from the long Pripyat River that crosses the south of Belarus from east to west. The two rivers served and still serve as an important transportation artery within the continent and in distant days formed the important connection artery of David Horodok with the nearby towns of Stolin and Pinsk. A Jewish cooperative was even founded in David Horodok that operated steamships that sailed on the Horin and Prifait rivers.
Among the important cities and towns at a distance of hundreds of kilometers, we can mention Minsk to the north, Brest and even Warsaw to the west, Kiev to the south and Gomel to the east. Towns close to David Horodok that were also important Jewish settlement centers are Stolin, Lahava, Torov, Luninyts, Mikshevic as well as Cerny and Dobrovitsa (today in Ukraine).
Around David Horodok there were small villages and towns with a not particularly large Jewish population in each of them. Jews from some of these towns were led to their murders in the killing pit of the Jews of David-Horoduk, among which we can name the Jews of the towns: Ramel, Lamici, Ledzic, Olshani, Ozdemici, Tori, Olpin and Trablice.
The region of the country in which David-Horoduk resides, also called the Pulsia region, is plagued by swamps, especially at the end of winter, the swamps are numerous and demanding. Deporting the women and children at the end of the first action in which they murdered all the men of the town over the age of 14, the Germans hoped that most of the deported women and children would find their deaths in the swamps of the area. Many of them died in the hardships of the road, but not necessarily from the swamps.
Average temperatures in the summer in southern Belarus are about 20 0 , and in the winter can drop to 25 0 below zero or even below that. The flat area and the many forests are an integral part of the landscape in the area.
The residents of David-Horodoc and the area as a whole find their livelihood today in agriculture, crafts and small industry as well as in developed commerce.
Belarus today is crossed by a highway that starts in Moscow and ends in the city of Brest. This highway, the construction of which was a national project back in the days of the Soviet Union, shortens the travel time between Minsk, the capital city where the international airport of Belarus is located, and David-Horoduk, which is about 450 km away. The other road network is reasonable and usually two Orbital only.
Travelers to Belarus are advised to travel in organized groups. The currency is the Belarusian ruble and daily living costs are not expensive for the average western traveler.
Current map of the town area
The streets of the town
The map of the towns on the Polish border
Map of the meeting of the borders and the location of the town of David Horodok
