What was Zelva region in the USSR?

January 1, Belarus will celebrate the round date — 100 years since the founding of the BSSR. What was Zelva region in the Soviet years, Sergey Bagan and Nikolay Yanul told 11th-graders of Secondary School No. 2, both of whom had once held high leadership positions. A few excerpts from speeches …

Sergey Bagan, former first secretary of the district committee of Zelva LKSMB:

– 1919 On the territory of the Zelva district, as well as throughout Belarus, Soviet power was established (on January 1, 1919, the formation of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Belarus as part of the RSFSR was proclaimed in Smolensk). But Poland’s claims to restore the state within the historic borders of Rzecz Pospolita in 1772 provoked the Soviet-Polish war. The conflict did not develop in favor of the RSFSR. After Budyonny’s troops suffered a defeat near Warsaw, the Red Army began to retreat, and by the end of the 19th year, Zelvenshchyna was under Polish rule. And in 1921, under the Riga Peace Treaty, it became part of the Polish state as part of the territories of Western Belarus. That was until 1939.

When the Second World War began, the Polish army suffered a defeat from Nazi Germany. Under these conditions, the Soviet government decided to return the lost territories of Western Belarus, and on September 17, 1939, the Red Army began a successful offensive. Thus, this date marked the liberation of Western Belarus and its reunification with the BSSR. That is why in almost every city of Belarus, including Zelva, there is 17 September Street.

What was Zelva in 1939? Local authorities began to form here. Zelva district itself was formed. Then he was part of two regions — Belostok and Baranovichi. In early 1940, the territories of the Dobroseletsky, Montyaksky and Slovatichsky village soviets, which had previously been part of the Ruzhansky district, were attached to the Zelva district. On the eve of the war, about 50 thousand people lived in the area, and 3782 lived in Zelva.

At that time there were 2 sawmills, a power station, 2 steam mills, a creamery, 3 schools, a hospital, a post office, and a telegraph in Zelva. There was a starch factory in Derechin, in Pletyanichi (today Chervone Selo) — a sawmill, in Synkovichi and Kremenitsa — distilleries. In addition, the first collective farms began to form — until 1941 there were 20 of them, Zelvenskaya MTS worked.

On the territory of Zelvenshchyna, hostilities began in the first days of the war. The Germans, when they decided to take the retreating units of the Red Army “in the cauldron,” landed troops in the Aleksich area. Today, there are 2 mass graves, where about 600 Soviet nameless soldiers are buried. At the same time, the Germans landed troops near Ruzan. On the third day of the war, the “cauldron” closed in the Berezhek area. The units that were retreating along the current Volkovysk-Slonim highway accumulated in Zelva before the crossing. Killed many soldiers. Later it became known that a detachment of General Karbyshev was making his way from the encirclement. Then the crossing of the fighters through Zelvianka was organized by Colonel Smolyakov. At the cost of your life.

The Germans established an occupation regime, during which more than 6,000 people were killed in the area, about 550 civilians were shot in the period from the summer of 1941 to the spring of 1942.

The population of the area during the war was greatly reduced — the inhabitants of Zeleven became about 40 thousand, the inhabitants of the urban settlement — 820 people.
After the liberation of Zelvenshchyna, the work of the railway and a number of industries was restored. In 1949, mass collectivization began. Until 1951, 92 kolkhozes were organized in the region — count in each locality. Then the consolidation of small farms into large ones began.

Slowly Zelva began to be built. In the postwar period, a boarding school for orphans, a clinic, a cinema appeared. Spent plumbing. One after another, houses were built. There were streets Zheleznodorozhnaya, Shapovalov. School on Victory Street appeared only in March 1973. By the way, only after that they began to build housing here. Soon the street itself was cut — one of the first asphalt ones. At about this time, the center of Zelva, as we used to see it today, began to emerge.

Nikolay Yanul, former deputy chairman of the Zelva district executive committee:

– In the 70s-90s there was an intensive development of our region. The population grew. There were not enough places in kindergartens. In the shortest possible time, preschool educational institutions were built: for 90 places in today’s microdistrict «Severny», for 280 places — along Oktyabrskaya Street, for 140 places — in Borodichi. The secondary school (in which gymnasium No. 1 and Secondary School No. 2 are located today) worked in two shifts. In 1987, a school appeared in the Severny microdistrict. Not every city boasts such a large sports hall, as in today’s secondary school № 3, various republican competitions are held here.

– In 1979, the chairman of our village council publishes a note in the district newspaper Pratsa: “The life of our residents is improving. In Zelva, 60 people already have private cars, another 70 are in the queue for Zhiguli and Zaporozhtsy, ”Sergey Bagan put in a remark.

– In 1984 a hotel was built, the Zelva reservoir, one of the largest artificial reservoirs in the country, was put into operation. In 1987, he earned the main hospital building (with 240 beds) with an operating unit, Nikolai Yanul continued. — According to the gasification of streets, the urban settlement was one of the first in the republic.

On the erection of the memorial of military glory … I then worked as the chief engineer of MPMK-148. I remember that before the winter of 1984 we had time to make the foundation, and after, in March-April, we hurried to erect monumental steles. We had time. On May 9, the 40th anniversary of the Great Victory, the memorial was solemnly opened. And soon a park zone was arranged there.

In 1990 and 1991, many production facilities operated in the region, some of them still operate today. And agriculture flourished — new equipment was introduced, complexes were built, Zelvenshchyna even planned to build a power station — money from the Ministry of Energy “flowed” into the area. But the object was never built — after the collapse of the USSR, the republic had to be difficult. Zelvenshchina, however, has embarked on the development of agro-industrial activities, the construction of agro-towns and the involvement of young people to work in rural areas.