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Rava-Ruska Рава-РуськаRawa Ruska
City
City hall
FlagCoat of arms
Rava-RuskaLocation within UkraineShow map of Lviv OblastRava-RuskaRava-Ruska (Ukraine)Show map of Ukraine
Coordinates: 50°13′30″N 23°37′27″E / 50.22500°N 23.62417°E / 50.22500; 23.62417
Country	Ukraine
Oblast	Lviv
Raion	Lviv
Hromada	Rava-Ruska urban
Founded	1455
Named for	Rawa Mazowiecka
Area
• Total	8.5 km (3.3 sq mi)
Elevation	349 m (1,145 ft)
Population
• Total	8,494
• Density	1,000/km (2,600/sq mi)

Rava-Ruska (Ukrainian: Рава-Руська, IPA: [ˈrɑwɐ ˈrusʲkɐ] ; Polish: Rawa Ruska; Yiddish: ראווע, romanized: Rave) is a city in Lviv Raion, Lviv Oblast, western Ukraine. It is a border town between Ukraine and Poland. The border checkpoint is situated 8 km (5 mi) west of the city, along the international autoroute Warsaw–Lviv. Rava-Ruska hosts the administration of Rava-Ruska urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Its population is approximately 8,494 (2022 estimate).

History

Rawa-Ruska was founded in 1455 by the Polish prince Władysław I of Płock, Duke of Bełz and Mazovia. He added the suffix "Ruska", meaning "Ruthenian" (during this time, the urban Ukrainian inhabitants were referred to as "Ruthenians"), to distinguish it from Rawa Mazowiecka located further west. Due to a convenient location along the merchant trail from Lublin to Lviv, the newly located town quickly developed. For centuries, Rawa was part of the Kingdom of Poland and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It remained in private hands of several consecutive szlachta families, such as the Głogowski, Suchodolski, Rzeczycki and Bogusz. In 1622, the town received permission of the King of Poland to organize fairs. In 1672, a skirmish between Polish and Crimean Tatar forces took place here, in which Polish unit under Atanazy Miączyński freed hundreds of captured peasants. In 1698, Rawa was the site of a meeting between Peter the Great and Augustus the Strong, which led to the Treaty of Preobrazhenskoye in 1699.

From the First Partition of Poland in 1772 until the end of World War I in 1918, the town was part of the Austrian Partition ruled first by the Austrian Empire and then by Austria-Hungary after the compromise of 1867. It was a seat of the Rawa Ruska district, one of the 78 Bezirkshauptmannschaften in Austrian Galicia province (Crown land) in 1900. In 1880, its population was 10,500, with 37% Jews, 35% Poles, 20% Germans and 7% Ukrainians. In 1857, Rawa received a rail connection with Jarosław, and next year, the railroad reached Sokal.

20th century

In the early 20th century, Rava-Ruska developed into a rail junction, with a connection to Lviv and Rejowiec, built in 1915. After the rebirth of Poland Rawa-Ruska became part of the Lwów Voivodeship, and the seat of the Powiat Rawski county (area 1,401 km (541 sq mi)). The line from to Rejowiec was of leading importance, as it connected the two main cities of Poland, Warsaw, and Lviv. Due to the rail lines, Rawa prospered, and several businesses operated in the town. In 1924, a Belgian company opened here a factory of railroad ties. Furthermore, in the interbellum period Rawa Ruska was home to Main School of the Border Guard, which was moved there in 1928 from Góra Kalwaria. The school had a department of training of guard dogs, also located in Rawa-Ruska.

According to Polish census of 1921, the population of the town was 8,970; with 42% Poles, 42% Jews and 14% Ukrainians. By 1938, the population increased to 12,000.

World War II and the Holocaust

On 14 September 1939, during the Invasion of Poland, Rava-Ruska was captured by the Wehrmacht. The German troops left the town within days in accordance with the German–Soviet Frontier Treaty, and Rava-Ruska was occupied by the Soviet forces. A year and a half later, on the 28 June 1941, it was recaptured by the Germans during the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Operation Barbarossa. The Ukrainian People's Militsiya was formed. The town was incorporated into the General Government territory.

The Judenrat was established in July 1941. In March 1942 the nearby Belzec extermination camp began its killing operations, and at the end of the month the first transport of 1,000 Jews left Rava-Ruska for Belzec. Many Jewish residents were killed at Belzec in further deportations, usually organized by the Germans and assisted by the Ukrainian police and civilian volunteers. Approximately 5,000 Polish Jews from Rava-Ruska were shot during a liquidation Aktion between 7 and 11 December 1942. The last mass shootings of Jews occurred in June 1943, during which 300-400 Jews were killed in a forest outside the village.

The Germans also operated the Stalag 325 prisoner-of-war camp for French and Belgian POWs in the town, following its relocation from Zamość and before its further relocation to Lwów. There were poor conditions in the camp with POWs being subjected to harassment and beatings by the German guards and suffering from hunger and epidemics, resulting in a high death rate. Many POWs were sent to forced labour subcamps in the region, and the local populace shared food with the prisoners despite the danger.

After World War II

After World War II, the Polish community of Rava-Ruska was forced to abandon the town and move to the Recovered Territories. Nevertheless, Rava-Ruska remains one of the key centres of the Polish minority in Ukraine, with the local office of the Association of Polish Culture of the Lviv Land operating here.

Until 18 July 2020, Rava-Ruska belonged to Zhovkva Raion. The raion was abolished in July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Lviv Oblast to seven. The area of Zhovkva Raion was merged into Lviv Raion.

Geography

Climate

Transportation

It is located near the border with Poland, opposite the town of Hrebenne. Through the city passes the European route E372. At the border there is a "checkpoint Rava-Ruska".

Rail station

The city has a railroad station which also has a border and customs checkpoint. Since 2005 it has been used exclusively for freight transportation only and has two directions, one towards Hrebenne, another towards Werchrata.

Points of interest

• Parish church of St. Joseph, built in 1700 - 1776 upon the initiative of Castellan of Belz Andrzej Rzeczycki. During the Soviet era the church served as a warehouse.
• Franciscan Abbey of Archangel Michael, founded in 1725 by Starosta of Belz Grzegorz Rzeczycki and Jozef Glogowski. The complex of the abbey and the church was completed in 1737 by architect Pawel Fontana, and was one of the most interesting sights of the town. In the Soviet Union, the complex was turned into a warehouse serving the local collective farm.

Notable people

• Maurice Abraham Cohen, educator and linguist
• Iryna Vereshchuk, deputy prime minister of Ukraine
• Walter V. Bozyk, conductor, bandurist
• Oswald Frank (born 1887), Polish Army general
• Olgierd Gorka (born 1887), Polish historian and diplomat
• Michal Dadlez (born 1895), Polish poet
• Edward Olearczyk (born 1915), Polish composer

See also

• Rawa Mazowiecka

References

1. "Рава-Руська міська громада" (in Ukrainian). Портал об'єднаних громад України.
2. Чисельність наявного населення України на 1 січня 2022 [Number of Present Population of Ukraine, as of January 1, 2022] (PDF) (in Ukrainian and English). Kyiv: State Statistics Service of Ukraine. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 July 2022.
3. Wiadomości Statystyczne Głównego Urzędu Statystycznego (in Polish). Vol. X. Warszawa: Główny Urząd Statystyczny. 1932. p. 140.
4. Wilhelm Klein (1967), Die postalischen Abstempelungen auf den österreichischen Postwertzeichen-Ausgaben 1867, 1883 und 1890. 
5. ^ Chris Webb; Chip Sother (2011). "Rawa Ruska". H.E.A.R.T. HolocaustResearchProject.org. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
6. Megargee, g (2012). Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos. Bloomington, Indiana: University of Indiana Press. p. 8199-20. ISBN 978-0-253-35599-7.
7. "Holocaust by Bullets". Yahad-in Unum. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
8. Yahad-In Unum. "Execution Sites of Jewish Victims Investigated". Yahad Map.org. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
9. ^ Megargee, Geoffrey P.; Overmans, Rüdiger; Vogt, Wolfgang (2022). The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV. Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. pp. 315–317. ISBN 978-0-253-06089-1.
10. "Про утворення та ліквідацію районів. Постанова Верховної Ради України № 807-ІХ". Голос України (in Ukrainian). 2020-07-18. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
11. "Нові райони: карти + склад" (in Ukrainian). Міністерство розвитку громад та територій України.
12. "World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1981–2010" (XLS). National Centers for Environmental Information. Archived from the original (XLS) on 17 July 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2021.

External links

• Rava-Ruska City Council Archived 2014-04-29 at the Wayback Machine
• Ukrainians visit Nazi atrocity sites as taboo ends, BBC News (19 July 2015)
• The Jewish Community of Rava-Russkaya, The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot

• Cities in Lviv Oblast
• Historic Jewish communities in Ukraine
• Cities of district significance in Ukraine
• Holocaust locations in Ukraine