Wiesiołowski Estate (1514–1661)

Renaissance old parish church

It is precisely for these times comes the first written reference (1514), listing the good of Bialystok. Bachelor's son Nicholas, Nicholas Bakałarzewicz, realized in 1524, his wife Catherine Wołłowiczówna, Bogoria coat of arms. After his death in 1547, according to the good will of the deceased Catherine has inherited. In the same year his widow, Catherine Wołłowiczówna, married again to Piotr Wiesiołowski (Ogończyk coat of arms) – a courtier of the Polish kings: King Sigismund the Old and Sigismund Augustus. He started in Bialystok on the borderlands of Lithuania and Polish residence. After his death in 1556, took a good Bialystok sons: Peter and John Wiesiołowski. However, after the death of the latter in 1570 became the property of Bialystok Piotr Wiesiołowski (the Younger). In 1579 he married Zofią Lubomirską.

In his time began the development of Bialystok. In 1581, the parish church next to the existing Piotr Wiesiołowski funded school for children. In addition, built in the years 1617–1626, the first brick church and the beautiful castle on a rectangular plan, two floors, the Gothic-Renaissance style built by Job Bretfus. Extension office continued by his son Krzysztof Wiesiołowski, since 1635 Grand Marshal of Lithuania and the owner of several administrative and royal and married Aleksandra Marianna Sobieska.^[27] In 1637 he died childless, thus Bialystok came under the management of his widow. After her death in 1645 the Wiesiołowskis estate, including Białystok, passed to the Commonwealth, to maintain the castle in Tykocin. In the years 1645–1659 Bialystok managed by governors of Tykocin.^[28] It was then a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Branicki Estate (1661–1802)

Garden of the Branicki Palace in the 18th century

In 1661 it was given to Stefan Czarniecki as a reward for his service in the victory over the Swedes.^[29][30] Four years later, as a dowry of his daughter Aleksandra who married Jan Klemens Branicki, thus passing into the hands of the Branicki family.

At the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, Białystok was still a small settlement connected with the manor that existed here. According to the register of conscription in 1580, there were 70 settlers here. The buildings of the settlement were concentrated around a large square, today's Kościuszko Square from which five roads of local importance ran; on this square one should also look for the inn mentioned in the conscription register of 1578. Although the vast crossroads was the center of a relatively small settlement, it however, ownership relations limited the possibilities of building development in its immediate vicinity. Because around the church there was a church property (Poświętne), on which a church jurydyka was established in the 18th century. On the other hand, the area to the south of the crossroads was occupied by the spacious "Pastewnik" also belonging to the Białystok church. The area, known as "Pastewnik" was a very attractive area for building development and it quickly lost its agricultural importance, transforming into a very intensively inhabited area. The Jewish population settled in this area from at least the middle of the 17th century, and in 1700 the church let the kehilla of Białystok perpetually lease the square, on which the synagogue at the former ul. Szkolna (between Suraska and Legionowa, at the level of "Delikatesy" branch of PSS Spolem).^[31] At the end of the 19th century, the Białystok Jewish community made a payment to the Białystok church for the lease of this square. Somewhat to the south-east. the original Jewish cemetery was located from the synagogue, with its fence facing the square. Around 1708, the management of the Białystok estates realized that the extensive church property was left behind the southern frontage of the then emerging market square; in the vicinity of a garden layout, it will hinder the reconstruction of the city. Therefore, a joint body was established: commisya ratione commutationi in melius placov of the church on certain lands, by means of which church buildings were transferred to the lands of the villages of the Białystok church. This change brought benefits to the clergy of Białystok; because as a result, the church's land properties were grouped in one uninterrupted line from the temple to today's Warszawska's Street.

In 1692 Stefan Mikołaj Branicki, the son of Jan Klemens Branicki, obtained the rights to the city of Białystok from King John III Sobieski and built Branicki Palace in the city on the foundations of former defensive castle of Wiesiołowskis' family.^[32] The project's author is a prominent architect: Tylman of Gameren.^[32] In the second half of the 18th century the ownership of the city was inherited by Field Crown Hetman Jan Klemens Branicki. It was he who transformed the previously existing palace built by his father into the magnificent residence of a great noble,^[33][9] which was frequently visited by Polish kings and poets.^[34] Numerous artists and scientists came to Białystok to take advantage of Branicki's patronage. In 1745 Branicki established Poland's first military technical college, School of Civil and Military Engineering^[35] and in 1748, one of the oldest theaters in Poland, the Komedialnia.^[36] New schools were established, including a ballet school in connection with the foundation of the theater.^[37] On 19 November 1748 marries Izabella Poniatowska as his third wife Hetman Jan Klemens Branicki. In 1749, King Augustus III of Poland confirmed city rights, and extended the city limits.^[38]

Then the townspeople of Białystok through the commissar of goods Józef Wojnarowski from the Podlasie region turned to Jan Klemens Branicki, that he would obtain another royal privilege. This initiative met with understanding of the Grand Crown Hetman and it was announced in a consecutive document from 19 November 1760. the area of Bialystok was not uniform in organizational terms. Undoubtedly, the left-bank (southwest of the Biała River) part of the building was part of the city. Meanwhile, the right bank area consisting of the settlement of Bojary, Zamkowa street., Kleidorf, Nowe Miasto (the southern area of Warszawska street, not to confuse with the modern Nowe Miasto district) and Przedmieście Wasilkowski had an unspecified status.^[39] Also, a huge number of Jews and soldiers resulted in their autonomous position. In that period, only the so-called The Old Town was covered by the urban structure, the rest was treated as suburbs, villages that used municipal law. For example, A normative act on the limitation of prostitution in the city from 1752 was addressed to the hosts living "both in the city and in Bojary". However, in 1789 the Białystok local government addressed Izabela Branicka with a proposal to join the villages of Kleindorf and Nowolipie, in exchange for which he declared to participate in the market paving process.^[40] The proposal was rejected as a result of two years later, a lustration of the city of Bialystok carried out by the city judge of Brahman Władysław Markowski. He noted that Bojary, Nowe Miasto, Nowolipie and the palace are excluded from the city area, which entails changes in the level of tax (mainly leather tax). It was by no means a small area - in the light of a very detailed census prepared in 1793, there were 87 farms built in the right bank of Białystok. These separations were liquidated during the Prussian partition, when the authorities of the Camera of War and Domain unified the urban structure and tried to include even the palace area into the urban area. This is confirmed by the annex to the contract of lease of the city of Bialystok concluded between the Camera of the War and Domen and Izabela Branicka in 1802. According to the borders document, the entire palace and garden arrangement was excluded from urban structures, while all suburbs were already included in the city.^[41]

Branicki Palace

In 1753 the center of the city burns down. In 1756 Jan Klemens Branicki is divorced from his third wife. On 13 July 1769 – Battle of Białystok part of the War of the Bar Confederation. On 9 October 1771 Jan Klemens Branicki died. In 1789, the epidemic of smallpox, 22 children died. Following the third partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795 the city first belonged to the Kingdom of Prussia as the administrative seat of the Białystok Department. On 26 January 1796 Prussian administration takes over the town, but it remains formally owned by Izabella Poniatowska-Branicka

New East Prussia Province (1795–1807)

Lubomirski Palace

• 1 March 1802 – the signing of an agreement between Izabella Poniatowska-Branicka and Nowowshodnią Prussian and the War – Economic Camera. Prussians agreed to the rule of law in
• 2 April 1802 – Izabella Poniatowska-Branicka sells Bialystok to the Prussian authorities for an amount over 270 thousand talarów

Belostok Oblast (1807–1842)

During the period of Russian control the city was the capital of the Belostok Oblast, from 1807 to 1842. During Napoleon's invasion to Russia, Białystok was dominated by pro-French sentiments. On 3 July 1812 – Napoleon's army enters the city. On 13 July 1812 – Declaration of the inhabitants of communication with the Commonwealth. On 4 August 1812 the Russian Imperial Army entered the city. On 8 August 1812 a new coat of the city was given by Tsar Alexander I. the Russian Imperial Army entered it, taking revenge for their sympathy for Napoleon. Direct authority was maintained following the Congress of Vienna in 1815. The tsar decided to keep the palace in the shape given to it by the Branicki family, and he also took care of its security.^[42] In 1829, the Evangelicals erected their first church (now St. Adalbert's Church).^[42]

After the Peace of Tilsit were signed in 1807 the city passed to Russia. On 14 February 1808 Izabella Poniatowska-Branicka died. Schooling and higher learning in Białystok, which was intensively developed in the 18th century, was stopped as a result of partitions of Poland.^[35] On 13 December 1830 martial law was announced by the Russian authorities in connection with the outbreak of the November Uprising. The outbreak of the uprising found Białystok unprepared to undertake major pro-independence activities. Actions in the area of Bialystok took the character of a rebellion and sabotage rather than a direct fight. The defeat of the November Uprising marked the beginning of a period of decisive Russification, confiscation of landed estates, and liquidation of the Uniate Church. The authorities sought to blur the differences between the oblast and typical Russian governorates. On 1 February 1831 the headquarters of the Russian army commander, Field Marshal Hans Karl von Diebitsch, whose task was to suppress the November Uprising were set in fire. In 1834 a ban on teaching in schools in Polish was introduced.

Belostok Province (1842–1914)

When the authorities limited Białystok's political role in the early 1840s by degrading its status from being capital of Belostok Oblast to administrative center of Belostok District within Grodno Governorate, land prices dropped drastically. This gave a signal for industrialists to settle down, and thus the most splendid period in terms of economic development began. About 15,000 people lived here.^[42]

Hasbach Palace

In 1843, a decision was made to build a Saint Nicholas Cathedral. After the introduction of a restrictive duty on textile products on the border between the Kingdom of Poland and the Russian Empire, the textile industry began to develop in the city and its vicinity. On 15 December 1859 Ludwik Zamenhof, the creator of the international language Esperanto, was born in Zielona Street in the city. 13 June 1860 saw the beginning of a patriotic demonstration under the banner of national unity and fight against colonization. On 9 June 1861 representative of the Whites, Andrzej Artur Zamoyski arrived in the city. 1862 saw Opening of the Saint Petersburg–Warsaw Railway through the city. 24 April 1863 marked the beginning of the January Uprising in the Bialystok area. On the night of January 22/23, 1863, conspirators from the Łapy area were doing sabotage activities. They made an unsuccessful attempt to stop traffic on the new main line. The uprising in Bialystok actually began in April, and the first, not very fortunate, battle took place near Waliły. Białystok itself was not a battlefield, as there was a large Russian garrison here. Conspiracy work flourished here. Martial law was maintained here from 1870, and then the use of the Polish language in public places was forbidden. In 1877 the city limits were expanded, integrated railway station, the village of Piaski and Zwierzyniecki Forest. In 1888, the railway line Bialystok – Vawkavysk – Baranovichi The first telephone exchange was launched in 1891 and in 1895 the first three lines of horse trams. In 1898 the Volunteer Fire Department was established.

During the 19th century the city became a major center of textile industry. Due to an industrial boom the population grew from 13,787 in 1857, and 56,629 in 1889, to 65,781 in 1901.

End of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century

At the end of the 19th century, as a result of the influx due to Russian discriminatory regulations, the majority of the city's population was Jewish. According to Russian census of 1897, out of the total population of 66,000, Jews constituted 41,900 (so around 63%).^[43] This heritage can be viewed on the Jewish Heritage Trail in Bialystok.^[44]

Market Square 1900

The dynamic development of Białystok in the last quarter of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century resulted in a complete transformation of the city, which soon became an important economic and economic center of the western governorates of Russia. As a consequence of the enormous population growth, the increase in the number of industrial plants and architectural and urban transformations, new, hitherto unknown civilization needs appeared. Białystok was becoming a large city of supra-regional importance, the proverbial "Manchester of the North", in which the lack of basic communal facilities, determining the quality of life of the inhabitants, was felt more and more every year. without the existence of which the functioning of an urban center of this scale was simply impossible. Those improvements appeared in Białystok only in the last decade of the 19th century. a horse-drawn trolley running along the main thoroughfares, many streets were paved, so far without adequate pavement, the former palace pond was filled in and the construction of a city park began in its place. first electric lighting in place of kerosene. It wasn't until 1908 that The company of Electrical Companies from Berlin started building a municipal power plant. At that time, a temporary sewage system appeared, installed ad hoc by the City Council or property owners. Mikołaj Miłakowski, describing Białystok in 1897, noted: one can hope that Białystok will soon find itself in a row with those cities that are famous for their cleanliness and equipment.^[45]

The first Anarchist groups to attract a significant following of Russian workers or peasants, were the Anarcho-Communist Chernoe-Znamia groups, founded in Białystok in 1903.^[46][47] Their ranks included mostly students, factory workers and artisans, though there were also peasants, unemployed laborers, drifters, and self-professed Nietzschean supermen.^[47] They drew their support mainly from the impoverished and persecuted working-class Jews of the "Pale"-the places on the Western borders of the Russian Empire where Jews were "allowed" to live.^[48]

Due to worsening work conditions, new strikes took place in 1895 and reached their peak in 1905 when during the 1905 Russian Revolution the city was a center of the radical labor movement, with strong organizations of the General Jewish Labour Bund and the Polish Socialist Party as well as the more radical anarchists of the Chernoe-Znamia (Black Banner) association.. On January 30, 1905 a major strike of industrial workers took place. On March 18, there was an unsuccessful attack on the deputy police chief of Bialystok. On August over 50 people died in Supraska Street from the fire of the security forces.^[42]

The Białystok pogrom occurred between 14 and 16 June 1906 in the city. During the pogrom between 81 and 88 people were killed by the Russians, and about 80 people were wounded.^[49][50][51]

In 1912, a Tsarist prison was built, which also served as a transit prison for Poles deported to Siberia.^[52]

World War I (1914–1918)

After the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, the first heavy bombing of the town took place on 20 April 1915. On 13 August 1915 German soldiers appeared in Białystok. The city was included in the Ober Ost occupational region as the capital of the Bialystok-Grodno District.^[13][53] On 18 March 1918 it was declared part of the Belarusian National Republic^[54] until 19 February 1919 when the city was taken by Poland.^[55]

Polish independence

On 11 November 1918, following the end of World War I, Marshal Józef Piłsudski, declared the establishment of the Second Polish Republic. Bialystok and the region around it was kind of a buffer zone between the newly established Polish state and Soviet Russia. However, after Germany's defeat, over half a million German soldiers remained in Russia. On 11 November 1918, following the end of World War I, Marshal Józef Piłsudski, declared the establishment of the Second Polish Republic. At the same time, the German garrison in Bialystok, officers formed a soldiers' council (Soldatenrat). In 1917, the Central National Committee existed in the city, Bialystok District, at the head of which they stood priest Stanisław Nawrocki, pastor from Zabłudów and pharmacist Feliks Filipowicz. On the night of 11 November 1918, the Central National Committee concluded a peace agreement with Soldiers' Council. The Germans pledged to hand over their weapons and warehouses, while the Poles guaranteed them a safe departure to Eastern Prussia. Some of the Polish troops that found themselves in Łapy went to Białystok, where they were to support the Self-Defense Guards that had been created earlier, being a formation organized by officers from the corps of general Józef Dowbor Muśnicki, students who, under the command of Tuśkiewicz, formed a force of 50 people and took over the posts at the station and in front of major buildings in the city.

German authorities tried to isolate the population of the occupied areas such as Białystok from the newly established Polish state. Temporary eastern border reborn and Poland was to be insured by the Lithuanian-Belarusian Division of general Wacław Iwaszkiewicz and the Podlasie Division of general Antoni Lisowski organized in Biała Podlaska. From December 1918, the Polish government commissioner Ignacy Mrozowski resided in Białystok. He accepted it created in time German occupation Temporary City Committee (consisting of 16 local citizens, including 6 Poles), headed by Józef Puchalski. However, the situation was difficult and troublesome. The Germans took away the entire archive, leaving the municipal cash register empty. In addition, the organizational structure of the German military authorities deepened and demoralized groups of soldiers roamed the city.

A General Civil Commissioner was then appointed to the Military Board of the Eastern Borderlands, which was to be the highest civil instance in the discussed territories - ruling and executive. In the field, commissioners were assigned to individual armies as inspectors of the General Civilian Commissioner poviat commissioners were to administer the poviat. Maciej Jamontt became the district commissioner for the areas of Białystok, his competences extended to poviats: Białystok, Bielsk, Sokółka, Grodno and Wołkowysk. Augusta Cyfrowicz was appointed as commissioner of the Białystok Poviat, his deputy was Bolesław Szymański, and the government commissioner of Bialystok, Napoleon Cydzik (he was to cooperate with the Provisional Municipal Committee, as well as prepare and conduct in the first municipal elections).^[56]

Branicki Palace in interwar Poland

The German command wanted to keep the railway lines at all costs, so that this army could return to Germany, and there were only two roads: through Białystok and Grajewo to East Prussia or through Warsaw to Berlin. Józef Piłsudski chose to avoid the option of German Army passing through the center of the country and be withdrawn by road through Białystok. Therefore, Białystok had to be left in German hands. On 5 February 1919, another Polish-German agreement was signed, so that where the German army withdrew, Polish troops could enter, because of the Russian Revolution and they were afraid of the occupation of other cities by the Red Army.^[57] Following that, a Provisional Municipal Committee was created, headed by Józef Puchalski, an experienced local government official and patriot. Representatives representing the Polish, Jewish, German and Russian communities sat on the committee. On 8 February 1919, the Committee met again. A German commander of Bialystok, Roszer, sat next to Puchalski, and gave a farewell speech. Over the next days, the Germans liquidated their administration.^[58]

The retreating German Army set in fire the barracks in Osowiec Fortress as well as in Tragutta Street in Białystok. On 16 February 1919, Polish troops entered Bielsk Podlaski, the next day Polish military authorities arrived in Białystok welcomed by Ignacy Mrozowski. Colonel Stanisław Dziewulski was nominated for the first commandant of Bialystok.^[59] Finally, On 19 February 1919, Polish troops entered Białystok. According to with earlier arrangements, Germans were to leave Białystok at 2:00AM. There was a two-hour delay and the army left the city at 4:00 AM. Some branches waited for more trains at the station. Citizens arrived to the city center, expecting the soldiers. The weather was rainy, there was also anxiety as for will they come for sure. Around 9 p.m. the first uhlans entered the town from the side of Lipowa Street, the infantry entered from Kilińskiego Street. As it turned out, they were only patrols. The main troops entered Bialystok a little later.

Józef Piłsudski's visit to Białystok in 1921

All were led to the Lubczyński confectionery, where a meal was organized. In the morning, infantry entered the city of Białystok under the command of Stefan Pasławski who a few years later he was the governor of Białystok. Uhlans appeared, commanded by Colonel Stanisław Dziewulski. An official ceremony was prepared for Thursday and Friday takeover of Białystok from German hands. The official transfer of power and main celebrations took place on Saturday, 22 February 1919:^[60] On the day of welcoming Polish troops, it was freezing rain, which made horses slide on the pavement. The soldiers successfully reached the Market Square. The official welcome of the Polish army began with a field mass celebrated by Father Lucjan Chalecki. The altar was set in front of the gate of the Old Church. After its completion interim president Józef Puchalski welcomed everyone and passed on symbolic bread and salt to colonel Stanisław Dziewulski. Then Captain Delhaes spoke on behalf of the German garrison, who gave power to the Poles. The ceremony on the market ended with a festive parade. In the evening, the audience watched the theater "Revenge" of Alexander Fredro. The show was prepared by team of the Torch Society, led by Zygmunt Różycki. After the performance, Rena Ruszczewska (at the time 18 years old) recited a poem specially prepared for the ceremony. The city became part of the reborn Poland as the capital of Białystok Voivodeship.

The image of the newly established capital of the voivodeship was far from a big city. After more than a hundred years of partitions, Białystok transformed from a small town developing in the shadow of an elegant magnate residence into a chaotic regional city. The city center, on the threshold of independence, however, appeared to be a provincial, neglected, dirty city, dominated by ubiquitous factory buildings, with a chaotic network of streets, bumpy roads and smelly alleys. Such a picture also emerges from the city plans of the time as they show how much the 19th-century transformations blurred the old baroque spatial composition, and the Branicki Palace lost its original integrity with the urban context. The neglected palace gardens and green complexes have been preserved: the devastated area of Zwierzyniecki (Piaski) district turned into meadows and wastelands, small residential buildings were located in the area of the Jelenia Zoo, and a large part of it was occupied by units of tsarist barracks. The nineteenth-century buildings in Białystok were heterogeneous, diversified, of various scale and character, mostly wooden. In the city center there were distinguished eclectic tenement houses, erected along the main streets during the construction rush of the last decade of the 19th century.^[61]

Polish–Soviet War

Monument to soldiers of the 1st Legions Infantry Regiment fallen in the Battle of Białystok in 1920, Antoniuk district

In 1920, when overrun by Soviet forces during the Polish-Soviet War, it briefly served as headquarters of the Polish Revolutionary Committee headed by Julian Marchlewski, which attempted to declare the Polish Soviet Socialist Republic.^[62][63] The city again changed hands after the Battle of Białystok. The Peace of Riga, signed 18 March 1921, formally included the city in the Second Polish Republic.

Inter-war period

In the years 1919–1939, the city was part of the Second Polish Republic as the seat of the Białystok Voivodeship. The city, whose population reached 107,000 in 1939, was the Voivodeship's lone industrial center.

After the wars and the reestablishment of independent Poland, Polish education in Białystok was restored and the textile industry was revived.^[34] A municipal public library was established, sports clubs were founded, including Jagiellonia Białystok, and in the 1930s a dramatic theater was built.^[34] A rare silent 16mm color Kodachrome film of the Jewish Quarter of the city by Dr. Benjamin Gasul gives an insight into everyday life in July 1939.^[64]

On 7 September 1919, the first election to the city council (Polish: Rada Miejska) was held. By expressing their opposition to including suburbs in the city limits, the Jews did not vote. The turnout was only 12%. The election was won by the Polish Election Committee (Polish: Polski Komitet Wyborczy), which received 35 seats out of 42. As President of the city was elected Bolesław Szymański and Feliks Filipowicz became the president of the city council.^[58]

World War II (1939–1944)

At the turn of March and April, preparations for protecting the population against the effects of bombing and gas attacks were intensified in Białystok. The population was adapted for individual self-defense, training was provided, and trenches and shelters were planned. Specialized services were created: alarm, communications, fire, rescue-sanitary and technical. In addition to scouts, representatives of: the Air and Gas Defense League (LOPP), the Polish Red Cross, the Western Union, Military Adoption, the Union of Reservists and Riflemen, and other organizations were involved in these activities. "Echo Białostockie" instructed what to do in the event of an air alarm. At the end of July, a large-scale operation of digging anti-aircraft ditches in the city began. Most of them were to be located downtown, in the area of two railway stations and barracks. Local citizens participated in rebounds for the purchase of armaments for the army. For example, employees of the Plywood State Factory from Dojlid, employing over 400 people, bought a heavy machine gun for the Polish Armed Forces. Also, money was collected for the National Defense Fund (Polish: Fundusz Obrony Narodowej) and Maritime Defense Fund (Polish: Fundusz Obrony Morskiej). On the eve of the outbreak of the war, growing espionage and subversion activities took place, which strained the relations with the local Germans, and from 13 May, it was banned to hold public gatherings among German population.

Monument to the Defenders of Białystok

On 1 September 1939, the German invasion of Poland began starting World War II. German bomber squadrons flew over the areas of the then Białystok Voivodeship, the first bombs fell in the area of Białystok railway station and military barracks. The local press reported on the successes of the Polish Forces and the raids of Polish Air Force on Berlin. Only the information about the entry into East Prussia of cavalry squadrons supported by horse artillery proved to be true. On the first defensive line there was relative calm; there were only fights around Myszyniec and Grajewo. According to the Polish defense plans, Białystok was not intended for defense, and the military units located in the city took positions far from their garrison. However, the news coming from Narew led to the decision to resist:^[72] Lieutenant Colonel Zygmunt Szafranowski (commander of the District Command of Supplements and at the same time the oldest rank officer in Bialystok) and Captain Tadeusz Kosiński decided to fight using the marching and spare units as well as groups of soldiers retreating from Narew. They had at their disposal primarily the marching battalion of the 42nd Regiment and the incomplete guard battalion No. 33. Other sub-units were added, Infantry arrived from near Wizna were gathered as well as two squadrons of the 2nd Grochow Uhlan Regiment from Suwałki. The units created defensive line along Dojlidy and Nowe Miasto, through Wysoki Stoczek, to Pietraszi: Uhlans from two squadrons of the 2nd Regiment were placed in Białostoczek and Pietrasze, guard battalion No. 32 was deployed in Nowe Miasto, and the center of defense was the hills of Wysokie Stoczek manned by the marching battalion of the 42nd infantry regiment commanded by Lieutenant Ignacy Stachowiak. In addition, the city's defenders were supported by a company of heavy machine guns and one artillery platoon. In total, the order of battle numbered around 900 soldiers.^[73]

Combat contact with German troops was established on 13 September near Żółtki, and on 15 September in the morning, the Germans stormed the central section of Polish positions in the Marczuk and Wysoki Stoczek districts. The opponent's advantage was devastating. K. Kosiński died and buried in St. Roch's cemetery. After several hours of persistent defense and repulsion of four German attacks, first two squadrons of the 2nd Grochów Regiment, then the 42nd Regiment companies retreated towards the city, and after a short rest left in the evening further east towards Wołkowysk (following the war it was transferred to Byelorussian SSR).^[74]

On 15 September, Białystok was occupied by the "Lötzen" Fortress Brigade under the command of General Otto-Ernst Ottenbacher.^[75] Two days later, on 17 September, Soviet troops joined them. On 20–21 September, the German Einsatzgruppe IV entered the city to commit crimes against the population.^[76]

Soviet occupation

View on the city center and Lipowa Street in 1940 when the city was occupied by the Soviet Union

On 20–22 September, discussions were held at the Branicki Palace regarding the transfer of the city from German to Soviet hands. According to the agreement, the Wehrmacht was to leave the city until 22 September by 14:00. At the conclusion of the negotiations, the delegations went to a dinner in Ritz Hotel. And so, on 22 September, a ceremony of handing over the city was held at the courtyard of the Branicki Palace with the participation of Ivan Boldin who was the commander of the Cavalry-Mechanized Group in the Belarusian Military District and Andrey Yeremenko who was the commander of the 6th Cavalry Corps. The Germans handed over power to the Soviets and withdrew.^[77] The city passed to the Soviet Union with respect to the secret protocol of the Molotov–Ribbentrop pact.^[78]

NKVD set up its office in Białystok, which occupied the building of the District Court in 5 Mieczkiewica Street.^[79][80] Among the victims of the arrests wave were employees of the District Court who were arrested such as Józef Ostruszka, the last president of the court (he was imprisoned in Bialystok, then expelled with others to Soviet camps), Vice President Karol Wolisz, Jan Bolesław Stokowski who chief secretary of the regional court and head of the Tax office. The People's Assembly of Białystok met on 28–30 October in Białystok under the slogan: "death to the white eagle".^[81] The NKVD also took over the local prison.^[52] In October, the NKVD arrested pre-war Polish mayor Seweryn Nowakowski, who was then probably deported to the USSR, however his fate remains unknown.^[82]

On 22 October 1939, less than two weeks after the invasion, the Soviet occupation administration organized elections into a National assembly of West Belarus (Belarusian: Народны сход Заходняй Беларусі). The official turnout was 96.7 percent, and 90 percent of the vote was given to candidates backed by the Soviet Union. The Elections to the People's Assemblies of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus took place under control of NKVD and the Communist Party. On 30 October the National Assembly session held in Białystok passed the decision of so-called West Belarus joining the USSR and its unification with the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic. These petitions were officially accepted by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on 2 November and by the Supreme Soviet of the BSSR on 12 November.^[83] The Belastok Voblast with the center in Białystok was created in 1939.

Following the incorporation of Bialystok and the surroundings as Belastok Region in the Belarusian SSR, a policy of Sovietization began. In 1940 the town hall and the city scales' building were demolished to provide a large space for holding rallies and demonstrations. The square was decorated with eye-catching, red posters. At Sovietskaya Street (Rynek Kosciuszki) 27 the Gorky District Library replaced the City Public Library. Semyon Igayev was appointed to the secretary of Bialystok's Obkom, a former Second Secretary of Mogilev Obkom. The NKVD established its headquarters at Mickiewicza Street at the now Voivodeship Office. The first head of the provincial NKVD was Alexander Misiuriev who was later replaced by Peter Gladkov and Sergei Bielchenko. The gorkom (city council) was located at 21 Warszawska Street, in a non-existing building. Grisha Gershman was appointed to the first secretary of the City Committee.

After entering the Soviet Union, thousands of ethnic Poles, Belarusians and Jews, were forcibly deported to Siberia by the NKVD, which resulted in over 100,000 people deported to eastern parts of the USSR.^[84] Among the deported Poles were civil servants, judges, police officers, professional army officers, factory owners, landlords, political activists, leaders of cultural, educational and religious organizations, and other activists in the community. All of them were dubbed enemies of the people.^[85]

The inclusion of Białystok in the BSSR, apart from the large influx of people from the USSR, created the conditions for the migration of people from the surrounding towns, including many local Belarusians to the city, probably mainly to improve the ethnic base for exercising power in the city. The process of institutionalization of Belarusians and Belarusian culture took place in the city on a larger scale: Among others Belarusian schools, pedagogical institute with the Belarusian language faculty and Belarusian theater were set up in the city. During this period there was a change in ethnic stratification in the city. Poles lost their dominant significance.^[86]

The Polish resistance movement was active in the city, which was the seat of one of the six main commands of the Union of Armed Struggle in occupied Poland (alongside Warsaw, Kraków, Poznań, Toruń and Lwów).^[87] The resistance in the area of Białystok (especially along the swampy Biebrza river) began immediately after the September Campaign and in mid-1940 there were conspiratorial organizations in 161 towns and villages in the future area of Bezirk Bialystok.^[88] Białystok native and future President of Poland in exile Ryszard Kaczorowski was a member of the local Polish resistance and was arrested in the city by the NKVD in 1940.^[89] Initially the Soviets sentenced him to death, but eventually he was sentenced to 10 years in forced labor camps and deported to Kolyma, from where he was released in 1942, when he joined the Anders' Army.^[89]

German occupation

Ruined buildings under German occupation

In the aftermath of the June 1941 Battle of Białystok–Minsk, part of the German attack on the Soviet Union, Białystok was placed under German Civilian Occupation (Zivilverwaltungsgebiet) as Bezirk Bialystok. The area was under German rule from 1941 to 1944/45, without ever formally being incorporated into the German Reich.

On June 22, 1941, without any declaration of war, Nazi Germany attacked the USSR. On June 22, early in the morning, the branch of the Białystok District of the Communist Party of Byelorussia met. At the meeting, a decision was made to appoint an extraordinary commission for the evacuation of military families, civilians and secret documentation. The head of the NKGB established two subversive and spy groups. They were to constitute the core of the Soviet partisans. However, on June 23, the Soviet occupation authorities decided to evacuate from Białystok.^[90]

It has been established that at the beginning on 22 June 1941 the withdrawing Soviet troops, that were forced out by the German army, committed regular crimes against the inhabitants of Białystok and its area.^[91] Civilians who happened to be in the vicinity of the passing Soviet troops were shot dead. There were cases of the whole families being dragged out of their houses and executed by firing squads in Białystok and the areas surrounding.^[91]

Great Synagogue in Białystok

On the morning of 27 June 1941, troops from Police Battalion 309 of the Order Police^[92] surrounded the town square by the Great Synagogue, the largest wooden synagogue in Eastern Europe, and forced residents from their homes into the street. Some were shoved up against building walls and shot dead. Others– some 800 men, women and children– were locked in the synagogue, which was subsequently set on fire; there they were burned to death. The Nazi onslaught continued with the demolition of numerous homes and further shootings. As the flames from the synagogue spread and merged with the grenade fires, the entire square was engulfed. Some 3,000 Jews died that day (27 June 1941), out of an estimated population of 50,000 Jews living in the city at that time.^[93]

As the time went by, German terror in Bezirk Bialystok worsened and most atrocities on civilian population were committed by German units and police from neighboring East Prussia.^[94] The Gestapo headquarters was located at 15 Sienkiewicza Street.^[95] During the German occupation, a mass murder of Poles in the Bacieczkowski Forest (today lying on the border of Starosielce, Leśna Dolina and Bacieczki districts) was carried out by the Germans. In 1943, the German occupiers shot several hundred representatives of the Białystok intelligentsia: Germans placed men, women and children in ditches and shot them with automatic weapons. In July and August 1943, several hundred doctors, lawyers, priests, teachers, officials, students and pupils were killed. This crime deprived Białystok of much of its pre-war intelligentsia. A monument was erected in the site in 1980.^[96]

The Germans operated a Nazi prison in the city,^[97] and a forced labour camp for Jewish men.^[98] Since 1943, the Sicherheitspolizei carried out deportations of Poles including teenage boys from the local prison to the Stutthof concentration camp.^[99]

Soviet bombing damages in German occupied Białystok in 1944

In July 1943, the Uderzeniowe Bataliony Kadrowe (UBK) units, active in Bezirk Bialystok, consisted of five Battalions. Altogether, there were 200 fighters, and during a number of skirmishes with the Germans (including the Raid on Mittenheide in 1943), 138 of them were killed. These heavy losses were criticized by the headquarters of the Home Army, who claimed that the UBK was profusely using lives of young Polish soldiers. On 17 August 1943, upon the order of General Tadeusz Bor-Komorowski, the UBK was included into the Home Army. Soon afterwards, all battalions were transferred to the area of Nowogródek.

From the very beginning, the Nazis pursued a ruthless policy of pillage and removal of the non-German population. The 56,000 Jewish residents of the town were confined in a ghetto.^[100] On 15 August 1943, the Białystok Ghetto Uprising began, and several hundred Polish Jews and members of the Anti-Fascist Military Organisation (Polish: Antyfaszystowska Organizacja Bojowa) started an armed struggle against the German troops who were carrying out the planned liquidation of the ghetto.^[101][102]

In the last year of the occupation, a clandestine upper Commercial School came into existence. The pupils of the school also took part in the underground resistance movement. As a result, some of them were jailed, some killed and others deported to Nazi concentration camps.

A number of anti-fascist groups came into existence in Białystok during the first weeks of the occupation. In the following years, there developed a well-organized resistance movement.

Branicki Palace destroyed by Germans in 1944

In the summer of 1944, heavy Soviet Forces pushed into the region as part of the Belostok Offensive: The 3rd Army managed to reach the outskirts of Białystok and even though encountered strong resistance from the LV Corps, stormed and took control of the city by 27 July after several days of street fighting.^[103] While the Wehrmacht were retreating from the Soviet Armed Forces troops approaching Bialystok, its soldiers began the systematic destruction of the city with almost all the tenements and houses in the downtown, the Branicki Palace, the Teachers' Seminary buildings, all the most important local and state buildings, industrial and production facilities, a new viaduct built just before the war were set on fire on Dąbrowskiego street, barracks of the 42nd Infantry Regiment and the 10th Lithuanian Uhlan Regiment in Wygoda district, Ritz Hotel, hospital buildings and a power plant.^[104]

Early post war years and re-joining Poland (1944–1948)

On July 20, 1944, before the Red Army entered Białystok, at the headquarters of the Białystok inspector Major Kaufman at Wiktorii Street nr. 15 in Białystok, a briefing for unit commanders from the city was held, during which the orders of the district commander regarding the Operation "Burza" were discussed once again. Combat tasks were to be carried out by commanders at the appropriate levels, and consisted in eliminating the Germans by all means. Germans began to systematically destroy the city center. First of all, it began with the main streets, three-story tenement houses, many of them owned by Jews. The streets: Lipowa, Sienkiewicza, Kupiecka, Zamenhoffa, Równoległa and others were burning. The last troops destroying the city withdrew 26 July in the afternoon, when the Soviet army was already visible on the outskirts of Bialystok. The destruction of the city was completed by two-day (25 and 26 July) artillery fire.

Just before the Soviets took over Białystok In the Białystok District of the Home Army, Colonel Władysław Liniarski assigned the city inspector Major and deputy commander of the district Władysław Kaufman a new task consisting in conducting talks with the Soviet authorities: They concerned two issues: reaching an agreement with representatives of the Soviet side on the creation of a 100,000 Polish army corps from the inhabitants of the Białystok region and demand from the Soviet authorities that the areas east of the Curzon Line are part of the Polish state and cannot be incorporated into the USSR.

On July 27, 1944, Soviet troops entered Bialystok. People's Commissariat for State Security (NKGB) took the building at the corner of Sobieski and Złota Streets. In the morning of the next day, the Home Army intelligence reported that the representative and minister of the West Belarus government, in the rank of a colonel of the NKVD, had officially visited Father Aleksandr Chodyko in Białystok, stating that Białystok was the capital of Western Belarus. In the same day the Bialystok city commander-inspector Wladyslaw Kaufman went together with Jozef Przybyszewski for a meeting with the Soviet city commandant general Lieutenant Piotr Sobienikov at its headquarters in Mickiewicza 35 Street. After an hour of waiting a Soviet delegation of several people appeared, including: general Sobiennikov, a NKVD general, four officers from the staffs front armies and two ministers of the government of Western Belarus. who declared that he has no right to organize and local administration as according to the vote held in October 1939 the city became part of the Belarusian SSR.^[105][106]

The party activists and partisans who carried out the orders of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Byelorussia did not know on the preliminary border agreement concluded on 25 July, according to which Stalin confirmed to the representatives of the Polish Committee of National Liberation his decision to transfer Poland to Białystok and Łomża. It was based on these decisions that on 27 July in the afternoon a delegation of the Polish National Liberation Committee arrived at the Białystok-Krywlany Airport to take over the city from Soviet hands. The delegation included: Edwarda Orłowska, who had appoint the Polish Workers' Party apparatus, Colonel Tadeusz Paszta, responsible for organizing the Office of Security and Civic Militia, and Zygmunt Zieliński with a team of 12 soldiers, appoint and fill Ministry of Defense powiat headquarters. The day after, they were joined by Major Leonard Borkowicz and the designated Wojewoda Jerzy Sztachelski who were representatives of the Polish Committee of National Liberation in the Białystok Province.

In the first days of August, Soviet activists were ordered to leave the lands which became part of 'Lublin Poland'. After arriving in Grodno they recreated however, the Białystok Regional Executive Committee (Polish: Białostocki obwodowy komitet wykonawczy). The final decision about its liquidation occurred in December 1944.^[107]

Polish People's Republic

Early years

Białystok was, from 1945 until 1975, the capital city of the Białystok Voivodeship. After the 1975 administrative reorganization of the People's Republic of Poland, the city was the capital of the smaller Białystok Voivodeship which lasted until 1998.

After the incorporation to the People's Republic of Poland, the formation of Białystok downtown (both restoration and redevelopment) took place under the influence of the architectural school of Tadeusz Tołwiński, whose student Ignacy Felicjan Tłoczek together with Stefan Zieliński were the authors of the general city plan of Bialystok which was approved in 1948. The works were preceded by a conference organized by the Ministry of Reconstruction and the Voivodeship of Białystok. The work lasted between May and December 1948. Another important general plan was drawn on behalf of the Spatial Regional Planning Directorate (Polish: Regionalna Dyrekcja Planowania Przestrzennego) by architects Stanisław Bukowski, Leszek Dąbrowski, Ignacy Tłoczek and Stefan Zieliński.

The plans assumed that by 1979 the city will have around 200,000 residents. The development direction was directed towards Supraśl definitely against previous trends in the development of the eastern part of the city. Establishment of a river port, sewage collector and main communication route, which was to be the basis for using the potential of the river valley. In the Jurowiec area, a river port with a nuisance industry center was planned based on the railway line leading there to Ełk. This center was to constitute the northwestern edge of the urban area. The Biała river valley was adopted as the basis for the directional development of the city (starting from Dojlid and ending at its mouth). The southern and western barriers to the city's development were to be forest areas, the airport in Krywlany and the swampy areas of Dojlidy. It was anticipated that in the west the city should not go beyond Słoboda (today's Nowe Miasto) and Starosielce-Bażantarnia to the north-east.

Białystok University of Technology

The districts were divided into functional zones: Administrative and cultural center located on the baroque axis of Branicki Palace and the two streets perpendicular to it: Warszawska and Piwna (Skłodowska-Curei). A shopping and offices center located between Lipowa and Sienkiewicza streets. Industrial center in Antoniuk and Fabryczna Station and Nowem and residential districts located in Antoniuk, Bojary on the right side of the Biala river and Piaski on the left bank of the Biala River. Recreation areas in the form of a forest in Pieczurki and Białostoczek, green areas along the Biała River.

The city center was according to the plan the main communication axis (current Piłsudskiego Avenue and Branickiego Street) and an administrative center – stretching from the historical center with the Kościuszki Square and ending with a complex of administrative buildings located at the intersection of the palace axis with Piwna Street (nowadays Skłodowska-Curie Street).

An important component of the reconstruction of the city center envisaged the moving of the core of the new city center away from the traditional town square to the 1989 Square. The House of the Party was constructed at the square with the Marie Curie Avenue which would act as "representative" avenue, stretching to the south from the square and will contain important public buildings. Kalinowskiego and Liniarskiego streets were created as well to connect the square to Lipowa Street. An important element in the planning of the city center after the war was the creation of "Parade Avenue", a representative thoroughfare. The shape was defined by Stanislaw Bukowski in 1950. As part of this plan, Marii-Curie-Skladowska Street (then called Alej Pochodow "Parade Avenue"). The street was designed to be constitute a new, representative axis of a socialist city. Along the street a number of important representative public buildings were built, such as the building number 1 (District Court), number 3 (House of the Unions Polish: Dom Związkowca), number 23 (The Actor's House), (Polish: Dom Aktora)

Originally in place of the Central Department Store it was planned to construct the seat for the Presidium of the Voivodeship National Council.^[110] Also, different plans called for a set of administrative buildings with the Voivodeship and the City Council at the head, as well as the central post office and cinema (called also Centrum II), at the intersection of Skladowska-Curie, Waszyngtona and Legionow streets. However, this part of the plan was never materialized.^[111]

1956 uprising and Gomulka thaw

The next day, young employees met at a joint meeting in the Fasty factory and Zambrowskie Zakłady Włókiennicze. A letter was sent to the 8th Plenum of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party, in which Gomułka's policy was supported. The party was also asked to take into account the voice of young people. In next days the rallies took place at the Railway Steel Structures Plant^[112] in Starosielce, the Municipal Building Enterprise (Kombinat Budowlany), the Instrument and Handle Factory, the Roasting Plant (Białostockie Zakłady Roszarnicze w Wysokim Stoczku),^[113] the Road Equipment Repair Plant, the Plush Factory. Resolutions were adopted everywhere in which the crews supported policy of Gomułka. It was also requested to rename Stalina Street. The members of Kolejowe Zakłady Konstrukcji Stalowych in suggested giving it the name of the Avenue of Polish-Soviet Friendship (Polish: Przyjaźni Polsko-Radzieckiej) to commemorate the brotherhood of arms. On the other hand, employees of the State Forests submitted a request that the street be named October 21. At workplaces, journalists were accused of hindering development workers' self-government.

On 20 October 1956, people of Białystok gathered at the radios and listened to the speech of Władysław Gomułka delivered at the 8th Plenum of the Central Committee of the PZPR. A declaration of loyalty was published in Gazeta Białostocka from 23 October which emphasized the population of the Białystok region together with the entire Polish nation strongly supports the new leadership of the party in the implementation of the program outlined on the VIII Plenum. The next day around 15,000 people gathered in the courtyard of the Branicki Palace (seat of the Medical University of Białystok). First, the speeches of local PUWP leaders were heard, and then through the radio of Władysław Gomułka's speech Speaking representatives of the workplace strongly criticized the provincial state and party authorities. The first secretary of the communist party in the city, Jan Jabłoński even submitted a public resignation, which was later rejected by the executive committee of the PZPR. Trade union banners were present at the rally, and so was the rally led by the secretary of the Provincial Council of Trade Unions, Franciszek Lesner. A letter of the Executive of the PZPR Municipal Committee was read out to members of the party and society of the Bialystok Voivodeship. At some point, however, the situation began to get out of control. On a student came in to the rostrum and demanded that Rokossowskiego Street be changed to Aleje Akademicka. Harsh words of criticism were expressed regarding the Polish-Soviet friendship. There was talk of subordination of Poland to the Soviet Union. People began to demand that the alliance with the USSR be broken, the system liberalized and living conditions improved. At some point two cars filled with the army pulled up to the Voivodeship Committee. An officer jumped out of one of them and began to provide demonstrators that the army is with the nation, supports the policy of Władysław Gomułka and the 8th Plenum Central Committee of the PZPR. He also stated that it was time to end the subordination of the army to Soviet officers who issued all commands in Russian. After the officer's speech, the soldiers jumped out of the cars and mixed with the crowd. Stanisław Kudła (secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party) came to the window and called on the protesters to prudence and go home but they continued to give speeches until midnight.^[114]

After the rally, some of the participants went home, but several thousand people mainly students and young workers walked through Lipowa Street towards the Church of St. Rocha. The demonstrators carried national flags as well as the Hungarian flag as a sign of support for the Hungarian uprising. When they reached the church of St. Rocha Father Adam Abramowicz asked for a peaceful departure.^[115]

At the meeting of the Executive of the Municipal Committee of the PZPR, which met On 25 October 1956, Kazimierz Ornat and Secretary of the City Committee PZPR stated that the demonstration took place in front of the PZPR Voivodeship Committee building was anti-Soviet, anti-state and anti-party. he Gomulka supporters planned to write an open letter. Stanisław Kosicki, the editor-in-chief of Gazeta Białostocka, did not sign it. He considered the open letter to be harmful and, if published, threatened to resign. After publishing the letter, he resigned from managing Gazeta Białostocka. Kazimierz Nowak took his place, and Edward Pajkert became his deputy.^[116]

The October 1956 uprising which occurred in Poznan had influence on the Political situation in the country and led to the departure of the local party secretary, Jan Jabłoński, who resigned, again, on 31 October, and this time his resignation was accepted by the provincial authorities. Antoni Laskowski, a local party activist who was not imposed by the Central Committee for the first time, was entrusted with the function of the First Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party, though this not for long, as after 3 weeks he was ousted by Gomulka. His place was taken by Arkadiusz Łaszewicz.

1960s–1970s

Throughout the 50s and 60s the fast growth of the city and its reconstruction from the damages of the war continued. The construction of the viaduct at Dąbrowskiego Street began, and the next year the W-Z route called Aleja 1 Maja (in 1990 it was renamed as Józef Piłsudskiego Avenue). In 1959 the Housing Cooperative 'Rodzina Kolejowa' in Przydworcowe district was completed. Also, The number of inhabitants of Białystok increased, which in the late 1950s became demographically one of the most dynamically developing Polish cities. In 1956, this number exceeded 100,000 people. The main reason for such rapid demographic development was the migration from smaller towns and villages of the region.^[115]

Despite intensive development, in 1968 Białystok did not form a compact one urban complex. Districts: Wygoda, Pieczurki, Skorupy, Dojlidy, Słoboda (future district of Nowe Miasto), Marczuk, Wysoki Stoczek and Dziesięciny kept in their arrangement and layout of rural character. In the city's long-term development plans, transformation was envisaged:

From the end of the 50s Bialystok saw massive construction of housing estates. Rodzina Kolejowa was inaugurated in 1959 and the 60s saw the construction of the Tysiąclecie housing estate. Between 1960 and 1965 mass housing estate was built in Antoniuk District. Late 60s and early 70s saw the construction of Przyjaźń, and Białostoczek housing estates as well as Dziesięciny I and II. The 80s saw the construction of Słoneczny Stok, Zielone Wzgórza and Nowe Miasto housing estates.^[117] In the decades after the war, as part of the massive re-construction and development efforts which followed the mass destruction, large number of pre-war streets were erased from the map during the demolishing and construction and widening of new sreets. Among them are Siedlecka, Cicha, Orlańska, Piesza, Szlachecka, Mińska, Syjońska, Palestyńska, Jasna, Chazanowicza, Kacza, Kosynierska, Różańska, Chmielna, Chmielna, Górna, Smolna, Łódzka, Niecala, Smutna, Rabińska, Chazanowicza, Tykocińska, Jastrzębia, Dobrzyniewska, Alta, Sportowa, Koszarowa, Zamkowa, Fastowska, Ciemna, Widna, Głucha, Zalewna, Mokra, Gęsia, Fastowska, Bożnicza, Szkolna, Ceglana, Ordynarska, Stolarska, Czackiego, Alejowa, Skidelska, Indurska, Sienna, Berdyczowska, Wołkowyska, Książęca, Wronia, Okrągła, Grzybowa, Okopowa, Wisniowa and Mazurska.^{[118][119][120]}

Białystok in the 1970s

In 1968, a branch of the University of Warsaw was established (in 1997 it received independence and named University of Białystok), as well as the Museum of the Polish Armed Forces. In 1973, construction of the amphitheater and the "Centrum" Department Store began. In 1974, the Puppetry Department of the State Higher School of Theater named after Aleksander Zelwerowicz opened, as well as a branch of the State Higher School of Music named after Chopin in Warsaw. The Symphony Orchestra received the status of a philharmonic, and a year later a new seat.^[121]

Third Polish Republic (1989–present)

The collapse of the Soviet Union and the Revolutions of 1989 which saw also the collapse of the People's Republic of Poland made its impact on Bialystok.

From August 21, 1989, Jerzy Czaban took over the office of president of the city worked well with the MRN. At that time, the most serious problem for Białystok residents was the difficult economic situation. Production fell, unemployment rose. It is true that salaries increased, but this only intensified inflation and high prices. The supply of basically all products has also deteriorated drastically, and the list of centrally imported goods has been limited. Food prices went up quickly. Along with the liberalization of the food and retail market, the supply of a number of goods has also decreased. The supply of meat and meat products, cheese, fish and vegetable fats, bread and pasta was lower. The housing market collapsed. Crews were dissatisfied with low wages and downtime. The progressing economic crisis, galloping inflation, uncontrolled increase in prices and wages, often following crew strikes, significantly worsened the social mood. People began to fear losing their jobs and worsening living standards. This intensified the mood of disbelief that the economic crisis could be overcome with the hitherto methods. For this reason, emergency strikes were announced in individual workplaces. Strike committees were formed, which included members of "Solidarity". The protesters demanded better working conditions and wage increases. President J. Czaban could do little in this field, as the budget was still managed by the voivode. During his term of office, the spatial development plan for the city center of Białystok was adopted, discussions were held on changing the function of the market at Bema Street, where the Jewish cemetery was located. Resolutions were adopted on spatial development of the following housing estates: Wysoki Stoczek, Przemysłowa, Jaroszówka, Pietrasze, Fasty and Bacieczki. S^[133]

Following the liberalization of trade, The city became major transit and trade point for merchandise arriving from Belarus and Russia, and to support that, the City Market was established. The Communist party lost its monopoly over political life in the city and a process of decommunization began with changing names of streets and squares: Marcelego Nowotki changed in 1990 to Świętojańska, Lenina changed to Branickiego, Stalingradzka to Litewska, Arkadiusza Łaszewicza to Magnoliowa, Feliks Kona to Lawendowa, Władysława Pragi to Konwaliowa, Ryszard Kraśki to Storczykowa, a section of Karola Świerczewskiego to 11 Listopada, Feliks Dzierżyńskiego to Legionowa, Juliana Marchlewski to Pałacowa, Marceli Nowotki to Świętojańska, Swobodna to Dworska, Mikołaja Ostrowskiego to Grochowa, Mariana Buczka to Meksykańska, Stanisława Juchnickiego to Sukienna, Bronisława Wesołowskiego to Suraska^[134] and Zygmunta Berlinga to Józefa Hallera.^[135] Baranowicka was called Armii Radzieckiej from 1968 and 1991, and before that Szosa Wschodnia. Bialowny Street was called Malgorzaty Fornalskiej from 1955 to 1990, and before that Zydowska. Ciolkowskiego was called before 1968 Szosa Zamborwska. Grochowa Street was called Mikołaja Ostrowskiego between 1954 and 1990. Jana Pawla II was called Szosa Żółtkowska before 1968. Kopernika was called before 1968 Szosa Południowa. Lawendowa was called before 1989 Feliksa Kona. Liniarskiego was called from 1956 to 1990 Edwarda Próchniaka. Maczka and Kleeberga were called Szosa Północno-Obwodowa. Narodowych Sil Zbrojnych was called before 2001 Szosa Ełcka. Hanki Ordonówny was called from 1966 to 1991 Wandy Wasilewskie. Palacowa was called Juliana Marchlewskiego from 1950 to 1989. Raginisa was called Szosa Supraślska before 1968. Sw. Rocha was called Manifestu Lipcowego from 1949 to 1990. Sienkiewicza was called I Maja from 1949 to 1956. Skłodowskiej-curie was called Olejniczaka before 1956 and before that Piwna. Aleje solidarności was called Gagarina street from 1968 to 1996. Waszyngtona was called from 1974 to 1990 Bolesława Podedwornego and before that Garbarska.

Pope John Paul II on 5 June 1991, during a visit to Bialystok, announced the decision to set up the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Białystok.^[136]

On 1 January 1999 Białystok was named the capital of the newly organized Podlaskie Voivodeship, which was created out of the former Białystok and Łomża Voivodeships and the eastern half of the former Suwałki Voivodeship, pursuant to the Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998.

Since the beginning of the century Białystok has significantly extended its area, incorporating neighboring villages such as Bialostoczek, Dziesieciny or Starosielce. The most recent incorporation, in 2006 were those of Zawady on the north and Dojlidy Gorne on the south. They have significantly increased the administrative area of the city to 102 km².

The accession of Poland to the EU in 2004 led to massive investments in the city, especially after the approval of Operational Program Development of Eastern Poland 2007–2013 as result of which the city saw modernization and completion of different projects: In 2008 'Alfa Centrum' was opened at the former site of Beckera Factory.^[137] A new stadium was built Jagiellonia Białystok next to the City Market.

Białystok Subzone of the Suwałki Special Economic Zone was established in 2009 and covers an area of 30 ha. In October 2014, an application was forwarded to the management board of the SSEZ regarding the extension of the Białystok Subzone by more than 43 ha of land in Krywlany and almost 21 ha of plots of the Białystok Science and Technology Par which i located within the Dojlidy district, in the area of Borsucza, Żurawia and Myśliwska streets. It is located in the immediate vicinitys developed and built-up real estate with a service function and the area of the Białystok SSZ Subzone.^[138]

In 2015 the Municipal Waste Treatment Plant (Polish: Zakład Unieszkodliwiania Odpadów Komunalnych) in 40F Generała Władysława Andersa Street began operating, replacing the landfill in Hryniewicze.^[139] In 2014 the municipal heating company (Polish: Miejskim Przedsiębiorstwie Energetyki Cieplnej w Białymstoku (MPEC)) was purchased by Enea Group. The company has also been a co-owner since 2008, and since 2011 the actual owner of the Białystok Heat and Power Plant, which already works in cogeneration. In 2019 an agreement between Enea Ciepło and the Polish Government to modernize 18 km of pipelines as well as reconstruction of heating nodes. Individual nodes are constructed in order to reduce heat losses.^[140] The connection of Białystok Power Station with the municipal MPEC network will allow the optimization of heat production in the city. The CHP plant has two modern biomass-fired units with zero CO₂ emissions.^[141] A major highway bypassing at the city edges, Generalska Route was built between 2009 and 2013 and Niepodległości Route (Polish: Trasa Niepodległości) was opened in 2019. The Porosły Interchange, a combination of the S8 Expressay with Generalska Route in Bialystok was opened for public use on 30 December 2020.^{[142][143][144][145][146]} As part of the investment, two two-level intersections are built (on the eight in Porosły and on Aleja Jana Pawła II at the intersection with Elewatorska Street), switches, viaduct over the tracks to Ełk. Service roads and other elements of road infrastructure, bicycle paths, bus bays, sidewalks and lighting were also built. The 800-meter section of Generala Kleeberga Street was also rebuilt. An additional junction will be built on the north side of S8 Expressway on the poviat road DP1551B, as well as a connection of the Voivodeship road 676 with the service road on the south side of the S8 Expressway (this is the place where the voivodship road intersects with the poviat road).

During the COVID-19 epidemic two temporary hospitals were set up in the city under the management of the University Clinical Hospital, nr. 1 located at the hospital infectious diseases complex at 14 Żurawia street and nr. 2 located at 1 Wołodyjowskiego street at the sports hall of the Medical University of Białystok.^[147] Hospital nr. 1 admits patients in harsh conditions while hospital nr. 2, which has no respirators admits patient in less severe condition, without chronic diseases.^[148] In addition, COVID department was opened in the Voivodeship Hospital in December 2020, located at the Nursing and Treatment building at 2/1 Wołodyjowskiego street.^[149][150] Additionally, at times of high number of infections the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Internal Diseases at 25 Skłodowskiej-Curie street was converted for COVID treatment as well.^[151]

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1. Janusz Żarnowski, "Społeczeństwo Drugiej Rzeczypospolitej 1918–1939" (in Polish), Warszawa 1973
2. Eugeniusz Mironowicz, "Białoruś" (in Polish), Trio, Warszawa, 1999, ISBN 83-85660-82-8