Ivanava
Our Ivanava is not the only town by that name; there is also an Ivanava/Janow near Kaunas in Lithuania and perhaps others. That is why Ivanava's Yiskor Book, written in 1969, uses the name: Janow al yad Pinsk or Janow near Pinsk. Ivanava also has had a plethora of names depending on the government and language. JewishGen lists the following alternate names: Ivanava [Bel], Ivanovo [Rus], Janów [Pol], Yanov [Yid], Yanov Polski [Yid], Ivanovas [Lith], Janów Poleski [Pol], Janow Polesie, Janow Polski, Janaŭ Paleski, Janow near Pinsk, Iwanowo, Yanuv.
To understand the influences on Ivanava, it is important to note that the region was part of Lithuania when Lithuania included what is now Belarus. In 1386, Jagella of Lithuania married Queen Jadwaga of Poland, was baptized Wladyslaw, and became King of Poland. For almost two centuries a close alliance existed between the two countries until 1569 when Lithuania and Poland officially united after joining to fight off the Russians.* From that time until the Partitions of Poland in the late 1700s when the region was seized by the Russian Empire, Ivanava was part of Poland. When Ivanava belonged to the Russian Empire, it was located in the District of Kobrin, Province of Grodno. Between World War I and World War II, when Ivanava belonged to Poland, it was located in the District of Drohyczin, Province of Polesie. Ivanava is presently in the Brest Province of Belarus.
*Source: Schoenburg, Nancy and Schoenburg, Stuart, Lithuanian Jewish Communities, Jason Aronson Inc, 1996.
Yanov - יאנוב
| House and Road in Ivanava | Memorial in the Forest |
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