10 Kwartników Białowieskich Bialowieża

Reverse

Coat of arms

Script: Latin

Lettering:
20 RP 09
BIALOWIEZA
URZAD GMINY BIALOWIEZA

Edge

Plain

Comment

Białowieża is a village in Poland, in the middle of Białowieża Forest, of which it is a namesake. The population of the settlement is a bit over 2000.

In the late 17th century, several small villages were started in the Białowieża Forest for development of local iron ore deposits and tar production. The villages were populated with settlers from Masovia and Podlaskie and many of them still exist.

Tsar Alexander I introduced the reserve of the forest in 1801 and hired a small amount of peasants for protection of the animals. Most of them were settled in the administrative centre of the area.

During the World War II after the joint German and Soviet attack on Poland, the area came under Soviet occupation. In 1939 and 1940 most of the local inhabitants were arrested and sent to gulags. They were replaced with Russian forest workers, but in 1941 the forest came under German occupation and the Russian inhabitants were also deported. Hermann Göring planned to create the biggest hunting reserve in the world there, but those plans were never realized. After July 1941, the forest became a refuge for both Polish and Soviet partisans. In July 1944 the area was captured by the Red Army.