Vawkavysk or Volkovysk (Belarusian: Ваўкавыск, romanized: Vaŭkavysk; Russian: Волковыск; Polish: Wołkowysk; Yiddish: וואלקאוויסק) is a town in Grodno Region, in western Belarus.

Old Belarusian tradition refers to the area surrounding Vawkavysk as once being occupied by vast forestry filled with wolves.

A prince named Vladislav Zabeyko, upon hearing of these attacks, tracked down the robbers and hung them on trees for the birds to feed upon.

Its raion is bordered by those of Masty to the north, Zel’va to the east, Pruzhany of Brest Oblast to the south, Svislach to the southwest, and Byerastavitsa to the west.

[6] Vawkavysk lies in the warm summer continental or hemiboreal (Dfb) climate zone, with four seasons and uniformly spread precipitation.

[5] Kievan Rus prior to 1084 Baltic tribes 1084-1239 Duchy of Lithuania 1239–1254 Golden Horde 1254–1269 ∟  Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia 1254–1269 Grand Duchy of Lithuania 1269–1289 Golden Horde 1289–1293 ∟  Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia 1289–1293 Grand Duchy of Lithuania 1293–1569 Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth 1569–1795 Russian Empire 1795–1918 Belarusian People's Republic 1918–1919 Second Polish Republic 1919–1939 Soviet Union 1939–1941 (occupation) ∟ Byelorussian SSR 1939–1941 Nazi Germany 1941–1944 (occupation) Soviet Union 1944–1991 ∟ Byelorussian SSR 1944–1991 Republic of Belarus 1991–present Prior to the 10th century, there were three fortified settlements on the territory of Vawkavysk.

Industrical and commercial sites were located at the foot of Swedish Mountain along its northern, eastern, and southern sides.

Vawkavysk is one of the oldest towns in Eastern Europe and has played a role in the political development of medieval Slavic civilization.

The origin of the town is developed by legends, one of which tells about a prince Vladislav Zabeyko, who in 738 found robbers named Voloka and Visek and killed them.

[9] Vawkavysk lies in a region formerly referred to as Black Ruthenia that was subjugated to various invading forces from Baltic and Slavic tribes.

The Ipatiev Chronicle mentions Vawkavysk in connection with an invasion of the Galicia-Volhynian prince Daniel Romanovich Galitsky and his brother Vasilko in 1252.

The chronicle continues with describing that a peace treaty was signed in 1254 where the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Vaišvilkas, transferred Vawkavysk, along with several other towns, to Daniel's son, Roman Danylovich Galitsky.

In 1260, Vaišvilkas and another Lithuanian prince, Toth, captured and killed Roman, which resulted in Daniel marching to the upper reaches of the Neman River to recapture Vawkavysk and take Gleb as prisoner.

In the chaos that followed Mindaugas' assassination, the lands of the Grand Duchy were in disarray, with both local and foreign rulers struggling for power.

Additionally, in 1264, Daniel died and his son Svarn Danylovich Galitsky received nominal overlordship over all of the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia as its duke, including Vawkavysk.

In 1274–1276 he fought a war with the new Lithuanian ruler Traidenis but was defeated, and Lithuania annexed the territory of Black Ruthenia with its city of Navahrudak.

During a campaign against the Lithuanians in 1277, the Rus army and their princes, Mstislav Danylovich, another son of Daniel; Vladimir Vasilkovich; and Yuri Lvovich, stopped for the night in Vawkavysk.

He declared that he along with the Lithuanian people was to adopt the Catholic faith, and received the Polish envoys after a long-awaited decision on 11 January 1386.

In 1409 the town was attacked and plundered by the Teutonic Knights under the command of Grand Master Ulrich von Jungingen and its residents taken captive.

[12] On 16 March 1410, the town was seized again and burnt under the command of Marshal Frederic von Wallenrode and its residents were murdered.

It was during this time that the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth entered into a series of mid-17th century campaigns, known as The Deluge, consisting of uprisings, invasions and Northern Wars with Russia and Sweden.

At the same time, the Swedish Empire, which technically already was in conflict, although with a cease-fire agreement, with the Commonwealth from the Polish-Swedish War of 1626-29, invaded in July 1654 and occupied the remaining half of the country.

During the Great Northern War in 1706, the Swedes attacked Vawkavysk again, which resulted in the residents demanding large indemnity.

[9] During the French invasion of Russia in 1812, Vawkavysk housed the headquarters of General Pyotr Bagration, commander of the 2nd Russian Army.

As of 1860, Vawkavysk had four hundred ninety-two homes, two schools, St. Wenceslas church, seven Jewish prayer houses, a synagogue, a brick factory, two mills, a hospital, and fifty-eight shops.

In this peace treaty, Russia renounced all territorial claims in Finland (which it had already acknowledged), the future Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), Belarus, and Ukraine.

During the negotiations of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Belarus first declared independence under German occupation on 25 March 1918, forming the Belarusian People's Republic.

The town was then captured by the 16th Bolshevik Army on 24 July 1920[19] and subsequently recaptured on 27 September 1920 by the 3rd Legions Infantry Division under the command of General Leon Berbecki.

The town was a point of detention and deportation of German and Polish prisoners of war, including prisoner-of-war camp 281 by the Red Army until 1941.

In December 1942, part of the transit camp was converted to a closed ghetto for about 2,000 Jews, mostly essential male workers who were allowed to leave each day to go to the work sites.