Place:Białystok, Poland

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Białystok Voivodeship was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland from 1975 to 1998, when it was superseded by the Podlaskie Voivodeship. Its capital city was Białystok. It was formed in 1975 from part of the existing Białystok Voivodeship. The region was , and its population in 1994, about 700 000 inhabitants. It was divided into 20 cities and 50 municipalities. It bordered with four Voivodeships: Suwałki, Łomża, Siedlce and Biała Podlaska and until 1991 with the Soviet Union (Belorussian SSR), and later with Belarus.

History

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Starting 1 June 1975, pursuant to a law proclaimed on 28 May 1975, the Białystok Voivodeship was formed from part of the existing Białystok Voivodeship. In addition the intermediate administrative level of powiats were eliminated, but the secondary administrative units of gminas were retained. The unstated reason for the 1975 reform was the desire of the Polish Central Committee to strengthen control over lower layers of the state apparatus. After Edward Gierek replaced Władysław Gomułka as first secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party, his clique maintained power by dividing the Politburo. Through administrative reorganization and the new territorial division, Gierek was able to nominate his supporters to provincial committees and break the hold of older elements of the party.

After the fall of the People's Republic of Poland, District Offices were established in the voivodeship under the Act of 22 March 1990 and the Regulation of the Minister – Head of the Office of the Council of Ministers on 1 August 1990. Within the limits of the district offices were several gmina. The offices did not constitute organs of self-government, but performed the tasks and powers of the voivodeship administration.

During 1991 and 1992 the large municipalities were restructured, significantly changing the division of powers between the voivodeship cities and the surrounding rural gminas.

In the Polish administrative reform of 1999 Poland introduced a further reform of local government administration, disestablishing the Białystok Voivodeship effective 31 December 1998 and establishing the Podlaskie Voivodeship.

Holocaust History

Bialystok Ghetto during the Holocaust

The city of Bialystok is situated in North-Eastern Poland, 188 km from Warsaw and 54 km from the border with Belarus. In common with the region named after it, the city had fallen under the control of many different countries in the course of its history. Bialystok became part of Prussia in 1795 before being annexed to Russia in 1807. In 1921, following the cessation of hostilities between Poland and the Soviet Union, the city was incorporated into the state of Poland.

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