Project

Old and New Brest

The building of the railway station is seen below the footbridge

Today the bridge is much higher as the railroad was electrified

Views in Lenin Street

Views in K.Marx Street

in the 1930s                                  2008

The Russian St. Simon Cathedral

That nice mansion dating from the 19th century houses today the regional museum.

The brickwork of the former school at the corner of Dzerzhinsky St.  attracts attention at once

This old picture above is former Dr. Pawel Korol's villa on ul. Zygmuntowska (K.Marx St. today) in Brest.

This information and old pictures of the mansion were provided by Lucyna Kucharska, daughter of Elizabeth and Feliks Kucharski

Views in Svobody Square

In both old and new pictures on the left-hand side the fence of the square is seen, the southern border of the mini-park, that occupies the major part of the square.  it was the main square of Brest till 1915.

 17 September St. (former ul. Topolowa, ul. Pereca) joins the square at its southeastern corner. In the past Town Hall was on this spot, dominating  the square.  It was the seat of the town Council, "Duma" in Russian and the old name of the square "Dumskaya" derived from the word. It was the main attraction in the square and in the town too.  The building featured elaborate brickwork.   Unfortunately the structure did not survive and can be seen only in old pictures.

The biggest library of the town, named after N.Gogol (a street in Brest is named after him), was located in the building.

The view of the destroyed house, when Kaiser troops were in Brest

Today it is a vacant space.

You see the vacant space at the right corner. At the left corner is Svobody Square

the picture was taken in October 2008

At the opposite corner across Budyuonny St. there is an old 2-storied  building with fine brickwork.

Now the building is undergoing a renovation. After the past-war plaster has been removed, the original brickwork can be seen.

Opposite it there was another structure featuring elaborate brickwork.

Views in Pushkin Street

The former residence of wojewoda in the interwar Brest, today it's Russia's consulate.

photo © 2008 B.  Minoff

Not to be reproduced without permission  of Mr. B.Minoff!

The sidewalk pictures were quite popular in Brest. Many thanks to Mr. B. Minoff for the valuable pictures providing insight into daily life of the street. This stretch of the street was a pedestrian precinct in the interwar Brest, called "gaz" in Polish. That was the place of luxurious shops and restaurants. Not everybody could afford to buy anything here, but that was a special feeling to walk along it just for fun, especially for school kids when they skipped lessons.

Numerous photographers used to take pictures of the passers-by here. Sometimes they did not even suspect that they were photographed. 

In the background in both old pictures above the building of the Town Hall of the interwar Brest is seen.

The view from the same point today. The redbrick house of the former town hall is still seen at the corner of Sovietskaya St.

The top floor was built over the house after the war. The house at the opposite corner (left) did not survive. Today there is no pedestrian precinct in Pushkin Street. However, there is a pedestrian precinct today in Sovietskaya St, today's Mall  is much longer.

Brest Mall

The Mall starts here by the new clock tower. That is our small Big Ben, as it chimes like his brother in London

Ratner Arcade was a remarkable landmark in the street before 1915.

The arcade, that belonged to Mr Ratner, is seen on the right (eastern) side of today's Sovietskaya St

the buildings did not survive during World War 1.

(below)The view of this place today.

 That is the southern end of the Mall.

The pavement is being replaced.

Views in Masherov Avenue

(left) in 1913, (right) today

in both pictures: (left) the north-western corner, (right) the north-eastern corner of 17th September St. (former Perec St.)  and Masherov Avenue.

the Department Store is on the opposite side today.

(historic background)

the house at the north-eastern corner belonged to Mr. Galpern.

It was rented by Mr. R.Goldfarb (stationary and book shop), Mr.Kravetsky (military uniform shop), Mr G. Burshtein (ready-made clothes), Mr. Yu. Shatz (tobacco shop), by Mr. B.Perelshtein (bicycle repair workshop), by I.V.Shapiro (skin& venereal diseases clinic), by Rubinraut (drug-store), by Glotser (dry goods store)

At the northeastern corner of former ulica Białostocka 

The Victoria Hotel was destroyed by the fire in 1915.

Today a 4 storied dwelling house stands on the spot. Only the building behind it survived and it houses part of Brest archive. At the southeastern opposite corner Intourist Hotel is today.

The Jewish orphanage was in the building till WW2.

This old 2-storied building was built by Jews in the interwar period at the northeastern corner of today's Masherov Avenue and Lenin Str.  to accommodate Jewish orphans that were numerous after WW1.