Location: Rahachow 🌎

Rahachow or Rogachev (Belarusian: Рагачо́ў, romanized: Rahačoŭ, IPA: [raɣaˈtʂou̯]; Russian: Рогачёв, romanized: Rogachyov; Polish: Rohaczów; Yiddish: ראגאטשאוו, IPA: [ragat͡ʃov]) is a town in Gomel Region, Belarus. It is the administrative center of Rahachow District. Rahachow is located at 53°6′N 30°3′E, between the Drut and Dnieper rivers. It has a population of 34,727 (2004 estimate). The town is first mentioned in 1142 in Russian chronicles. From the late thirteenth century it was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and then the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1772 the Rahačoŭ District was annexed by the Russian Empire. On 16 July 1863 the local landowner Tomasz Hryniewicz was executed here by a Russian firing squad for leading the Rahačoŭ detachment of Polish insurgents. During World War II, Rahačoŭ was occupied by the German Army from 2 July 1941 to 13 July 1941, and again from 14 August 1941 to 24 February 1944. The notable Rabbi, Yosef Rosen (1858–1936), known as the Rogatshover Gaon (“The Genius of Rogatshov” (the Yiddish pronunciation of Rahachow), was born and raised here. The artist Anatoli Lvovich Kaplan was born (1902) and brought up here, as was former NHL hockey player Sergei Bautin. Rahachow also has a popular dairy product factory, whose products are supplied across Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus.