page_title: Begoml
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Begoml / History
caption_attribution_description: Русский: Бегомльский аэродром
context_page_description: Begoml or Biahoml is a town in the Dokshitsy District of Vitebsk Region, Belarus, located on Highway М3 100 kilometres from Minsk to the north, 157 kilometres from Vitebsk to the south and 30 kilometres from Dokshitsy to the east. As of January 1, 2008 Begoml's population was 3,059.
context_section_description: The first written records of Begoml date to 1582 and identify it as a village on an estate belonging to the Bishop of Vil'nya at Vaucha in the Minsk povet (administrative region) of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. By 1861, it had become the central volost (county) of Borisovsky Uyezd. The main town of the volost by 1886, it then comprised a village of 43 households, a church, a school, and a hospital. In 1924 it became the centre of Begoml District and on September 27, 1938 it was designated an urban settlement. Since 1960, Begoml has been part of Dokshitsy.
  During the German-Soviet War Begoml and the surrounding district were occupied by the Wehrmacht. On July 2 1941, at about 12:00 midday, a vanguard of 39 tanks of the 3rd Panzer Group drove straight into the township. A Soviet partisan movement then formed and began to counterattack. This included nine partisan brigades working with other separate groups. Guerilla operations to clear German forces from the area continued until the arrival of the Red Army on 1 July 1944.
  During the war, Begomlian guerrillas operated from a pre-war airfield. This fell into disuse after the conflict and the land was subsequently used to build apartments. Today, the neighborhood is still called "The Airdrome" .
  The history of Begoml has inspired poets and writers.
  On June 29, 2009, by decree of the Belarusian President, Begoml, along with 21 other localities in the Republic of Belarus, was awarded a pennant "For courage and resilience during the years of the Great Patriotic War".
caption: Guerrilla airdrome in May, 2009
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA", "Image Make": "OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP.", "Image Model": "FE20,X15,C25", "Image Software": "1.0", "Image DateTime": "2009:05:04 11:12:41", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "778", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 51, 48, 48, 0, 0, 37, 0, 1, 0, 20, 0, ... ]", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/800", "EXIF FNumber": "23/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Creative", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "64", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2009:05:04 11:12:41", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2009:05:04 11:12:41", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "163/50", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "63/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3264", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2448", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "36", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}