Azweja

Asweja | Osweja
Асве́я | Освея
( Belarus. ) | ( Russian )
coat of arms flag
State :	Belarus
Woblasz :	Vitebskaya Woblasz
Coordinates :	56 ° 1 ′  N , 28 ° 6 ′  E Coordinates: 56 ° 1 ′  N , 28 ° 6 ′  E
Time zone :	Moscow time ( UTC + 3 )
Azweja

Asweja ( Belarusian Асве́я ; Russian Осве́я ; Polish Oświeja ; Latvian Asveja ; Lithuanian Asveja ) is an urban-type settlement in the far north of Belarus on the south bank of Lake Asweja . The small town is located near the borders with Russia and Latvia , 40 km from Verkhnyadswinsk and 37 km from the Verkhnyadswinsk railway station on the Polatsk - Daugavpils route , in Verkhnyadswinsk Raion in Vitebskaya Voblasz . Asweja was first mentioned in historical sources in 1503, and in 1695 the town was granted city rights. In 2010, 1,300 residents lived in the settlement, which has had the status of an agro-town since 2007.

In the period from February to April 1943 , hundreds of villages in what was then Asweja district were burned down and more than 10,000 residents were killed as part of Operation Winterzauber by Baltic collaborators under the command of SS forces. The partisan units operating in the hinterland were to be deprived of their supply base through the ultimately sought-after complete depopulation of entire regions. At the time of the USSR this punitive measure (Operation Winterzauber) in retaliation for partisan activities was also known as the Azweja tragedy (Russian Освейская трагедия ).