Pinsk Marshes

Pinsk Marshes (Пинские болота) or Pripyat Marshes (Pripet Marshes, Припятские болота) is a vast territory of wetlands along the Pripyat River and its tributaries from Brest, Belarus (West) to Mogilev (Northeast) and Kiev (Southeast).

The Pinsk Marshes mostly lie within the Polesian Lowland and occupy most of the southern part of Belarus. They cover roughly 38,000 sq. miles surrounding the Pripyat River. Drainage of the eastern portion began in 1870, and has been cleared for pasture and farmland.

During most of the year, the marshes are impassable to major military forces, thus influencing strategic planning of all military operations in the region. During World War II, the marshes divided the central and southern theatres of operation, and also served as a hideout for Soviet partisans.

At one stage during the war, the Nazi German administration planned to drain the marshes, cleanse them of their 'degenerate' inhabitants, and repopulate the area with German colonists. Konrad Meyer was the leader in charge of the Pripet plan. However, Hitler scuttled the project late in 1941, as he believed that it may entail dustbowl (Versteppung) conditions.

References

Blackbourn, David. (2006). The Conquest of Nature: Water, Landscape and the Making of Modern Germany. Jonathan Cape.