Chełm

Chełm khĕlm [key], Rus. Kholm, city, Lubelskie prov., E Poland. It is a railway junction and has industries manufacturing metals, lumber, machinery, cement, and liquors. An old Slavic settlement, Chełm was chartered in 1233. It passed to Poland in 1377, to Austria in 1795, and to Russia in 1815. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918) transferred the city to Ukraine, but it passed to Poland in 1921. After Chełm was freed from German occupation in World War II, the new Polish republic was proclaimed there (July 22, 1944) by the Polish Committee of National Liberation. Chełm is noted for its cathedral.

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