pulations were predominantly ethnic Belarusians, on 28 October 1939 in Białystok.
Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941. The Brest Fortress, which had been annexed in 1939, was subjected to one of the most destructive onslaughts and its notable defense in 1941 was memorialized as an act of heroism in countering German aggression. Statistically, BSSR was the hardest-hit Soviet republic in World War II and remained in Nazi hands until 1944. During that time, Germany destroyed 209 out of 290 cities in the republic, 85% of the republic's industry, and more than one million buildings. Casualties were estimated to be between two and three million (about a quarter to one-third of the total population), while the Jewish population of Belarus was devastated during the Holocaust and never recovered. The population of Belarus did not regain its pre-war level until 1971.
After the war, Belarus was among the 51 founding countries of the United Nations Charter and as such it was allowed an additional vote at the UN, on top of the Soviet Union's vote. Vigorous postwar reconstruction promptly followed the end of the war and Belorussian SSR became a major center of manufacturing in western USSR, creating jobs and attracting ethnic Russians. The borders of Belorussian SSR and Poland were redrawn and became known as the Curzon Line.
Joseph Stalin implemented a policy of Sovietization to isolate the Belorussian SSR from Western influences. This policy involved sending Russians from various parts of the Soviet Union and placing them in key positions in the Belorussian SSR government. The official use of the Belarusian language and other cultural aspects were limited by Moscow. After Stalin's death in 1953, Nikita Khrushchev continued his predecessor's cultural hegemony program, stating, "The sooner we all start speaking Russian, the faster we shall build communism."
In 1986, the Belorussian SSR was significantly exposed to nuclear fallout from the
