Zbąszyń
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Zbąszyń is a town in Poland, in Greater Poland Voivodeship, in Nowy Tomyśl County. It has 7,319 inhabitants (2004).
The town was first mentioned in historical sources from 1231, and it received its city charter before 1311. As a result of the Second Partition of Poland in 1793 it became a part of Prussia, and later the German Empire. In 1918 it again became a part of independent Poland.
In the years 1918-1939 it was a town on the border with Germany. In October 1938 Nazi Germany decided to expel those German Jews who did not hold German citizenship or had it taken away, and who originally hailed from Poland. This was in reaction to a Polish decree which was to take away the Polish citizenship of Jews living outside the country, including those in Germany. A few days before that decree was to come into force, 17,000 German Jews that were or could be considered to be citizens of Poland were rounded up and unceremoniously dumped on the Polish border at Zbąszyń and other border towns [1]. The Polish government in turn refused to allow in those of them who did not hold valid Polish passports. As a result, thousands of Jews were stuck on the border in makeshift facilities for several days or weeks in appaling conditions[2]. The situation generated widespread outrage among the Jewish community in Poland, which conducted extensive efforts to help the internees in any way possible. Eventually the Polish government finally allowed them, in stages, to enter the country[2] .
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