Piaseczno

For other places with the same name, see Piaseczno (disambiguation).
Piaseczno

Old Town Hall

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Coat of arms
Piaseczno
Coordinates: 52°4′0″N 21°1′0″E / 52.06667°N 21.01667°E / 52.06667; 21.01667
Country  Poland
Voivodeship Masovian
County Piaseczno County
Gmina Gmina Piaseczno
Established 14th century
Town rights 1429
Government
 • Mayor Zdzisław Lis
Area
 • Total 16.33 km2 (6.31 sq mi)
Population (2015)
 • Total 43,540
 • Density 2,700/km2 (6,900/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 05-500
Area code(s) +48 022
Car plates WPI
Website http://www.piaseczno.eu/
St Anna's Parish Church

Piaseczno [pʲaˈsɛt͡ʂnɔ] is a town in central Poland with 43,540 inhabitants (2015). It is situated in the Masovian Voivodeship, approximately 16 kilometres (10 miles) south of Warsaw. It is a popular residential area and a suburb of Warsaw and is strongly linked to the capital, both economically and culturally. It is the capital of Piaseczno County.

History

Early History

The origins of the city dates from a village in the 13th century when it was part of Bohemia, located on the route between Warsaw and Czerskiem. Its strategic position meant that the village grew quickly. On 5 November 1429 the town obtained a charter, and soon became a local market. A further charter was confirmed in 1461.[1]

In 1537 the town became Royal property and in the second half of the 16th century reached 1200 inhabitants based round the brewing and transport industries.[1] However, the city suffered setbacks because of numerous fires in the late 16th and early 17th centuries but returned to its former glory in the first half of the 18th century.

The town church was built in 1736 by architect Carl Frederick Pöppelmann and during the second partition of Poland the city was burned during the Battle of Gołków which took place on 9 and 10 July 1794. Only a church and few houses survived.

Napoleonic Wars

From 1806 to 1807 a French cavalry unit was stationed in the town as part of the Napoleonic wars, and from 1808 to 1811 this was replaced by the Polish 1st Regiment mounted rifles. The Congress of Vienna, saw the area ceded to Russia in 1815.

In 1825 the road from Warsaw and shortly afterward the railway improved links to Warsaw as a result Piaseczno experienced a period of economic recovery.

World War 1

In September and October 1914 Piaseczno was the site of fierce fighting between German and Russian Forces in the battle for Warsaw. In May 1917, the new City Council held its first council meeting and in November 1918 German gendarmerie surrendered.

On June 4, 1928, Polish President Ignacy Mościcki laid the cornerstone for the folk house and in 1933 Marshal Józef Piłsudski was made an honorary citizen of the city.

World War II

World War II began for the city on 9 and 10 September 1939, when the Polish 54 light artillery regiment fought a skirmish with a German armored division. The Nazi Occupation ended on January 17, 1945, when 1st Armored Brigade entered the city without a fight.

In 1940, during the Nazi Occupation of Poland, German authorities established a Jewish ghetto in Piaseczno,[2] in order to confine its Jewish population for the purpose of persecution and exploitation.[3] The ghetto was liquidated in January 1941, when all its 2,500 inhabitants were transported in cattle trucks to the Warsaw Ghetto, the largest ghetto in all of Nazi occupied Europe with over 400,000 Jews crammed into an area of 1.3 square miles (3.4 km2). From there, most victims were sent to Treblinka extermination camp.[4][5][6][7]

For more details on this topic, see Jewish ghettos in German-occupied Poland.

Town Hall

The original Town Hall burnt down in 1655 by the Swedes during the deluge and a second accidentally burned down in 1730. A third Town Hall was constructed in the middle of the 18th century but was burned during the Kościuszko Uprising in 1794. In 1815 the Russians began rebuilding and the current Town hall was built in a classical style between 1823-1824.

Religious communities

For some time the town of Piaseczno had a diverse religious community.

As stated above, the Jewish community was deported to the Warsaw Ghetto in 1940.

Piaseczno was the seat of a Hasidic dynasty founded by Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapiro, currently maintained by his extended family in Israel.

Modern Landmarks

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Piaseczno is twinned with:

Notes and references

  1. 1 2 E. i W. Bagińscy, Szkice z dziejów Miasta Piaseczna, wyd. OK Piaseczno, 2004, p 5-6.
  2. ↑ The statistical data compiled on the basis of "Glossary of 2,077 Jewish towns in Poland" by Virtual Shtetl Museum of the History of the Polish Jews  (English), as well as "Getta Żydowskie," by Gedeon,  (Polish) and "Ghetto List" by Michael Peters at www.deathcamps.org/occupation/ghettolist.htm  (English). Accessed July 12, 2011.
  3. ↑ "The War Against The Jews." The Holocaust Chronicle, 2009. Chicago, Il. Accessed June 21, 2011.
  4. ↑ Warsaw Ghetto, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), Washington, D.C.
  5. ↑ Richard C. Lukas, Out of the Inferno: Poles Remember the Holocaust, University Press of Kentucky 1989 - 201 pages. Page 13; also in Richard C. Lukas, The Forgotten Holocaust: The Poles Under German Occupation, 1939-1944, University Press of Kentucky, 1986, Google Print, p.13.
  6. ↑ Gunnar S. Paulsson, "The Rescue of Jews by Non-Jews in Nazi-Occupied Poland," Journal of Holocaust Education, Vol.7, Nos.1&2, 1998, pp.19-44. Published by Frank Cass, London.
  7. ↑ Edward Victor, "Ghettos and Other Jewish Communities." Judaica Philatelic. Accessed June 20, 2011.
  8. ↑ Ewangelicyzm w Gminie Piaseczno
  9. ↑ Ewa Bagieńska, Włodzimierz Bagieński: Szkice z dziejów miasta Piaseczna. 2001

External links

Media related to Piaseczno at Wikimedia Commons

Coordinates: 52°04′N 21°01′E / 52.067°N 21.017°E / 52.067; 21.017

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, September 30, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.