Żalno is a village in the administrative district of
Gmina Kęsowo, within
Tuchola County,
Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-central Poland.
It lies approximately north-east of
Kęsowo, west of
Tuchola
Tuchola (german: Tuchel; csb, Tëchòlô) is a town in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship in northern Poland. The Pomeranian town, which is the seat of Tuchola County, had a population of 13,418 .
Geographical location
Tuchola lies about n ...
, and north of
Bydgoszcz
Bydgoszcz ( , , ; german: Bromberg) is a city in northern Poland, straddling the meeting of the River Vistula with its left-bank tributary, the Brda. With a city population of 339,053 as of December 2021 and an urban agglomeration with more ...
.
The village has a population of 851.
History
Żalno was a private village of the Żaliński
noble family of
Poraj coat of arms
Poraj is a Polish Coat of Arms. Used by several knighthood families of medieval Poland and noble families of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth - those descended in the male-line from the Poraj family and those allowed into the heraldic clan b ...
, administratively located in the Tuchola County in the
Pomeranian Voivodeship
Pomeranian Voivodeship, Pomorskie Region, or Pomerania Province (Polish: ''Województwo pomorskie'' ; ( Kashubian: ''Pòmòrsczé wòjewództwò'' ), is a voivodeship, or province, in northwestern Poland. The provincial capital is Gdańsk.
The ...
of the
Kingdom of Poland. It was annexed by
Prussia in the
First Partition of Poland in 1772. Following
World War I, Poland regained independence and control of the village.
During the
German occupation of Poland (
World War II), Żalno was one of the sites of executions of
Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Ce ...
, carried out by the Germans in 1939 as part of the ''
Intelligenzaktion''. Polish farmers from Żalno were also among the victims of large massacres of Poles from the region, perpetrated by the ''
Selbstschutz'' in 1939 in nearby
Rudzki Most
Rudzki Most (, german: Rudabrück/Raudenbrück) is a district of Tuchola, Poland, located in the south-eastern part of the town, along the west bank of the Brda River. It is on the edge of the Tuchola Landscape Park, and was incorporated into th ...
. In 1941, the occupiers carried out
expulsions of Poles, who then were deported to
forced labour
Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...
in
Germany, while their houses were handed over to
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
colonists as part of the ''
Lebensraum'' policy. Further expulsions of Polish inhabitants were carried out in 1942 and 1943, and the Poles were deported to the
Potulice concentration camp
Potulice concentration camp (german: UWZ Lager Lebrechtsdorf– Potulitz) was a concentration camp established and operated by Nazi Germany during World War II in Potulice near Nakło in the territory of occupied Poland. Until the spring of 1941 i ...
, and some were eventually sent to forced labour in Germany.
[Wardzyńska (2017), pp. 122, 135]
References
Villages in Tuchola County
{{Tuchola-geo-stub