Beniaminów is a village in central Poland, administratively located in the
Legionowo County
__NOTOC__
Legionowo County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Masovian Voivodeship, east-central Poland. It came into being on 1 January 1999 as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998 ...
in the
Masovian Voivodeship
Masovian Voivodeship or Mazowieckie Province (, ) and any variation thereof, is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) in east-central Poland, containing Poland's capital Warsaw.
Masovian Voivodeship has an area of and had a 2019 po ...
. It is located east of
Warsaw
Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
, between
Legionowo and
Nieporęt within the
Warsaw metropolitan area
The Warsaw metropolitan area (known in Polish language, Polish as: or ) is the metropolitan area of Warsaw, the capital of Poland. The metropolitan area covers ten List of counties in Poland, counties in the Masovian Voivodeship, with an area ...
.
History
Within the village are remnants of a 19th-century fort.
During
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, in 1917, after the
Oath Crisis
The Oath crisis (; German language, German: ''Eidkrise'') was a World War I political conflict between the Imperial German Army command and the Józef Piłsudski-led Polish Legions in World War I, Polish Legions.
Initially supporting the Central P ...
, members of the
Polish Legions who had refused to swear an
oath of loyalty to the German Emperor were interned there by the German occupiers.
Following the joint German-Soviet
invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...
, which started
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
in September 1939, Beniaminów was
occupied by Germany. In 1942, the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
ran the Stalag 368
prisoner-of-war camp
A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as Prisoner of war, prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war.
There are significant differences among POW camps, inte ...
for
Soviet POWs, notably many of non-Russian origin, e.g.
Georgians
Georgians, or Kartvelians (; ka, ქართველები, tr, ), are a nation and Peoples of the Caucasus, Caucasian ethnic group native to present-day Georgia (country), Georgia and surrounding areas historically associated with the Ge ...
,
Belarusians
Belarusians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Belarus. They natively speak Belarusian language, Belarusian, an East Slavic language. More than 9 million people proclaim Belarusian ethnicity worldwide. Nearly 7.99&n ...
,
Uzbeks
The Uzbeks () are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, being among the largest Turkic ethnic groups in the area. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, next to Kazakhs, Kazakh and Karakalpaks, Karakalpak ...
, in the village.
In 1943, the Germans relocated the Stalag 333 POW camp from
Komorowo to Beniaminów.
[Megargee; Overmans; Vogt, p. 329] It housed
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
and Soviet POWs.
[ More than 30,000 POWs died from harsh treatment and malnutrition. In January 1944, it was converted into the Oflag 73 POW camp for Italian, Soviet, Romanian and Polish officers.][Megargee; Overmans; Vogt, p. 224] Among the Poles was General Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski.[
]
References
Villages in Legionowo County
{{Legionowo-geo-stub