Błonie is a town in

Warsaw West County __NOTOC__ The Warsaw West County ( pl, powiat warszawski zachodni) is a county in Masovian Voivodeship, located in the east-central Poland, with its seat of government located in Ożarów Mazowiecki. Other towns located in the county are: Łomia ...

Masovian Voivodeship The Masovian Voivodeship, also known as the Mazovia Province ( pl, województwo mazowieckie ) is a voivodeship (province) in east-central Poland, with its capital located in the city of Warsaw, which also serves as the capital of the country. Th ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, with a population of 12,058 as of December 2021.

History

The settlement dates back to the 8th century. It was first mentioned in the 11th century, and already in the 12th century constituted a sizeable settlement with the first church founded in 1257 by Duke

Konrad II of Masovia Konrad II of Czersk (pl: ''Konrad II czerski''; c. 1250 – 24 June/21 October 1294 assumed that both dates are equally likely), was a Polish prince member of the House of Piast, Duke of Masovia during 1264-1275 jointly with his brother, after 12 ...

. The church built in the Early Gothic style exists to this day, although rebuilt several times. The town rights were granted to Błonie by Duke Władysław of

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

on 2 May 1338.

Gmina The gmina (Polish: , plural ''gminy'' , from German ''Gemeinde'' meaning ''commune'') is the principal unit of the administrative division of Poland, similar to a municipality. , there were 2,477 gminas throughout the country, encompassing over ...

Błonie
The History of Błonie.
Oficjalny serwis internetowy Miasta i Gminy Błonie. Błonie was a royal town of Poland and a county seat in the

in the

Greater Poland Province of the Polish Crown , subdivision = Province , nation = Poland , year_start = , event_end = Third Partition of Poland , year_end = , image_map = Prowincje I RP.svg , image_map_capt ...

. In the 16th century Błonie was a prosperous town, especially known for shoemaking and brewing. Five annual fairs were held in the town. The town was granted new royal privileges in 1580 and 1688. One of two main routes connecting

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...

and

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth lar ...

ran through the town in the 18th century and Kings

Augustus II the Strong Augustus II; german: August der Starke; lt, Augustas II; in Saxony also known as Frederick Augustus I – Friedrich August I (12 May 16701 February 1733), most commonly known as Augustus the Strong, was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as Ki ...

and

Augustus III of Poland Augustus III ( pl, August III Sas, lt, Augustas III; 17 October 1696 5 October 1763) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1733 until 1763, as well as Elector of Saxony in the Holy Roman Empire where he was known as Frederick Augu ...

often traveled that route. In 1794, during the

Kościuszko Uprising The Kościuszko Uprising, also known as the Polish Uprising of 1794 and the Second Polish War, was an uprising against the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia led by Tadeusz Kościuszko in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Pr ...

, Poles led by

Stanisław Mokronowski Stanisław Mokronowski (1761-1821) was a prominent member of the Polish landed gentry of Bogoria coat of arms. A general of the Polish Army and a royal Chamberlain Mokronowski took part in both the Polish–Russian War of 1792 (War in the Defenc ...

won the Battle of Błonie against

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was '' de facto'' dissolved by an ...

World War II

During the Nazi German

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

at the onset of World War II, the unit of ''

Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler The 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler or SS Division Leibstandarte, abbreviated as LSSAH, (german: 1. SS-Panzerdivision "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler") began as Adolf Hitler's personal bodyguard unit, responsible for guarding ...

'' murdered 50 civilians (mostly Jews) on the outskirts of Błonie in a single mass execution, on '' (pl)'' of 18 September 1939. In 1939, the Germans established a transit camp for Polish

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...

in the town, and later also a

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 e ...

camp. The Polish resistance movement was active in the town's vicinity. German authorities established a Jewish ghetto in Błonie in December 1940,The statistical data compiled on the basis o
"Glossary of 2,077 Jewish towns in Poland"
by ''

Virtual Shtetl The Virtual Shtetl ( pl, Wirtualny Sztetl) is a bilingual Polish-English portal of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw, devoted to the Jewish history of Poland. History The Virtual Shtetl website was officially launched on June 1 ...

'' Museum of the History of the Polish Jews , as well a
"Getta Żydowskie," by ''Gedeon''
and "Ghetto List" by Michael Peters at www.deathcamps.org/occupation/ghettolist.htm . Accessed July 12, 2011. in order to confine the

Jewish population As of 2020, the world's "core" Jewish population (those identifying as Jews above all else) was estimated at 15 million, 0.2% of the 8 billion worldwide population. This number rises to 18 million with the addition of the "connected" Jewish pop ...

of the town for the purpose of persecution, terror, and exploitation. "The War Against The Jews."
''The Holocaust Chronicle,'' 2009. Chicago, Il. Accessed June 21, 2011. The ghetto was liquidated in February 1941, when all its remaining 2,100 Jewish inhabitants were transported aboard the

Holocaust train Holocaust trains were railway transports run by the ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'' national railway system under the control of Nazi Germany and its allies, for the purpose of forcible deportation of the Jews, as well as other victims of the Holocaus ...

to the

Warsaw Ghetto The Warsaw Ghetto (german: Warschauer Ghetto, officially , "Jewish Residential District in Warsaw"; pl, getto warszawskie) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the ...

, the largest ghetto in all of German-occupied Europe, with over 400,000 Jews crammed into an area of (meaning that every person had less than an area 9 feet by 10 feet in which to sleep, eat and walk around the ghetto), or 7.2 persons per room.Warsaw Ghetto

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust his ...

(USHMM),

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

By the time Poland was liberated from German occupation, not a single Jewish ghetto remained. 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
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.Edward Victor
"Ghettos and Other Jewish Communities."
''Judaica Philatelic''. Accessed June 20, 2011.

Transport

Błonie railway station, opened in 1902 on the Warsaw–Kalisz Railway, is served by

Koleje Mazowieckie Masovian Railways, in Polish Koleje Mazowieckie, is a regional rail operator in the Masovian Voivodeship of Poland. History The company was founded in 2004 as a joint venture of the Masovian Voivodeship, with 51% shares, and the, then governmen ...

, who run services between

Kutno Kutno is a city located in central Poland with 42,704 inhabitants (2021) and an area of . Situated in the Łódź Voivodeship since 1999, previously it was part of Płock Voivodeship (1975–1998) and it is now the capital of Kutno County. Du ...

and

Warszawa Wschodnia Warszawa Wschodnia, in English Warsaw East, is one of the most important railway stations in Warsaw, Poland. Its more official name is ''Warszawa Wschodnia Osobowa'' (translated as ''Warsaw East Passenger''). It is located on the eastern side of th ...

Sports

The local

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ca ...

club is . It competes in the lower leagues.

International relations

Twin towns - sister cities

Błonie is twinned with: * Coreno Ausonio, Italy

References

External links

Official website

Jewish Community of Błonie
on

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blonie Cities and towns in Masovian Voivodeship Masovian Voivodeship (1526–1795) Warsaw Voivodeship (1919–1939) Warsaw West County Holocaust locations in Poland Nazi war crimes in Poland Populated places established in the 8th century