Kałuszyn is a town in

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 populous ...

, seat of the Gmina Kałuszyn (commune) in

Mińsk County __NOTOC__ Mińsk County ( pl, powiat miński) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Masovian Voivodeship, east-central Poland. It was (re)created on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government re ...

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. The ...

History

In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, a

filial church A filial church, in the Roman Catholic Church, is a church to which is annexed the cure of souls, but which remains dependent on another church. The term comes from the Latin ''filialis'', from ''filia'', “daughter”. Description The term ''fili ...

of the Catholic parish in Grębków was built. In 1472, it was upgraded to a parish church. In the 17th century, a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

community was established. In 1718, Kałuszyn was granted

town rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

by King

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 ...

thanks to efforts of local nobleman Opacki. Kałuszyn was a

private town A private town is a town owned by a private person or a family. History of Private Towns in Poland In the history of Poland, private towns (''miasta prywatne'') were towns within the lands owned by magnates, bishops, knights, princes, etc. A ...

, owned by several

noble families Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characterist ...

, including the houses of Opacki, Rudziński, Rożniecki and

Zamoyski The House of Zamoyski (plural: Zamoyscy) is the name of an important Polish noble (szlachta) family, which used the Jelita coat of arms. It is the Polish term for "de Zamość" (Polish "z Zamościa"), the name they originally held as lords of Z ...

. Administratively it was located in the Liw County in the

in the Greater Poland Province. The town was annexed by

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

in the

Third Partition of Poland The Third Partition of Poland (1795) was the last in a series of the Partitions of Poland–Lithuania and the land of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth among Prussia, the Habsburg monarchy, and the Russian Empire which effectively ended Polish ...

in 1795. Following the

Austro–Polish War The Austro-Polish War or Polish-Austrian War was a part of the War of the Fifth Coalition in 1809 (a coalition of the Austrian Empire and the United Kingdom against Napoleon's French Empire and Bavaria). In this war, Polish forces of the N ...

of 1809, it was regained by Poles and included within the short-lived

Duchy of Warsaw The Duchy of Warsaw ( pl, Księstwo Warszawskie, french: Duché de Varsovie, german: Herzogtum Warschau), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during ...

. Following the duchy's dissolution in 1815, the town fell to the

Russian Partition The Russian Partition ( pl, zabór rosyjski), sometimes called Russian Poland, constituted the former territories of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that were annexed by the Russian Empire in the course of late-18th-century Partitions of Po ...

of Poland. Russian anti-Jewish repressions and laws resulted in an influx of Jews (see ''

Pale of Settlement The Pale of Settlement (russian: Черта́ осе́длости, '; yi, דער תּחום-המושבֿ, '; he, תְּחוּם הַמּוֹשָב, ') was a western region of the Russian Empire with varying borders that existed from 1791 to 19 ...

''), and in the 19th century, the population was predominantly Jewish. In 1827, the town had a population of 1,826, incl. 1,455 Jews (80% of the total population). It was the site of three battles between Polish insurgents and Russian troops during the Polish

November Uprising The November Uprising (1830–31), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in W ...

of 1830–1831. During the

January Uprising The January Uprising ( pl, powstanie styczniowe; lt, 1863 metų sukilimas; ua, Січневе повстання; russian: Польское восстание; ) was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at ...

, on 5 August 1863, a skirmish between Polish insurgents and Russian soldiers took place there. Russian soldiers surrounded a Polish insurgent unit, but after a short battle the Poles managed to break through the encirclement and escape towards

Podlachia Podlachia, or Podlasie, ( pl, Podlasie, , be, Падляшша, translit=Padliašša, uk, Підляшшя, translit=Pidliashshia) is a historical region in the north-eastern part of Poland. Between 1513 and 1795 it was a voivodeship with the c ...

. Following

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, in 1918, Poland regained independence and control of the town. The Jewish community numbered 6,419 (76% of the total population) in 1897; 5,033 (82%) in 1921; 7,256 (82%) in 1931; and approximately 6,500 on the eve of the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

. Economic branches included the manufacture of pottery, flour mills, prayer shawl weaving and the fur trade.Jewish Virtual Library: Kalyszyn
/ref> At the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, on 11–12 September 1939, it was the site of the

Battle of Kałuszyn The Battle of Kałuszyn, took place between 11 and 12 September 1939 around the town of Kałuszyn near Mińsk Mazowiecki in Poland. It was part of the Invasion of Poland (1939), invasion of Poland at the start of World War II between forces of the ...

between Poles and invading German troops. Poles won the battle, however the town soon fell under

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...

. Under Nazi German occupation, Jews were terrorized, robbed, and often kidnapped for

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 1940, a

ghetto A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished t ...

was established in Kałuszyn, and Jewish property was confiscated. Hundreds of Jews from surrounding communities were brought to the Kaluszyn ghetto, most with no possessions, money, or employment. Dozens, or perhaps hundreds, of Jews died in the ghetto of starvation and disease. In late summer 1942, many young Jews fled to the forests after hearing of the murders of the Jews of Warsaw and

Mińsk Mazowiecki Mińsk Mazowiecki () "''Masovian Minsk''") is a town in eastern Poland with 40,999 inhabitants (2020). It is situated in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999) and is a part of the Warsaw Agglomeration. It is the capital of Mińsk County. Locate ...

. In September 1942, assisted by the Polish police, and possibly other auxiliaries, the Germans assembled the Jews at the market square. One Polish manager, Sheradzinsky, (the Berman plant) managed to free 30 of his employees from the assembly. Hundreds were murdered there and at the Jewish cemetery. The remaining Jews were taken by train to

Treblinka Treblinka () was an extermination camp, built and operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II. It was in a forest north-east of Warsaw, south of the village of Treblinka in what is now the Masovian Voivodeship. The camp ...

where they were immediately murdered. A few managed to escape from the train.

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 c ...

club is Victoria Kałuszyn. It competes in the lower leagues.

References

External links

Jewish Community in Kałuszyn
on Virtual Shtetl Cities and towns in Masovian Voivodeship Mińsk County Warsaw Governorate Warsaw Voivodeship (1919–1939) Shtetls {{Mińsk-geo-stub