Krasowo-Częstki is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

in the administrative district of Gmina Nowe Piekuty, within

Wysokie Mazowieckie County __NOTOC__ Wysokie Mazowieckie County ( pl, powiat wysokomazowiecki) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Podlaskie Voivodeship, north-eastern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Pol ...

, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern

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 ...

History

Following the joint German-Soviet

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 ...

, which started

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 opposing ...

in September 1939, the village was first

occupied ' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October ...

by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

until 1941, and then by Germany until 1944. On 13 July 1943, a battle between the German gendarmerie and a unit of the Polish

Home Army The Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK; ) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) est ...

was fought near the village. On 17 July 1943, Nazi Germans pacified the village, murdering 257 Polish citizens, including 83 children under the age of 17, and burning down their properties. This was the triggering event for the

Raid on Mittenheide In mid-August 1943 a Polish unit of the Uderzeniowe Bataliony Kadrowe (English: ''Striking Cadre Battalions'', ''UBK''), which was controlled by the resistance organization Konfederacja Narodu, organized armed attack on East Prussian villages i ...

References

Villages in Wysokie Mazowieckie County Massacres of Poles Nazi war crimes in Poland {{WysokieMazowieckie-geo-stub