Leśna Jania is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Smętowo Graniczne, within

Starogard County __NOTOC__ Starogard County ( pl, powiat starogardzki, csb, Starogarda kréj) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland. The name is a combination of two terms: stari which is ...

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 ...

, in northern Poland. It lies approximately south-west of

Smętowo Graniczne Smętowo Graniczne (german: Schmentau) is a village in Starogard County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Smętowo Graniczne. It lies approximately south of Starogar ...

, south of Starogard Gdański, and south of the regional capital

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

. It is located in the ethnocultural region of Kociewie in the historic region of Pomerania.

History

Leśna Jania was a private village of the Konopacki noble family of

Odwaga coat of arms Odwaga is a Polish coat of arms. It was used by several szlachta families in the times of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. History Blazon Notable bearers Notable bearers of this coat of arms include: * See also * Polish heraldry ...

, administratively located in the Nowe County in 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), Leśna Jania 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''. Local Poles were also among the victims of the massacres in Zajączek, perpetrated by the German gendarmerie and '' Selbstschutz'' in 1939, also as part of the ''Intelligenzaktion''.

Transport

The Polish A1 motorway runs nearby, east of the village.

References

Villages in Starogard County {{Starogard-geo-stub