Pajęczno 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 populou ...

, in

Łódź Voivodeship Łódź Voivodeship (also known as Lodz Province, or by its Polish name ''Województwo łódzkie'' ) is a province- voivodeship in central Poland. It was created on 1 January 1999 out of the former Łódź Voivodeship (1975–1999) and the Sier ...

, about north of Częstochowa. It is the capital of

Pajęczno County __NOTOC__ Pajęczno County ( pl, powiat pajęczański) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Łódź Voivodeship, central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government r ...

(''powiat pajęczański''). Population is 6,651 (2020).

History

First mentioned in historical sources from 1140, when it was part of

Piast The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I (c. 930–992). The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of king Casimir III the Great. Branche ...

-ruled

. It had town rights between 1276 and 1870, and again from 1958. It was a royal town of the Polish Crown, administratively located in the Sieradz Voivodeship 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 ...

. 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 had been residents of Pajęczno since the late 1700s and numbered about 700 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 opposing ...

. When the Germans

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 ...

the town in September 1939, they unleashed a violent attack against the Jewish community, beginning with murder and abuse, then stripping Jews of most of their property, and in 1941, confining them to an overcrowded

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 ...

. After that, Jews were expelled to forced labour camps and then in August 1942, many were murdered in the town and most of the rest were sent to the

Chełmno extermination camp , known for = , location = Near Chełmno nad Nerem, ''Reichsgau Wartheland'' (German-occupied Poland) , built by = , operated by = , commandant = Herbert Lange, Christian Wirth , original use = , construction = , in operatio ...

where they were immediately gassed. In 1942, the Germans also expelled 312 Poles, who were deported to a transit camp in nearby

Wieluń Wieluń ( la, Velun) is a town in south-central Poland with 21,624 inhabitants (2021). Situated in the Łódź Voivodeship (since 1999), it was previously in Sieradz Voivodeship (1975–1998). Wieluń has a long and rich history. In the past, ...

and then to forced labour in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

German-occupied France The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...

. The last few dozen Jews were sent to the Lodz ghetto. Very few Pajęczno Jews survived the war. On 14 June 2019 an intoxicated man drove through the town in a

T-55 The T-54 and T-55 tanks are a series of Soviet main battle tanks introduced in the years following the Second World War. The first T-54 prototype was completed at Nizhny Tagil by the end of 1945.Steven Zaloga, T-54 and T-55 Main Battle Tank ...

tank and was arrested shortly after. The current mayor is Dariusz Tokarski.

References

External links

Website created by Pajęczno residentsOfficial town websiteNiezależny Portal Pajęczna

Cities and towns in Łódź Voivodeship Pajęczno County Sieradz Voivodeship (1339–1793) Piotrków Governorate Łódź Voivodeship (1919–1939) {{Łódź-geo-stub