Sochaczew () is a town in central Poland, with 38,300 inhabitants (2004). In the
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 ...
(since 1999), formerly in
Skierniewice Voivodeship
Skierniewice Voivodeship () was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland from 1975 to 1998, superseded by Łódź Voivodeship and Masovian Voivodeship. Its capital city was Skierniewice.
Major cities and towns (population ...
(1975–1998). It is the capital of
Sochaczew County
__NOTOC__
Sochaczew County ( pl, powiat sochaczewski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Masovian Voivodeship, east-central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local governm ...
.
Sochaczew has a
narrow-gauge railway
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard-gauge railway, standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum r ...
museum with a line that runs as far as
Wilcze Tułowskie
Wilcze Tułowskie 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 typ ...
. 750 mm-gauge steam trains run on the line on Saturdays from spring to the end of summer.
History
Sochaczew was first mentioned in documents from 1138, when the Duke of Poland
Bolesław III Wrymouth
Bolesław III Wrymouth ( pl, Bolesław III Krzywousty; 20 August 1086 – 28 October 1138), also known as Boleslaus the Wry-mouthed, was the duke of Lesser Poland, Silesia and Sandomierz between 1102 and 1107 and over the whole of Poland between ...
died at a local
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
monastery. By 1221 Sochaczew had already been an important center of administration, and a seat of a
castellan
A castellan is the title used in Medieval Europe for an appointed official, a governor of a castle and its surrounding territory referred to as the castellany. The title of ''governor'' is retained in the English prison system, as a remnant o ...
, who lived in a defensive
gord. The town prospered due to its location at the intersection of main merchant routes (from
Kalisz
(The oldest city of Poland)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = ''Top:'' Town Hall, Former "Calisia" Piano Factory''Middle:'' Courthouse, "Gołębnik" tenement''Bottom:'' Aerial view of the Kalisz Old Town
, image_flag = POL Kalisz flag.svg ...
to
Ciechanów
Ciechanów is a city in north-central Poland. From 1975 to 1998, it was the capital of the Ciechanów Voivodeship. Since 1999, it has been situated in the Masovian Voivodeship. As of December 2021, it has a population of 43,495.
History
The se ...
, and from
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 officia ...
to
Poznań
Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...
). In the first half of the 13th century, construction of two churches began; both were completed and consecrated by the
Bishop of Płock
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
in 1257.
Some time in the mid-14th century, Duke
Siemowit III, Duke of Masovia
Siemowit III of Masovia (his name also rendered Ziemowit; – 1381) was a prince of Masovia and a co-regent (with his brother Casimir I of Warsaw) of the lands of Warsaw, Czersk, Rawa, Gostynin and other parts of Masovia.
Life
Siemowit wa ...
held here a meeting of Mazovian dukes and notables. It is not known when Sochaczew received its town charter; by 1368 it had already been a town (civitas). After the death of Duke Siemowit VII, Sochaczew was on February 4, 1476 reintegrated directly with the
Kingdom of Poland
The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to:
Historical political entities
*Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031
*Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exist ...
as a reverted fief. King
Casimir IV Jagiellon
Casimir IV (in full Casimir IV Andrew Jagiellon; pl, Kazimierz IV Andrzej Jagiellończyk ; Lithuanian: ; 30 November 1427 – 7 June 1492) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447, until his death. He was one of the ...
granted several
privileges to the town, including the right to hold annual
fair
A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks.
Types
Variations of fairs incl ...
s, on the second Sunday after Easter. Sochaczew was famous for its craftsmen, the town also had a royal mill. In 1478 the building of two churches was completed and in 1487 a hospital was built. At the same time, the town frequently burned in several fires (1461, 1506, 1539, 1590, 1618, and 1644). Sochaczew was a
royal town of Poland, administratively located in the
Rawa Voivodeship
Rawa Voivodeship () was a unit of administrative division and local government in the Kingdom of Poland since 15th century until the partitions of Poland in 1795. It was part of the Province of Greater Poland. Together with the Plock and Masovian ...
in the
Greater Poland Province.
In 1570, the population of Sochaczew was about 3,000, with 211 craftsmen, 17 merchants and shopkeepers, and 394 buildings. The town had a wooden defensive wall, and its wooden bridge over the
Bzura
The Bzura is a river in central Poland, a tributary of the Vistula river (in Wyszogród), with a length of 173 kilometres and a basin area of 7,764 km2.Wyszogród
Wyszogród is a town in central Poland, in Masovian Voivodeship, in Płock County, by the Vistula River. The population of Wyszogród was 2,793 in 2004.
History
The settlement dates back to the 7th century, when there was a Slavic pagan templ ...
. The end of prosperity was marked by the great fire of July 1590, in which one-third of all buildings burned to the ground. By 1618, the number of buildings shrank to 110. In the same year, another fire destroyed half of the town. Further destruction was brought by
Swedish invasion of Poland
The Deluge ( pl, potop szwedzki, lt, švedų tvanas) was a series of mid-17th-century military campaigns in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In a wider sense it applies to the period between the Khmelnytsky Uprising of 1648 and the Truce ...
. Sochaczew was captured by Swedes on September 5, 1655. After five years of fighting, only 13 inhabited houses remained in the town in 1661.
A route 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 officia ...
with
Poznań
Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...
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 larg ...
ran through the town in the 18th century and King
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 Aug ...
often traveled that route. Sochaczew did not recover until the late 18th century, when several new houses were built. Following the
Second Partition of Poland
The 1793 Second Partition of Poland was the second of three partitions (or partial annexations) that ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. The second partition occurred in the aftermath of the Polish–Russian War ...
(1793), the town was annexed by the
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Re ...
. Its population at that time was about 1,100, including 990
Jews
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 ...
. The town had 148 inhabited houses, but most of them were neglected and dilapidated.
In 1807 Sochaczew became part of the newly formed
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 ...
; several months later the town almost completely burned. In 1815, after the dissolution of the duchy, the town was transferred to newly formed
Russian-controlled Congress Poland
Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It w ...
. On January 16, 1817, the District of Sochaczew was created, with its seat in
Łowicz
Łowicz is a town in central Poland with 27,896 inhabitants (2020). It is situated in the Łódź Voivodeship (since 1999); previously, it was in Skierniewice Voivodeship (1975–1998). Together with a nearby station of Bednary, Łowicz is a ma ...
. In August 1818 Sochaczew burned again, after that fire, the center of the town was rebuilt (1819–1823), and the market square was paved. By 1828, the population grew to 3,200, out of which 76% was Jewish. The area of Sochaczew saw several skirmishes 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 ...
. In 1867, the County of Sochaczew was created, but the town, due to its mostly wooden architecture, burned in several fires. In 1903, Sochaczew received rail connection with
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 officia ...
, and by 1908, its population grew to almost 10,000. On December 2, 1913,
art silk Artificial silk or art silk is any synthetic fiber which resembles silk, but typically costs less to produce. Frequently, "artificial silk" is just a synonym for rayon. When made out of bamboo viscose it is also sometimes called bamboo silk.
The ...
plant was opened by a Belgian investor in the district of Boryszew.
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 ...
had catastrophic consequences for Sochaczew. On October 5, 1914, after a bloody battle, the town was captured by Germans, who burned it completely, together with the Boryszew plant. From December 1914 until July 1915, fierce Russian – German fighting took place along the Bzura and
Rawka rivers. The residents of Sochaczew fled from the destroyed town, returning in the summer of 1915, when Germans took control of it.
A
Lubok
A ''lubok'' (plural ''lubki'', Cyrillic: russian: лубо́к, лубо́чная картинка) is a Russian popular print, characterized by simple graphics and narratives derived from literature, religious stories, and popular tales. Lubki ...
popular print from this period illustrating the fighting bears the caption, "A brave detachment of Cossacks destroyed German hussars near Sochaczew."
Following the war, in 1918, Poland regained independence as the
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...
, and Sochaczew belonged to Poland since. The town was completely destroyed, and its impoverished population built wooden houses. The Boryszew plant was rebuilt, together with rail stations and its facilities. In 1927, construction of a textile plant began in the district of Chodaków. The town was rebuilt and partly electrified. By 1931, its population grew to almost 11,000, also due to expansion of the town limits by including adjacent settlements, such as Boryszew and Rozlazłów. Roman Catholics made 71% of population.
World War II
![Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-012-0037-23A, Polen, Straßenkampf, Infanterie](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-012-0037-23A%2C_Polen%2C_Stra%C3%9Fenkampf%2C_Infanterie.jpg)
On September 3, 1939, at the very beginning of the 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 ...
, 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 opposin ...
, Sochaczew was bombed by the
Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
. On September 9, first
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...
units entered the town, where they remained until early September 13, when Germans were pushed out by the
Polish Army
The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stret ...
, during the
Battle of the Bzura
The Battle of the Bzura (or the Battle of Kutno) was the largest Polish counter-attack of the German invasion of Poland and was fought from 9 to 19 September.''The Second World War: An Illustrated History '', Putnam, 1975, Google Print snippet ...
. Due to German artillery fire, Poles abandoned Sochaczew on September 14–15, after a fierce and bloody battle. As a result of fighting there was widespread destruction in the town. On September 22 in the district of Boryszew, German troops massacred 50
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
prisoners of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, 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 priso ...
(see also ''
Nazi crimes against the Polish nation
Crimes against the Polish nation committed by Nazi Germany and Axis collaborationist forces during the invasion of Poland, along with auxiliary battalions during the subsequent occupation of Poland in World War II, consisted of the murder of ...
'').
13 Polish policemen from Sochaczew were murdered by the Russians in
Tver
Tver ( rus, Тверь, p=tvʲerʲ) is a city and the administrative centre of Tver Oblast, Russia. It is northwest of Moscow. Population:
Tver was formerly the capital of a powerful medieval state and a model provincial town in the Russian ...
in April–May 1940 as part of the large
Katyn massacre
The Katyn massacre, "Katyń crime"; russian: link=yes, Катынская резня ''Katynskaya reznya'', "Katyn massacre", or russian: link=no, Катынский расстрел, ''Katynsky rasstrel'', "Katyn execution" was a series of m ...
.
German forces remained in Sochaczew until January 17, 1945, when the town was captured by the
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
, and then restored to Poland. In the war, Sochaczew lost over 4,000 residents, including 100% of its Jewish population, and 40% of its buildings were destroyed.
Museums
![Muzeum Ziemi Sochaczewskiej](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Muzeum_Ziemi_Sochaczewskiej.jpg)
Sochaczew has three museums.
* Muzeum Ziemi Sochaczewskiej i Pola Bitwy nad Bzurą (historic museum which has militaria from the battle that was in Sochaczew by the river
Bzura
The Bzura is a river in central Poland, a tributary of the Vistula river (in Wyszogród), with a length of 173 kilometres and a basin area of 7,764 km2.Narrow Gauge Railway Museum in Sochaczew
Narrow Gauge Railway Museum in Sochaczew (Polish: ''Muzeum Kolei Wąskotorowej w Sochaczewie'') is a -gauge heritage railway based at Sochaczew in Poland, about west of Warsaw. The museum's headquarters are that of the former Sochaczew County ...
") is a -gauge
heritage railway
A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...
. It was formerly the Sochaczewska Kolej Powiatowa ("Sochaczew County Narrow Gauge Railway"). It has a fleet of historic
steam
Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...
,
diesel
Diesel may refer to:
* Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression
* Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines
* Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...
and
electric locomotive
An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime movers, such as diesel engines or gas ...
s,
goods wagon
Goods wagons or freight wagons (North America: freight cars), also known as goods carriages, goods trucks, freight carriages or freight trucks, are unpowered railway vehicles that are used for the transportation of cargo. A variety of wagon type ...
s,
passenger car
A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods.
The year 1886 is regarded as ...
s and
draisine
A draisine () is a light auxiliary rail vehicle, driven by service personnel, equipped to transport crew and material necessary for the maintenance of railway infrastructure.
The eponymous term is derived from the German inventor Baron Karl Dr ...
s.
*
Fryderyk Chopin's Museum and House in Żelazowa Wola
Transport
![Autobus 7 ZKM Sochaczew](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/Autobus_7_ZKM_Sochaczew.jpg)
Sochaczew is located at the intersection of Polish National roads
50 and
92 and
Voivodeship road
According to classes and categories of public roads in Poland, a voivodeship road ( pl, droga wojewódzka) is a category of roads one step below national roads in importance. The roads are numbered from 100 to 993. Total length of voivodeship r ...
s 580 and 705. The
A2 motorway runs nearby, south of the town. There is also a train station in the town.
Sports
The town's most notable sports clubs are
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
team , which competes in the
Ekstraliga (Poland's top division), and
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 ...
team , which competes in the lower leagues.
![Szkoła Muzyczna w Sochaczewie2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Szko%C5%82a_Muzyczna_w_Sochaczewie2.jpg)
Notable people
*
Fryderyk Chopin
The Fryderyk is the annual award in Polish music. Its name refers to the original Polish spelling variant of Polish composer Frédéric Chopin's first name. Its status in the Polish public can be compared to the American Grammy and the UK's BRI ...
– composer and pianist (1810–49) born in
Żelazowa Wola
Żelazowa Wola () is a village in Gmina Sochaczew, Sochaczew County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It lies on the Utrata River, some northeast of Sochaczew and west of Warsaw. Żelazowa Wola has a population of 65.
The village i ...
,
gmina Sochaczew
__NOTOC__
Gmina Sochaczew is a rural gmina (administrative district) in Sochaczew County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. Its seat is the town of Sochaczew, although the town is not part of the territory of the gmina.
The gmina cove ...
*
Bogusław Liberadzki – former Polish
Minister of Transportation
A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government agen ...
,
MEP – born 1948 in Sochaczew
*
Avrohom Bornsztain
Avrohom Bornsztain (14 October 1838 – 7 February 1910), also spelled Avraham Borenstein or Bernstein, was a leading posek in late-nineteenth-century Europe and founder and first Rebbe of the Sochatchover Hasidic dynasty. He is known as the ...
– author of the Avnei Nezer, lived there and was buried there.
*
Jacek Hugo-Bader
Jacek Aleksander Hugo-Bader (born 9 March 1957 in Sochaczew) is a Polish reporter and journalist fascinated by Russia and the Post-Soviet states, former Soviet Republics. Since 1990 he has worked for the ''Gazeta Wyborcza'' newspaper.
Life and c ...
– reporter, journalist and writer.
*
Ryszard Bugaj
Ryszard Bugaj (born February 22, 1944 in Gawłów, Masovian Voivodeship) is a Polish politician and economist, former leader of Labour Union (Poland), Unia Pracy (Labour Union) and former advisor to the then president of Poland, Lech Kaczyński. ...
– economist and politician.
*
Zeev Scheinwald
Ze'ev ( he, זאב \ זְאֵב ''zeév''), also spelled Zeev or Zev, is a name of Hebrew origin which means wolf. The given name is a masculine form used among Ashkenazi Jews. It is a Biblical name, adapted from a reference to Benjamin in Gene ...
- building contractor, philanthropist and author of Wolf. A Story of Hate, published by
Amsterdam Publishers
Amsterdam Publishers is the largest publisher of Holocaust memoirs in Europe. It was founded in 2012 by Dutch art historian Liesbeth Heenk. Since 2019 it focuses on Holocaust-related literature.
History
Amsterdam Publishers started publishing ...
, 2020
References
External links
Sochaczewe-SochaczewsochaczewianinSochaczew24Museum of Sochaczew County and Bzura's BattlefieldSochaczew Yizkor (Holocaust Memorial) Book(Yiddish & Hebrew)
Jewish Community in Sochaczewon Virtual Shtetl
{{Authority control
Cities and towns in Masovian Voivodeship
Sochaczew County
Rawa Voivodeship
Warsaw Governorate
Warsaw Voivodeship (1919–1939)
Nazi war crimes in Poland
World War II prisoner of war massacres by Nazi Germany