Kostrzyn nad Odra
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Kostrzyn (german: Kostschin) is a town in Poland, seat of Gmina Kostrzyn in the Poznań County in the Greater Poland Voivodeship, with 8,398 inhabitants (2004).


History

As part of the region of
Greater Poland Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; german: Großpolen, sv, Storpolen, la, Polonia Maior), is a Polish historical regions, historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed ...
, i.e. the cradle of the Polish state, the area formed part of Poland since its establishment in the 10th century. It was a private church town, administratively located in the Poznań County in the Poznań Voivodeship in the Greater Poland Province. In the Second Partition of Poland, in 1793, it was annexed by Prussia. In 1807 it was regained by Poles and included within the short-lived Polish Duchy of Warsaw. Following the duchy's dissolution in 1815, it was reannexed by Prussia, and from 1871 it was also part of Germany. The populace was subjected to
Germanisation Germanisation, or Germanization, is the spread of the German language, German people, people and German culture, culture. It was a central idea of German conservative thought in the 19th and the 20th centuries, when conservatism and ethnic nationa ...
policies. Following World War I, in 1918, Poland regained independence and the Greater Poland uprising against Germany broke out, which goal was to reintegrate the town and region with reborn Poland. The town formed a
company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...
of one hundred insurgents and a platoon of nearly forty, of whom eleven were killed in the uprising. Kostrzyn was reintegrated with Poland. At the start of World War II, the town was invaded by Germany on September 10, 1939. In the following days, the Germans carried out firsts arrests, beatings, tortures and murders of local
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 ...
. On September 16, a detachment of ''
Einsatzkommando During World War II, the Nazi German ' were a sub-group of the ' (mobile killing squads) – up to 3,000 men total – usually composed of 500–1,000 functionaries of the SS and Gestapo, whose mission was to exterminate Jews, Polish intellectu ...
14'' entered Kostrzyn, then gathered all the Polish men at the Market Square and carried out beatings and selection of 100 prisoners, who were eventually sent on foot to a newly established camp in
Swarzędz Swarzędz (German: ''Schwersenz'') is a town in west-central Poland with 29,766 inhabitants. It is the seat of a mixed urban-rural commune called Gmina Swarzędz with 40,166 inhabitants. The town is situated in the Poznań metropolitan area, in ...
. That day and in the days that followed, the Germans carried out further murders of local Poles. On October 20, 1939, the Germans carried out a public execution of 28 Poles, including teachers, school principals, merchants, craftsmen, etc. It was one of many massacres of Poles committed by Germany on October 20–23 across the region in attempt to pacify and terrorize the Polish population.Rubiś, p. 59 In November 1939, the '' Hilfspolizei'' carried out further murders of local Poles.Rubiś, p. 62 In late 1939, the German police carried out first expulsions of Poles, mainly families of Poles who were murdered or deported to concentration camps during the '' Intelligenzaktion'', plus owners of workshops and better houses. Expelled Poles were deported to the
General Government The General Government (german: Generalgouvernement, pl, Generalne Gubernatorstwo, uk, Генеральна губернія), also referred to as the General Governorate for the Occupied Polish Region (german: Generalgouvernement für die be ...
in the more eastern part of German-occupied Poland. Most of the Germans responsible for the crimes against Poles in Kostrzyn fled the town before the approaching Eastern Front and escaped justice.


Economy

The
supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earli ...
chain
Biedronka Biedronka is a chain of supermarkets. It is the largest chain of discount shops in Poland with 3,283 stores as of 2022 and 70,000 employees (2022). It is owned by the Portuguese group Jerónimo Martins. The name "Biedronka" means "ladybug", and a ...
is headquartered in Kostrzyn.


References


{{Authority control Cities and towns in Greater Poland Voivodeship Poznań County