Fordon, is a district in

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, located in the north-eastern part of the city, with some 75,000 inhabitants. Currently, Fordon is the biggest district of Bydgoszcz.

House estates

Fordon is subdivided into 16 house estates: * Stary Fordon * Akademickie * Bajka * Bohaterów * Eskulapa * Kasztelanka * Łoskoń * Mariampol * Nad Wisłą * Niepodległości * Pałcz * Powiśle * Przylesie * Szybowników * Tatrzańskie * Zofin

History

A settlement in place of Fordon is mentioned in sources for the first time in 1112 as . In those times there was located an important defensive castle which was eventually fired and destroyed in 1330 by the Teutonic Knights. Fordon was a royal town of the Kingdom of Poland, administratively located in the Bydgoszcz County in the

Inowrocław Voivodeship Inowrocław Voivodeship () was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland from the 14th century to the First Partition of Poland in 1772. Together with the neighbouring Brześć Kujawski Voivodeship it was part of the Kuyavia ...

in the Greater Poland Province. In the

Partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partition (politics), partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the eli ...

it was annexed by

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

. In 1807, Fordon was regained by Poles and included in the short-lived

Duchy of Warsaw The Duchy of Warsaw (; ; ), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a First French Empire, French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during the Napoleonic Wars. It initially comprised the ethnical ...

. After the dissolution of the duchy in 1815, it was re-annexed by Prussia, and included within the semi-autonomous

Grand Duchy of Posen The Grand Duchy of Posen (; ) was part of the Kingdom of Prussia, created from Prussian Partition, territories annexed by Prussia after the Partitions of Poland, and formally established following the Congress of Vienna in 1815. On 9 February 1 ...

. It was returned to Poland at the end of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Following the German

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

, which started

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in September 1939, it was occupied and annexed by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. It is estimated that during the war, German soldiers killed from 1,200 to 3,000 people, mainly

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

and

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, in a place now known as the Valley of Death. The exact number stays unknown as historians have not found appropriate documents that would state the final number of deaths. In 1945 Fordon was liberated from German occupation. In 1950 Fordon was still a separate town from Bydgoszcz. At that time it was described as "seven miles east" of the latter city. It had a population of 3,514 people and manufactured such things as cement and paper.''Columbia-Lippincott Gazetteer'', p. 626 In 1973 Fordon became a part of the city of Bydgoszcz. The prison in Fordon was established in 1780 and changed into a men's/women's prison several times. From 1939-1956 among others, there were kept and killed 180 Ukrainian women in the prison. A memorial plaque was placed on the prison on May 10, 1992.

Buildings and places

* Valley of Death *

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

Saint Nicholas church *

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

Saint John the Evangelist church * Fordon Bridge * Centre of Oncology (Hospital) * Synagogue from 17th century * Prison * Millennium Park

Education

Universities * Wyższa Szkoła Informatyki - Ulica Fordońska 246 * Wyższa Szkoła Informatyki i Przedsiębiorczości w Bydgoszczy - Ulica Unii Lubelskiej * Uniwersytet Kazimierza Wielkiego - Ulica Przemysłowa 34 * Politechnika Bydgoska im. Jana i Jędzrzeja Śniadeckich - Ulica Kaliskiego 7 High Schools * Liceum Ogólnokształcące nr XIII (Zespoł Szkół nr 3) - Ulica Łowicka 45 * Liceum Ogólnokształcące nr XV (Zespoł Szkół nr 5) - Ulica Berlinga 13 * Liceum Ogólnokształcące nr XVI (Zespół Szkół Odzieżowych) - Ulica Fordońska 430 * Liceum Ogólnokształcące Towarzystwa Salezjańskiego - Ulica Pod Reglami 1 Primary Schools * Primary School nr 27 - Ulica Sielska 34 * Primary School nr 29 - Ulica Gawedy 5 * Primary School nr 4 - Ulica Wyzwolenia 4 * Primary School nr 43 - Ulica Łowicka 45 * Primary School 65 (filia) - Ulica Rzeźniackiego 7 * Primary School 65 - Ulica Duracza 7 * Primary School nr 66 - Ulica Berlinga 3 * Primary School nr 67 - Ulica Kromera 11 * Primary School nr 9 - Ulica Tatrzanska 21 * Szkoła Podstawowa Towarzystwa Salezjańskiego - Ulica Salezjańska 1

References

Sources

"Kujawsko-pomorskie dla każdego. Przewodnik turystyczny po najciekawszych miejscach województwa" Włodzimierz Bykowski, Wieńczysław Bykowski, wyd. Apeiron & Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Dolnej Wisły , Bydgoszcz 2005 My Odyssey "Моя Одисея" Irena Tymoszko-Kaminska, Chicago 2005 page 286, , Oficyna Wydawnicza UKAR 02-588 Warszawa 48, skr.poczt.156

External links

Fordon website
{{Authority control Neighbourhoods in Bydgoszcz Populated places on the Vistula Holocaust locations in Poland Sites of World War II massacres of Poles