Miłoszyce is a village in the administrative district of

Gmina Jelcz-Laskowice __NOTOC__ Gmina Jelcz-Laskowice is an urban-rural gmina (administrative district) in Oława County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. Its seat is the town of Jelcz-Laskowice, which lies approximately north of Oława, and south ...

, within

Oława County __NOTOC__ Oława County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, south-western Poland. It was created on January 1, 1999 as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 199 ...

Lower Silesian Voivodeship Lower Silesian Voivodeship (, ) in southwestern Poland, is one of the 16 Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeships (provinces) into which Poland is divided. It covers an area of and has a total population of 2,899,986. It is one of the wealthiest ...

, in south-western Poland. It lies approximately north-west of

Jelcz-Laskowice Jelcz-Laskowice () is a town in Oława County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It lies approximately north of Oława, and south-east of the regional capital Wrocław, within its metropolitan area. As of 2019, the town has a ...

, north of

Oława Oława (, , ) is a historic town in south-western Poland with 33,029 inhabitants (2019). It is situated in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, within the Wrocław metropolitan area. It is the seat of Oława County and of the smaller administrative distri ...

, and south-east of the regional capital

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

History

Miłoszyce dates back to the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. The oldest known mention comes from a document of

Pope Innocent IV Pope Innocent IV (; – 7 December 1254), born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 June 1243 to his death in 1254. Fieschi was born in Genoa and studied at the universities of Parma and Bolo ...

from 1245. During

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 ...

the Germans established and operated the largest subcamp of the

Gross-Rosen concentration camp Gross-Rosen was a network of Nazi concentration camps built and operated by Nazi Germany during World War II. The main camp was located in the German village of Gross-Rosen, now the modern-day Rogoźnica in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland, di ...

in the village. Over 6,000 men, mostly

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 ...

, but also

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 ...

, the French,

Belgians Belgians ( ; ; ) are people identified with the Kingdom of Belgium, a federal state in Western Europe. As Belgium is a multinational state, this connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural rather than ethnic. The majority ...

, the

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

Czechs The Czechs (, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavs, West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common Bohemia ...

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

Croats The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

, were imprisoned there as forced laborers. Prisoners were given very low food rations and one set of clothes for the entire period of imprisonment. Prisoners washed in group baths with cold water once every two weeks, also in freezing conditions, which led to the deaths of many of them. There were terrible sanitary conditions in the camp. In total, around 2,000 people died there. In January 1945 the Germans evacuated most prisoners to Gross-Rosen in a "death march", in which around 1,000 prisoners died, also as a result of executions and cold. Around 300 ill prisoners were left in the camp hospital, where they liberated by the Soviets on 23 January 1945.

Gallery

Former German Arbeitslager in Miłoszyce.jpg, Place of the former Nazi German concentration camp with barracks for prisoners built in 1944 in the background on the left Memorial to victims of German Arbeitslager in Miłoszyce.jpg, Memorial on the grave of victims of the local subcamp of Gross-Rosen Miłoszyce Kapliczka przydrozna.jpg, Wayside shrine commemorating the Lwów Oath of 1656 Miłoszyce Cmentarz 1830r - Kaplica w formie Panteonu 2.jpg, Cemetery chapel

References

Villages in Oława County {{Oława-geo-stub