Pustków Osiedle is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in the administrative district of Gmina Dębica, within Dębica County,

Subcarpathian Voivodeship Subcarpathian Voivodeship is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship, or province, in the southeastern corner of Poland. Its administrative capital and largest city is Rzeszów. Along with the Marshal, it is governed by the Subcarpathian Regional As ...

, in south-eastern Poland (historic

Lesser Poland Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name ''Małopolska'' (; ), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a separate cult ...

). It lies approximately north-east of Dębica and west of the regional capital

Rzeszów Rzeszów ( , ) is the largest city in southeastern Poland. It is located on both sides of the Wisłok River in the heartland of the Sandomierz Basin. Rzeszów is the capital of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship and the county seat, seat of Rzeszów C ...

. The

housing estate A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex, housing development, subdivision (land), subdivision or community) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to count ...

() – built in the 1930s – is nearly synonymous with the adjacent Pustków village. Total area of Pustków Osiedle – the smallest village in

Gmina The gmina (Polish: , plural ''gminy'' ) is the basic unit of the administrative division of Poland, similar to a municipality. , there were 2,479 gminy throughout the country, encompassing over 43,000 villages. 940 gminy include cities and tow ...

Dębica – is ; while the area of Pustków – the largest – is . The history of Pustków Osiedle is closely connected with

Central Industrial Area The Central Industrial District (, abbreviated COP), is an industrial region in Poland. It was one of the biggest economic projects of the Second Polish Republic. The 5-year-long project was initiated by a famous Polish economist, deputy Prime Minis ...

, one of the biggest public works projects of the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

. Before the mid-1930s, it did not exist. A small settlement, located in the Sandomierz Forest, was known simply as Pustków. It was the location of the notorious Pustków concentration camp in World War II.

History

Owing to favorable location (near a rail line from Dębica to

Tarnobrzeg Tarnobrzeg is a city in south-eastern Poland (historic Lesser Poland), on the east bank of the river Vistula, with 49,419 inhabitants, as of 31 December 2009. Situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (Polish: ''Województwo podkarpackie'') since ...

, and away from large cities), in 1937 first trees were cut some three kilometers () south of Pustków. Construction of a ''Lignoza'' factory began, together with a settlement for the workers - blocks of flats and villas for managers and engineers. The factory was a branch of ''Lignoza Corporation'' from

Katowice Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...

, and its official name was ''Lignoza S.A. Katowice - Wytwórnia Pustków''. It manufactured ammunition as well as

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic polymers, synthetic or Semisynthesis, semisynthetic materials composed primarily of Polymer, polymers. Their defining characteristic, Plasticity (physics), plasticity, allows them to be Injection moulding ...

materials. Production started in April 1939, and on September 8, 1939 (see

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 ...

), first units of the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

entered the settlement. Germans completed the construction of blocks of flats, which they used as military barracks. All machines and plastics were transported into the

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

. In 1940-1944, a German labor camp (''SS Truppenubungsplatz Heidelager Pustków'') existed near Pustków Osiedle. Altogether, some 15,000 Jews, Poles and Soviet POWs were murdered here. Prisoners were forced to work on the development of the V-2 rocket, and the SS controlled the area stretching from Mielec to Kolbuszowa. The camp existed until July 23, 1944, it is commemorated by a monument, located on the so-called ''Hill of Death'' (''Góra Śmierci'' whose real name is Mount "Królowa Góra").

Economy

After

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 factory was expanded, and production of plastic was initiated in 1946. In the

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...

, the plant, called ''Zakłady Tworzyw Sztucznych ERG Pustków'' (''Plastic Works ERG Pustków''), manufactured glue, polyester resin,

bakelite Bakelite ( ), formally , is a thermosetting polymer, thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin, formed from a condensation reaction of phenol with formaldehyde. The first plastic made from synthetic components, it was developed by Belgian chemist ...

, laminates and other plastics. Together with the plant, the settlement expanded, with new blocks of flats, hostel for workers, house of culture with a cinema, health center, swimming pool and sports facilities of sports club ''Chemik'', established in 1954. In 1992, ''Plastic Works ERG Pustków'' were privatized. In 2009, the plant was renamed into ''Lerg SA''.

References

{{Gmina Dębica Villages in Dębica County