Pęcice 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 Michałowice, within

Pruszków County __NOTOC__ Pruszków County () 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 government reforms passed in ...

Masovian Voivodeship Masovian Voivodeship or Mazowieckie Province (, ) and any variation thereof, is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) in east-central Poland, containing Poland's capital Warsaw. Masovian Voivodeship has an area of and had a 2019 po ...

, in central Poland. It is located within the

Warsaw metropolitan area The Warsaw metropolitan area (known in Polish language, Polish as: or ) is the metropolitan area of Warsaw, the capital of Poland. The metropolitan area covers ten List of counties in Poland, counties in the Masovian Voivodeship, with an area ...

, and borders the city of

Pruszków Pruszków is a city in east-central Poland, capital of Pruszków County in the Masovian Voivodeship. Pruszków is located along the western edge of the Warsaw metropolitan area. Pruszków is the largest city in the Warsaw metropolitan area outs ...

in the west and lies approximately south-west of

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

History

In 1827, the village had a population of 268. During

German occupation of Poland German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

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 ...

, on 2 August 1944, it was the location of the

Battle of Pęcice The Battle of Pęcice took place on 2 August 1944 between military units of Armia Krajowa, belonging to the 4th Ochota Sub-district (of Armia Krajowa), 4th Ochota Sub-district, and the Germany, German military during the Warsaw Uprising in Poland d ...

between the Polish resistance and German occupiers. The Germans committed a massacre of 65 captured Polish partisans, including five women, at the local park. Over 20 people survived the massacre. 40 of the 91 Poles who were either

killed in action Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United States Department of Defense, for example, ...

or massacred after the battle were under the age of 20, the youngest was 14. After the war ended, a memorial was unveiled at the site in 1946.

Sights

The local landmarks are the Neoclassical Pęcice Palace, the Saints Peter and Paul church and the monument to soldiers of the

Home Army The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...

, who were either killed in action or massacred after the Battle of Pęcice in 1944.

References

Villages in Pruszków County Sites of Nazi war crimes in Poland Sites of World War II massacres of Poles {{Pruszków-geo-stub