Pławna 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 Ciężkowice __NOTOC__ Gmina Ciężkowice is an urban-rural gmina (administrative district) in Tarnów County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. Its seat is the town of Ciężkowice, which lies approximately south of Tarnów and east of the regio ...

, within

Tarnów County __NOTOC__ Tarnów County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, southern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 199 ...

Lesser Poland Voivodeship Lesser Poland Voivodeship ( ) is a voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship in southern Poland. It has an area of , and a population of 3,404,863 (2019). Its capital and largest city is Kraków. The province's name recalls the traditional name of a h ...

, in southern Poland. It lies approximately south-west of Ciężkowice, south of

Tarnów Tarnów () is a city in southeastern Poland with 105,922 inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of 269,000 inhabitants. The city is situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. It is a major rail junction, located on the strategic east– ...

, and south-east of the regional capital

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

World War II

Pławna was the location of Polish underground resistance attack on German military train conducted on the night of September 14, 1944 – a mishap, resulting from an unexpected change in train-schedule. The original German train with weapons and munitions – which was targeted by the

Armia Krajowa 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 ...

intelligence, had been temporarily halted in Tuchów due to mechanical failure. Another train was let through a few hours later, carrying a

Panzer division A Panzer division was one of the Division (military)#Armored division, armored (tank) divisions in the German Army (1935–1945), army of Nazi Germany during World War II. Panzer divisions were the key element of German success in the Blitzkrieg, ...

of the Wehrmacht, unknown to partisan unit of 100 men from the Battalion Barbara arriving from Zborów. The railway tracks were blown up only to realize the terrible mistake. The Polish soldiers retreated immediately under heavy enemy fire, with four casualties. The train returned to Tarnów; but the very next day, half the innocent village was burned down by the German '' SS'' in reprisal.

References

Villages in Tarnów County {{Tarnów-geo-stub