Sośnica is a district of

Gliwice Gliwice (; , ) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. The city is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica river (a tributary of the Oder River, Oder). It lies approximately 25 km west from Katowice, the regional capital ...

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 eastern part of the city. It is bordered by the districts of Wincentów in the north, Wólka Klwatecka in the west, Młynek Janiszewski, Jóżefów, Mleczna and Huta Józefowska in the south and Krzewień in the east.

History

Gliwice Sosnica Saint Mary of Help church facade

Sośnica was established in 1260 by

Tomasz I, bishop of Wrocław Tomasz I (d. 1268) was a Bishop of Wrocław, Poland in the thirteenth century. He was in office from 1232 until he died on 30 May 1268. He is considered one of the most significant bishops of Wrocław diocese and is known for his role in the Germani ...

within fragmented

Piast The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I (–992). The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of King Casimir III the Great. Branches of ...

-ruled Poland. The name is of Polish origin and comes from the word ''sosna'' which means "

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

". 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 the 1740s, and from 1871 it was also part of Germany. It was subjected to

Germanisation Germanisation, or Germanization, is the spread of the German language, people, and culture. It was a central idea of German conservative thought in the 19th and the 20th centuries, when conservatism and ethnic nationalism went hand in hand. In l ...

policies. Following

World War I 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 ...

, Poland regained independence, and the majority of the citizens voted to rejoin Poland in the

Upper Silesia plebiscite The Upper Silesia plebiscite was a plebiscite mandated by the Versailles Treaty and carried out on 20 March 1921 to determine ownership of the province of Upper Silesia between Weimar Germany and the Second Polish Republic. The region was ethni ...

of 1921, however, the settlement remained within Germany in the interbellum. On 9 April 1922, 17 French troops died in an explosion during the liquidation of a German militia weapons warehouse in the settlement. Polish activists were increasingly persecuted since 1937. 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 ...

, in 1940, the Germans arrested local Polish parish priest Antoni Korczok, deported him to the

Dachau concentration camp Dachau (, ; , ; ) was one of the first concentration camps built by Nazi Germany and the longest-running one, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents, which consisted of communists, s ...

, and murdered him there the following year. His successor Jerzy Jonienc was arrested in July 1941, but was released in September 1941. The Germans established and operated the E22 and E452

forced labour Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, or violence, including death or other forms of ...

subcamps of the Stalag VIII-B/344

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as Prisoner of war, prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, inte ...

for Allied POWs in the district. After the war, Sośnica became again part of Poland.

Sports

The

Sośnica Gliwice Sośnica Gliwice is a Polish women's handball team, based in Gliwice. See also * Handball in Poland * Sports in Poland Poland's sports encompass almost all sporting disciplines, in particular: Association football, football (the most popu ...

women's handball team is based in Sośnica.

Notable people

Włodzimierz Lubański Włodzimierz 'Włodek' Leonard Lubański (Polish pronunciation: ; born 28 February 1947 in Gliwice-Sośnica) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the second-highest all-time goal scorer for the Poland na ...

(born 1947), retired footballer *

Joachim Marx Joachim Jerzy Marx (born 31 August 1944) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a striker. Besides Poland, he has played in France. At international level, he played for Poland national team, scoring 10 goals in 23 appearanc ...

(born 1944), retired footballer *

Lukas Podolski Lukas Josef Podolski (; born Łukasz Józef Podolski, , 4 June 1985) is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward or attacking midfielder for Ekstraklasa club Górnik Zabrze. He is kno ...

(born 1985), footballer *

Jacek Wiśniewski Jacek Wiśniewski (born 7 June 1974) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a defender. Born in Gliwice, Wiśniewski began playing football with the youth side Walce Zabrze and trained as a boxer. He played for Górnik Zabrz ...

(born 1974), retired footballer

References

{{reflist Districts of Gliwice 13th-century establishments in Poland Populated places established in the 1260s