Sulejówek is a town in

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 ...

, about east 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 ...

city centre and part of its metropolitan area. It is located 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

Mińsk County __NOTOC__ Mińsk County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Masovian Voivodeship, east-central Poland. It was (re)created on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 19 ...

. Its population numbers 19323 (2011). The town is well known in Poland as the place where

Józef Piłsudski Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Chief of State (Poland), Chief of State (1918–1922) and first Marshal of Poland (from 1920). In the aftermath of World War I, he beca ...

lived in the years between 1923 and 1926. The former manor houses the and is listed as a Historic Monument of Poland.

History

The oldest known mention of the settlement comes from 1526. Sulejówek was a private village of

Polish nobility The ''szlachta'' (; ; ) were the nobility, noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Depending on the definition, they were either a warrior "caste" or a social ...

, administratively located in the Warsaw County in the

in the Greater Poland Province of the Kingdom of Poland. In 1815, Sulejówek fell to the

Russian Partition The Russian Partition (), sometimes called Russian Poland, constituted the former territories of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that were annexed by the Russian Empire in the course of late-18th-century Partitions of Poland. The Russian ac ...

of Poland. Polish insurgents operated in the area during the

January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...

of 1863–1864. On August 8, 1863, the settlement of Miłosna (present-day district of Sulejówek) was attacked by

Cossacks The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic languages, East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borde ...

, but the surprised local Polish insurgent unit managed to escape. In revenge, the Cossacks attacked and robbed the local post office, wounded and captured the postmen, taking them to Warsaw. Another clash between the insurgents and the Russians took place in Miłosna on January 25, 1864. 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 ...

, in 1918, Poland regained independence and control of Sulejówek. In August 1920, during the Battle of Warsaw, the first line of Polish defense against the Russian invaders passed through Sulejówek, however, there was no direct fighting in this sector (see:

Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (14 February 1919 – 18 March 1921) was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, following World War I and the Russian Revolution. After the collapse ...

). In 1919, Polish composer and statesman

Ignacy Jan Paderewski Ignacy Jan Paderewski (;

r 1859 R, or r, is the eighteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ar'' (pronounced ), plural ''ars''. The lette ...

– 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist, composer and statesman who was a spokesman for Polish independence. In 1919, he was the nation's Prime Minister of Poland, prime minister and foreign minister durin ...

and his wife Helena Paderewska bought a villa ("Białynia") in Sulejówek and established an Educational Institute, which was financially supported by

Marshal of Poland Marshal of Poland () is the highest rank in the Polish Army. It has been granted to only six officers. At present, Marshal is equivalent to a field marshal or general of the army (OF-10) in other NATO armies. History Today there are no living ...

. Piłsudski himself lived in another house ("Milusin") in Sulejówek in 1923–1926. It currently houses a museum dedicated to him, and is listed as a Historic Monument of Poland.

Jędrzej Moraczewski Jędrzej Edward Moraczewski (; 13 January 1870 – 5 August 1944) was a Polish socialist politician who, loyal to Józef Piłsudski and viewed as acceptable by both left- and right-wing Polish political factions, served as the second Prime Minis ...

, second

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

of interwar Poland, also lived in Sulejówek, in the "Siedziba" Manor House. During the German

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 ...

which started

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 September 15, 1939, the Germans committed two massacres of

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 ...

in Sulejówek and the present-day district of Długa Szlachecka, killing over 50 and 42 people respectively (see ''

Nazi crimes against the Polish nation War crime, Crimes against the Polish nation committed by Nazi Germany and Axis powers, Axis collaborationist forces during the invasion of Poland, along with Schutzmannschaft#Police battalions, auxiliary battalions during the subsequent occu ...

''). Six Polish officers from Sulejówek were murdered by the Russians in the large

Katyn massacre The Katyn massacre was a series of mass killings under Communist regimes, mass executions of nearly 22,000 Polish people, Polish military officer, military and police officers, border guards, and intelligentsia prisoners of war carried out by t ...

in April–May 1940.

Sports

The local

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club is Victoria Sulejówek. It competes in the lower leagues.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Sulejówek is twinned with: *

Viimsi Parish Viimsi Parish () is a rural municipality in Northern Estonia, located North-East and neighbouring the capital Tallinn. It occupies an area of with a population of 20 580 (). The municipality contains the Viimsi Peninsula and several islands, in ...

, Estonia

References

External links

Official town webpageSatellite photo from Google MapsMap from mapa.szukacz.pl

Jewish Community in Sulejówek
on Virtual Shtetl {{Authority control Cities and towns in Masovian Voivodeship Mińsk County Sites of Nazi war crimes during the Invasion of Poland