Sandomierz Voivodeship () was a proposed voivodeship 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 ...

, which was never created because of the Nazi and Soviet invasion of Poland in September 1939. The idea of the creation of this unit was the brainchild of the Minister of Industry and Trade Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski, and it was directly linked with creation of one of the biggest economic projects of interbellum Poland, Central Industrial Region. It was intended to cover south-central Poland and be created in late 1939. Its projected size was 24,500 square kilometers, and it was to incorporate 20 or 21

powiat A ''powiat'' (; ) is the second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland, equivalent to a county, district or prefecture (Local administrative unit, LAU-1 ormerly Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics, NUTS-4 ...

Origins

The historic Polish city of

Sandomierz Sandomierz (pronounced: ; , ) is a historic town in south-eastern Poland with 23,863 inhabitants (), situated on the Vistula River near its confluence with the San, in the Sandomierz Basin. It has been part of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (Holy ...

was one of the major urban centers of the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385. Background The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...

, and later the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

. The capital of a large

Sandomierz Voivodeship Sandomierz Voivodeship (, ) was a unit of administration and local government in Poland from the 14th century to the partitions of Poland in 1772–1795. It was part of the Lesser Poland region and the Lesser Poland Province. Originally Sandomier ...

, Sandomierz’s importance declined after the

Partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partition (politics), partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the eli ...

. In the 19th century it turned into a little town, located right on the border between

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

, and the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. After

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 ...

, when Poland regained its independence, Sandomierz remained a historically important but economically non-existent location on the map of the newly restored country. The war destroyed a large part of the city, and its population decreased to some 6,000. Sandomierz, located in the Kielce Voivodeship was the capital of a county, but it was not among eight biggest municipalities of the Kielce Voivodeship. The situation began to change in 1937 after Minister Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski publicly stated on February 5: “...today, we are declaring a new slogan in the program of industrialization, which will be granted a symbolic and shortened name: Central Area - Sandomierz...”. According to other sources, Kwiatkowski announced Sandomierz as capital of the Central Industrial Region as early as 1935. Sandomierz was by no means the biggest city on the area of the Central Industrial Region. Far larger were such cities, as

Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...

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 ...

Kielce Kielce (; ) is a city in south-central Poland and the capital of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. In 2021, it had 192,468 inhabitants. The city is in the middle of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (Holy Cross Mountains), on the banks of the Silnic ...

and

Radom Radom is a city in east-central Poland, located approximately south of the capital, Warsaw. It is situated on the Mleczna River in the Masovian Voivodeship. Radom is the fifteenth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in its province w ...

, but Sandomierz was located right in the middle of the region, besides, Kielce and Lublin had already been capitals of the voivodeships (see: Kielce Voivodeship,

Lublin Voivodeship Lublin Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) of Poland, located in the southeastern part of the country, with its capital being the city of Lublin. The region is named after its largest city and regional capital, Lu ...

). The town was conveniently located along the

Vistula The Vistula (; ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra i ...

, and at the junction of rail lines to

Skarżysko-Kamienna Skarżysko-Kamienna () is a city in northern Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship in south-central Poland by Kamienna (river), Kamienna river, to the north of Świętokrzyskie Mountains; one of the voivodship's major cities. Prior to 1928, it bore the name ...

Lwów Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

, and

Dębica Dębica (; ''Dembitz'') is a town in southeastern Poland with 44,692 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is the capital of Dębica County. Since 1999 it has been situated in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship; it had previously been in the Tarnów Voiv ...

. The nearby junction of

Rozwadów Rozwadów () is a suburb of Stalowa Wola, Poland. Founded as a town in 1690, it was incorporated into Stalowa Wola in 1973. The Rozwadów suburb of Stalowa Wola included a thriving Jewish shtetl prior to World War II, closely associated with t ...

provided a connection to

; furthermore, the Polish government planned construction of the

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( ; ; ; ; Silesian German: ; ) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located today mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic. The area is predominantly known for its heav ...

- Sandomierz -

Volhynia Volhynia or Volynia ( ; see #Names and etymology, below) is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between southeastern Poland, southwestern Belarus, and northwestern Ukraine. The borders of the region are not clearly defined, but in ...

line.

Sandomierz as the capital of the new voivodeship

Creation of the Central Industrial Region and plans for the new voivodeship were warmly welcomed in Sandomierz. Predicting quick development and growth of the town, local government began several projects, including construction of office blocks, several roads, and new districts. All was overseen by a famous architect, Jan Zachwatowicz of the

Warsaw University of Technology The Warsaw University of Technology () is one of the leading institutes of technology in Poland and one of the largest in Central Europe. It employs 2,453 teaching faculty, with 357 professors (including 145 titular professors). The student body ...

. The plan of the so-called Greater Sandomierz predicted that in a few years, population of the city was to grow to 120 000, and its size to 2600 hectares. On June 6, 1939, a meeting of local politicians and architects of the Warsaw University of Technology took place. They discussed plan of construction of the new, upscale district, with a spacious house of culture, theater, market halls, condominiums and green areas. Also, a city college was to be opened.

The voivodeship

The Sandomierz Voivodeship, which was to be created in late 1939, was to cover 20 or 21 counties of the four existing voivodeships. Its total area was to be 24,500 square kilometers. Other project stipulated that the new Voivodeship would cover whole area of the Central Industrial Region, thus its size would be 59.951 square kilometers, with 46 counties. Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski offered the post of the voivode to mayor 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 ...

, Stefan Starzyński.Ewa Cepowska, Sandomierz as the capital of the Central Industrial Region
/ref> Most probably, the voivodeship would be reduced to the 20 or 21 counties of the four already existing voivodeships. Out of the Kielce Voivodeship, the following eight counties would be transferred: *

county, *

Opatów Opatów (; ) is a town in southeastern Poland, within Opatów County in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (Holy Cross Province). Historically, it was part of a greater region called Lesser Poland. In 2012 the population was 6,658. Opatów is located ...

county, *

Stopnica Stopnica is a town in Busko County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in south-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Stopnica. It lies in Lesser Poland, approximately east of Busko-Zdrój and south-east o ...

county, *

Kozienice Kozienice (; ''Kozhnits'') is a town in eastern Poland with 21,500 inhabitants (1995). Located four miles from the Vistula, it is the capital of Kozienice County. Even though Kozienice is part of Lesser Poland, it is situated in the Masovian Voi ...

county, * Wierzbnik county, *

Pińczów Pińczów is a town in southern Poland, in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, about 40 km south of Kielce. It is the capital of Pińczów County. The population is 10,946 (2018). Pińczów belongs to the historical region of Lesser Poland (Polish: ...

county.

would transfer two counties: *

Janów Lubelski Janów Lubelski is a town in southeastern Poland. It has 11,938 inhabitants (2006). Situated in the Lublin Voivodship, Janów Lubelski belongs to Lesser Poland, and is located in southeastern corner of this historic Polish province. It is the cap ...

county, *

Biłgoraj Biłgoraj (, ''Bilgoray'', ) is a town in south-eastern Poland with 25,838 inhabitants as of December 2021. Since 1999 it has been situated in Lublin Voivodeship; it was previously located in Zamość Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is located sou ...

county, Kraków Voivodeship would transfer four counties: *

Mielec Mielec () is the largest city and County seat, seat of Mielec County. Mielec is located in south-eastern Poland (Lesser Poland), in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (Województwo Podkarpackie). The population of Mielec in December 2021 was 59,509. ...

county, *

Dąbrowa Tarnowska Dąbrowa Tarnowska () is a town in Poland, in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, about north of Tarnów. It is the capital of Dąbrowa County. Before reorganization (in 1999) Dąbrowa Tarnowska was part of Tarnów Voivodeship (1975–1998). As of Decem ...

county, *

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– ...

county,

Lwów Voivodeship Lwów Voivodeship () was an administrative unit of interwar Poland (1918–1939). Because of the Nazi invasion of Poland in accordance with the secret Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, it became occupied by both the Wehrmacht and the Red Army in Septem ...

would transfer six or seven counties: *

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 ...

county, *

Nisko Nisko is a town in Nisko County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, Poland on the San River, with a population of 15,048 inhabitants as of 31 December 2021. Together with neighbouring city of Stalowa Wola, Nisko creates a small urban agglomeration, aggl ...

county, * Kolbuszowa county, *

county, *

Łańcut Łańcut (, ; ; ) is a town in south-eastern Poland, with 18,004 inhabitants, as of 2 June 2009. Situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (since 1999), it is the Capital (political), capital of Łańcut County. History Archeological investigat ...

county, * Przeworsk county, *

Strzyżów Strzyżów is a town in Strzyżów County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, Poland, along the Wisłok river valley. Strzyżów is one of the towns within the Strzyżowsko-Dynowskie Foothill, located south-east of Kraków and 30 km from Rzeszó ...

county. On September 1, 1939,

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

attacked Poland. On September 17, the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

also invaded. The Second Polish Republic ceased to exist and consequently, the Sandomierz Voivodeship was never created.

References

External links

Photo gallery of the late 1930s visit of President Ignacy Moscicki and Minister Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski to Sandomierz
{{Authority control Subdivisions of the Second Polish Republic Proposed voivodeships of Poland History of Sandomierz

Origins

Sandomierz as the capital of the new voivodeship

The voivodeship

See also

References

External links