Dęblin is a town at the confluence of

Vistula The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...

and

Wieprz The Wieprz (, ; ua, Вепр, Vepr) is a river in central-eastern Poland, a tributary of the Vistula. It is the country's ninth longest river, with a total length of 349 km and a catchment area of 10,497 km2, all within Poland. Its cour ...

rivers, in

Lublin Voivodeship The Lublin Voivodeship, also known as the Lublin Province ( Polish: ''województwo lubelskie'' ), is a voivodeship (province) of Poland, located in southeastern part of the country. It was created on January 1, 1999, out of the former Lublin, C ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. Dęblin is the part of the agglomeration with adjacent towns of

Ryki Ryki is a town in eastern Poland between Warsaw and Lublin. It has 9,767 inhabitants (as of 2007). Situated in the Lublin Voivodeship (since 1999). It is the capital of Ryki County. Ryki belongs to Lesser Poland, and historically is part of '' ...

and

Puławy Puławy (, also written Pulawy) is a city in eastern Poland, in Lesser Poland's Lublin Voivodeship, at the confluence of the Vistula and Kurówka Rivers. Puławy is the capital of Puławy County. The city's 2019 population was estimated at 47,4 ...

, which altogether has over 100 000 inhabitants. The population of the town itself is 15,505 (December 2021). Dęblin is part of the historic region of

Lesser Poland Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name Małopolska ( la, Polonia Minor), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a ...

. Since 1927 it has been the home of the chief Polish Air Force Academy ( pl, Lotnicza Akademia Wojskowa), and as such Dęblin is one of the most important places associated with aviation in Poland. The town is also a key railroad junction, located along the major

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

–

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

line, with two additional connections stemming from Dęblin – one westwards to

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 (since 1999), having previously been the seat of a separate Radom Voivodeship (1975� ...

, and another one northeast to

Łuków Łuków is a city in eastern Poland with 30,727 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2005). Since 1999, it has been situated in the Lublin Voivodeship, previously it had belonged to the Siedlce Voivodeship (between 1975–1998). It is the capital of � ...

History

Dęblin was first mentioned as a village in historical documents dating from 1397. At that time, it was ruled by Castellans from Sieciechów. It was a private village of Polish nobility, including the

Mniszech family The House of Mniszech (plural: Mniszchowie, historical feminine forms: Mniszchówna (unmarried), Mniszchowa (married or widow)) was a Polish magnate and noble family bearing the Mniszech Coat of Arms. Notable members * Andrzej Jerzy Mniszech ...

, administratively located in the Stężyca County in the

Sandomierz Voivodeship Sandomierz Voivodeship ( pl, Województwo Sandomierskie, la, Palatinatus Sandomirensis) 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 Polan ...

in the Lesser Poland Province of the Kingdom of Poland. It was annexed by

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

in the

Third Partition of Poland The Third Partition of Poland (1795) was the last in a series of the Partitions of Poland–Lithuania and the land of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth among Prussia, the Habsburg monarchy, and the Russian Empire which effectively ended Polis ...

in 1795. Following the Austro-Polish War of 1809, it was regained by Poles and included within the short-lived

Duchy of Warsaw The Duchy of Warsaw ( pl, Księstwo Warszawskie, french: Duché de Varsovie, german: Herzogtum Warschau), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during ...

. After the duchy's dissolution in 1815, it became part of Russian-controlled Congress Poland. The settlement was still owned by Polish nobility until 1836 when it was taken over by the Russian government following the unsuccessful Polish November Uprising. In 1840 the village was handed to Russian field marshal Ivan Paskievich, who played a prominent role in the suppression of the November Uprising. From then on until the end of Russian rule in this part of Poland (1915) Dęblin was often referred to by its new Russian name of ''Ivangorod''. In the years after the November Uprising the military significance of the Dęblin site, at the confluence of two important rivers (the

and the

), was noted. In the years 1838–1845 the Ivangorod fortress was constructed, sited to protect a crossing across the Vistula. After 1859 the fortress was further expanded. In the early 1880s a railway line connecting Lublin with

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

was built, with a bridge over the Vistula passing near the fortress, further enhancing its importance. In 1854 the core of the present-day town, at its founding named the ''Irena Colony'', was established. It kept its name until 1953 when it was incorporated into the town of Dęblin. During the January Uprising, on September 26, 1863, it was the site of a skirmish between Polish insurgents and Russian troops. The fortress played a role in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In October, 1914 a significant

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

was fought in its vicinity, in which the Russian armies repelled a combined German and Austro-Hungarian offensive. After that battle the defences of the fortress were further improved, and it became even more important as an anchor of the Russian position on the Vistula. However, reverses elsewhere along the front forced the Russians to abandon Ivangorod in August 1915. In 1920, the Dęblin area was the starting point for a Polish offensive that decided the fate of the Battle of Warsaw and the entire

Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (Polish–Bolshevik War, Polish–Soviet War, Polish–Russian War 1919–1921) * russian: Советско-польская война (''Sovetsko-polskaya voyna'', Soviet-Polish War), Польский фронт (' ...

. Polish leader

Józef Piłsudski Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Naczelnik państwa, Chief of State (1918–1922) and Marshal of Poland, First Marshal of Second Polish Republic, Poland (from 1920). He was ...

stayed in the town on August 12–13, 1920, shortly before the Battle of Warsaw. In the years 1918–1939, as part of independent Poland, Dęblin continued to have large military significance. The Dęblin fortress was garrisoned by the 15th Infantry Regiment of the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stre ...

, and in the nearby village of Stawy one of the largest ammunition depots of the Polish Army (''Główna Składnica Uzbrojenia nr. 2'') was located. In 1927 the famous Polish Air Force academy was officially moved to Dęblin, after its founding in

Grudziądz Grudziądz ( la, Graudentum, Graudentium, german: Graudenz) is a city in northern Poland, with 92,552 inhabitants (2021). Located on the Vistula River, it lies within the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship and is the fourth-largest city in its prov ...

in 1925 (some pilot training has been conducted here since 1920). It continues to function today. During the

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

, which started

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Dęblin was captured by the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

on September 15, 1939. Under the German occupation, its Jewish population perished during

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

. Dęblin was a location of a German POW camp Stalag 307, and a large number of Soviet POWs (as well as those of other nations) died in camps established nearby. Dęblin was seized by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

on July 25–26, 1944, and was eventually restored to Poland. In the postwar years Dęblin was rebuilt and expanded. It received its town charter in 1954.

Stawy Ammunition Depot

Stawy, now a district of Dęblin, was a separate settlement in the Second Polish Republic. It is located along rail line from Dęblin to

, among pine forests. Stawy has a population of 500. In January 1921, construction of Ammunition Plant began in local forests. The name of the plan was soon changed into Main Ammunition Depot Nr. 2. At that time, the location of the depot was not named, it was simply called "Forest Barracks". On July 1, 1924, Minister of Military Affairs, General

Władysław Sikorski Władysław Eugeniusz Sikorski (; 20 May 18814 July 1943) was a Polish military and political leader. Prior to the First World War, Sikorski established and participated in several underground organizations that promoted the cause for Polish i ...

officially changed the name Forest Barracks into Stawy. The depot at Stawy was one of the largest such facilities in the interbellum Poland. During the

Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

, it provided ammunition to the fighting troops. In late September 1939, General Franciszek Kleeberg, commander of

Independent Operational Group Polesie Independent Operational Group Polesie (''Samodzielna Grupa Operacyjna Polesie'', SGO Polesie) was one of the Polish Army Corps (Operational Groups) that defended Poland during the Invasion of Poland in 1939. It was created on 11 September 1939 and ...

ordered his soldiers to march to Stawy, and capture the depot. Kleeberg however did not know that in mid-September the depot was blown up by order of General Stefan Dąb-Biernacki, commander of the Polish Northern Front (1939). The operation was carried out by soldiers of the 39th Infantry Division (General Bruno Olbrycht). Nevertheless, Kleeberg and his soldiers failed to capture Stawy, as they capitulated in early October 1939, after the

Battle of Kock (1939) The Battle of Kock was the final battle in the invasion of Poland at the beginning of World War II in Europe. It took place between 2–5 October 1939, near the town of Kock, in Poland.Zaloga, S.J., 2002, Poland 1939, Oxford: Osprey Publishin ...

Symbols

The flag of Dęblin consists of three stripes: upper silver (white), middle gold, and lower blue, with the silver and blue zones occupying two fifths each and gold one-fifth of the flag height.

Tourist attractions

* Dęblin Fortress *Mniszech Palace and park *Polish Air Force Museum (Muzeum Sił Powietrznych w Dęblinie)

Sports

Dęblin is home to a football club . It competes in the lower leagues.

People associated with Dęblin

Ignatz Bubis Ignatz Bubis (12 January 1927 – 13 August 1999), German Jewish leader, was the influential chairman (and later president) of the Central Council of Jews in Germany (''Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland'') from 1992 to 1999. In this capacity ...

(1927–1999), activist *

Andrzej Jajszczyk Andrzej Bogdan Jajszczyk (born 23 January 1952, Dęblin) is a professor at the AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow, Poland, and President of the Krakow Branch of the Polish Academy of Sciences. From 2011 to 2015 he served as the f ...

(born 1952), scientist * Konstantin Kaufman (1818–1882), Governor-General of Russian Turkestan *

Michael Alfred Peszke Michael Alfred Peszke (19 December 1932 – 17 May 2015) was a Polish-American psychiatrist and historian of the Polish Armed Forces in World War II. Life Peszke was born in Dęblin, Poland, in 1932. After the outbreak of World War II and the Naz ...

(1932–2015), Polish-American psychiatrist and historian *

Witold Urbanowicz Witold Urbanowicz (30 March 1908 – 17 August 1996) was a Polish fighter ace of the Second World War. According to the official record, Witold Urbanowicz was the second highest-scoring Polish fighter ace, with 17 confirmed wartime kills and 1 pr ...

(1908–1996), fighter ace of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Other

In the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

suburb of

Oak Lawn, Illinois Oak Lawn is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 58,362 at the 2020 census. Oak Lawn is a suburb of Chicago, located southwest of the city. It shares borders with the city in two areas but is surrounded mostly by ...

, which has a high concentration of Polish Americans, one of the streets bears the name of Dęblin Lane.

References

External links

Official town webpage

History of Dęblin, official page of the town

Companionship of Dęblin's Friends

* Soviet POW grave in KZ Dęblin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deblin Cities and towns in Lublin Voivodeship Ryki County Populated places on the Vistula Sandomierz Voivodeship Lublin Governorate Warsaw Voivodeship (1919–1939) Holocaust locations in Poland