Destruction of Kalisz
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The destruction and sacking of the city of
Kalisz (The oldest city of Poland) , image_skyline = , image_caption = ''Top:'' Town Hall, Former "Calisia" Piano Factory''Middle:'' Courthouse, "Gołębnik" tenement''Bottom:'' Aerial view of the Kalisz Old Town , image_flag = POL Kalisz flag.svg ...
( pl, zburzenie Kalisza) by
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
troops took place from 2 August until 22 August 1914 at the beginning of
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 ...
. The event is also known as the Pogrom of Kalisz or Poland's Louvain (see ''
Schrecklichkeit ''Schrecklichkeit'' (German: "terror" or "frightfulness") is a word used by English-speakers to describe a military policy of the German Army towards civilians in World War I. It was the basis of German actions during its march through Belgium in 1 ...
'' atrocities). On 13 February 1793, Kalisz and the Kalisz region became part of
Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...
during the
Second Partition of Poland The 1793 Second Partition of Poland was the second of three partitions (or partial annexations) that ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. The second partition occurred in the aftermath of the Polish–Russian W ...
. In 1807 it was regained by Poles and included within the short-lived Polish
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
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
's defeat on the Eastern front in 1812, it was taken over and then annexed by Imperial Russia, which subsequently controlled the city for more than 100 years. The German army invaded Kalisz on 2 August 1914. The town was burnt down; only churches and public offices survived. A significant number of citizens were shot. Prior to the war, Kalisz had 65,000 inhabitants. Afterwards, it was left with 5,000 inhabitants.


Outbreak of World War I


The Russians pull out

The first inclination of the war reaching Kalisz was when the nearby border with the German Empire was closed at
Nowe Skalmierzyce Nowe Skalmierzyce (german: Neu Skalmierschütz, 1943-45 Kalmen) is a town and its surrounding municipality in Ostrów Wielkopolski County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, in west-central Poland. The town has a population of 5,093 (2006 est.), while t ...
(then officially ''Neu Skalmierschütz'' in the
Prussian Partition The Prussian Partition ( pl, Zabór pruski), or Prussian Poland, is the former territories of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth acquired during the Partitions of Poland, in the late 18th century by the Kingdom of Prussia. The Prussian acquis ...
of Poland) and rail movements across the border to Germany were stopped. Russian officials began evacuating the city alongside military personnel. On August 2, 1914, at dawn, the Russian military retreated from the city without fighting, after setting fire to military warehouses near the railway station. It was set on fire as well as the trains and transport wagons. A civic committee was established by the citizens of the town which began to administer the city. Additionally, the Civil Guard was established to keep order, while workers tried to put the fire at the railway station out.- 1914 pogrom miasta Kalisz" Kaliskie Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk 1995
/ref>


The Germans move in


First German soldiers appear

Around 14:00, on August 2, the first German patrols appeared along the railway tracks. As the patrols increased, crowds gathered. Altogether the atmosphere was neutral, some unfavourable comments could be heard from among the citizens of Kalisz. When a German officer arrived, mayor Bukowiński gave him the keys to the city as a symbolic gesture. After ensuring that there were no Russian forces present, the German patrols withdrew to Szczypiorno. In later hours, other German soldiers started to arrive on bicycles. Many of them were Poles from the nearby town of
Ostrzeszów Ostrzeszów (german: Schildberg, 1943-45: Schildberg im Wartheland) is a town in central Poland, in Greater Poland Voivodeship. It is the capital of Ostrzeszów County. The population in 2006 was 14,536 inhabitants. The town is situated aroun ...
(then officially ''Schildberg'' in the
Prussian Partition The Prussian Partition ( pl, Zabór pruski), or Prussian Poland, is the former territories of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth acquired during the Partitions of Poland, in the late 18th century by the Kingdom of Prussia. The Prussian acquis ...
of Poland), and there was no hostility between them and the local Polish population. The German soldiers of Polish extraction (about 30 in number), quickly separated from the rest of the Germans and went to the market, where they engaged in conversation with the local population and drank beer with them. German soldiers remained separated and struggled to engage in conversations which were carried out in Polish.


Arrival of the main German forces

Only on the night of 2 and 3 of August around midnight, did the main German forces come from the Fifth Company of the 155th regiment of infantry in Ostrowo. The commander, Captain Keild, demanded lodgings for his troops and summoned the mayor. On the same night, forces of Major Hermann Preusker came to the city from the 2nd Battalion of infantry. Preusker immediately took over and named himself the commandant. At the selection of quarters, Preusker showed great displeasure and demanded the building housing the Musical Society and Christian Craftsmen in the city instead of the Russian military barracks. At dawn on 3 August, mortars were brought into the city. At the same time, Major Preusker started arguing with the city council, although they had fulfilled his every request. Some believed he was disappointed with the lack of resistance and the indifferent attitude to German soldiers by the Polish population, which had begun to establish personal connections with the ethnic Polish soldiers from the German-controlled part of the partitioned country. Some of those soldiers did not show any support for the war and even condemned the conflict.


Executions and repression

In the late evening, a single shot was heard, which began panic and confusion among the city population; it was followed by machine gun fire. After this short event, peace returned to the area. During the night the firing resumed, when German soldiers started to shoot at each other, probably thinking that they were surrounded by Russian forces. Although the civilians stayed at home, 21 of them and six soldiers were dead and 32 soldiers were wounded. Major Preusker claimed that it was the local population that carried out the shooting. On August 4, Preusker took six citizens as hostages, 50,000
rubles The ruble (American English) or rouble (Commonwealth English) (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is the currency unit of Belarus and Russia. Historically, it was the currency of the Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union. , currencies named ''rub ...
of retribution, a
curfew A curfew is a government order specifying a time during which certain regulations apply. Typically, curfews order all people affected by them to ''not'' be in public places or on roads within a certain time frame, typically in the evening and ...
, a ban on publishing newspapers, and threatened to take further hostages and executions. Despite this, the Germans continued with further repression and executions. Civilians were brutally beaten, often with rifle butts; at any sign of resistance, people were shoved against a wall and shot. Many executions happened near the hospital where wounded people were taken. Several corpses were left in the street. Pedestrians were mistreated and any signs of opposition were quelled with such brutality and under such conditions that there were cases where soldiers refused to follow the orders of their officers. Up to 20 people were murdered in this way.


Shelling and raids into the city

After taking their hostages with them, the Germans started to retreat from the city in late afternoon. An hour later, artillery fire was laid down on the city from nearby hills. It was very efficient as Kalisz is located in a deep valley. Additionally, the Germans had ordered the day before that all citizens should illuminate their homes, which helped in directing the fire. This continued for several days, with the Germans staging short raids into the city. As the shelling started fires, general panic broke out, and even as the Germans threatened to kill anybody escaping, people tried to escape by whatever means they had. Large crowds of panic-stricken people, including children and the elderly with any possessions they could grab, were running from the city, which became almost deserted. On August 5, 10,000 people fled the shelled town. The Germans took additional hostages, mistreating them and even killing some. Only after the intervention of the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, were some released and others sent to
POW camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. ...
s in
Cottbus Cottbus (; Lower Sorbian: ''Chóśebuz'' ; Polish: Chociebuż) is a university city and the second-largest city in Brandenburg, Germany. Situated around southeast of Berlin, on the River Spree, Cottbus is also a major railway junction with exte ...
in Germany.


Massacre of civilian population

As the situation seemed to calm down, new forces from
Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
arrived, while Major Preusker's soldiers were withdrawn. Another incident happened on August 7 on Main Market Square, when a lone horse ran free; as a result, German soldiers started shooting in a disorganised way, which led to the death of some of them. Artillery was positioned within the city and the Germans fired at civilian buildings for over an hour. About 100 civilians died in this incident. The Germans searched for survivors and when they found them, they stabbed them to death with bayonets. During the afternoon, City Hall was set on fire, and officials executed. The Germans retreated and shooting began again, which continued overnight between 7 and 8 August. On Saturday morning, the Germans returned to the city, taking 800 men prisoner and executing 80 of them on a nearby hill. The following day, the Germans started to systematically burn down the city. It is mentioned that in cases where civilians tried to fight the fire, they were murdered by German soldiers. The shootings, murders, plunder of shops and homes as well as the burning down of the whole city lasted until 22 August, when the last home was set alight on Nowoogrodowska street. The Polish press in all territories of then partitioned Poland reported extensively on the event, some calling it "monstrous madness, that is unbelievable". The damage in Kalisz constituted 29,5% of the losses in the entire Congress Poland during World War I. The destruction has been compared to the massacre of Louvain, where a city was destroyed in similar manner by the Germans. Before the war Kalisz had 65,000 citizens; after the war, there were only 5,000 left.


See also

* Sack of Louvain *
Expulsion of Poles by Germany The Expulsion of Poles by Germany was a prolonged anti-Polish campaign of ethnic cleansing by violent and terror-inspiring means lasting nearly half a century. It began with the concept of Pan-Germanism developed in the early 19th century and culm ...
*
Planned destruction of Warsaw The destruction of Warsaw was Nazi Germany's substantially effected razing of the city in late 1944, after the 1944 Warsaw Uprising of the Polish resistance. The uprising infuriated German leaders, who decided to destroy the city as retaliation. ...
*
Rape of Belgium The Rape of Belgium was a series of systematic war crimes, especially mass murder and deportation and enslavement, by German troops against Belgian civilians during the invasion and occupation of Belgium in World War I. The neutrality o ...
*
Schrecklichkeit ''Schrecklichkeit'' (German: "terror" or "frightfulness") is a word used by English-speakers to describe a military policy of the German Army towards civilians in World War I. It was the basis of German actions during its march through Belgium in 1 ...
*
Mitteleuropa (), meaning Middle Europe, is one of the German terms for Central Europe. The term has acquired diverse cultural, political and historical connotations. University of Warsaw, Johnson, Lonnie (1996) ''Central Europe: Enemies, Neighbors, Friends'p ...


Notes and references

;Inline ;Offline # H. Wrotkowski, "Społeczeństwo Kalisza w latach pierwszej wojny światowej i dniach wyzwolenia." ''Rocznik Kaliski'', vol. 3, 1970, p. 165-174 # T. Zarębska, "Sprawa odbudowy zabytkowego centrum Kalisza." ''Rocznik Kaliski'' vol. 10, 1977, p. 121-177 # Cz. Łuczak, "Dzieje gospodarcze Niemiec 1871-1949." Poznań 1984, p. 48 8 H. Batowski, "Rozpad Austro-Węgier 1914-1918."
Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
1982, p. 19 # J. Desmarest, "La Grande Guerre 1914 - 1918."
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
1978, p. 184 # D. Gayer, "Der russiche Imperialismus Politik 1860 - 1914." Góttinggen 1977, p. 195-196 # T. Nałęcz, "Polska organizacja wojskowa 1914 - 1918."
Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...
1984, pp. 13, 21 # A. Garlicki, "Józef Piłsudski 1867 - 1935."
Warszawa 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 officiall ...
1990, pp. 163–176 # A. Garlicki, "U źródeł obozu belwederskiego." Warszawa 1983, pp. 249, 282 # J. Krasuski, Historia Rzeszy Niemieckiej. Poznań 1986, p. 228 # M. Młynarska, "Proces lokacji Kalisza w XIII i w pierwszej połowie XIV w." ''XVIII wieków Kalisza.'' Poznań 1960, vol. 1, p. 108 # J.A. Gierowski, ''Historia Polski 1764 - 1864.'' Warszawa 1983, p. 35, 101 # E. Polanowski, "Maria Dąbrowska - w krainie dzieciństwa i młodości."
Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...
1989, p. 204. # M. Dąbrowska,
Noce i dnie ''Nights and Days'' ( pl, Noce i dnie) is a 1975 Polish film directed by Jerzy Antczak. This epic family drama was based on Maria Dąbrowska's novel ''Noce i dnie'', and was described by ''The Washington Post'' as "Poland's Gone With the Wind". S ...
. Wiatr w oczy, ch. 2. Warszawa 1972, p. 360 # M. Dąbrowska, Rzemiennym dyszlem. ''Pisma rozproszone.'' vol. 1, Kraków 1964, p. 95 # "Kalisz - 1914." Materiały źródłowe red. M. Lisiecka i K. Pawlak, p. 3, Kalisz 1980 # M. Dąbrowska, "Przygody człowieka myślącego." Warszawa 1972 p. 105 # M. Wrotkowska, "Sprawozdanie z sesji popularne-naukowej w dniu 20.10.1984 r. Siedemdziesiąta rocznica zburzenia Kalisza." Referat H. Wrotkowskiego. ''Rocznik Kaliski'' vol. 19, 1986, p. 329 # L.J. Flockerzie: Poland's Louvain. Documents on the Destruction of Kalisz, August 1914. ''The Polish Review'' Nr 4/1983 p. 73-88; also: H. Nowaczyk, "Odwet za bunt wojenny?" ''Południowa Wielkopolska'' 1989 nr 3 and: "W świetle konwencji Haskiej." ''Południowa Wielkopolska'' 1989 nr 4 #J. Zakrzewska, "Odbudowa Kalisza po wielkiej wojnie." Kalisz 1936, pp. 17, 18 #Verzeichnis der in August 1914 abgebrannten Grundstu'cke in Kalisch. Deutscher Kreischef in Kalisch. Archiwum Państwowe w Kaliszu, sygn. 117, k. 302-306 #H. Nowaczyk, "Artykuł 247 Traktatu Wersalskiego." ''Ziemia Kaliska'' 1991 #J. Janczak, "Stosunki ludnościowe." ''Dzieje Kalisza.'' Poznań 1977, p. 332 #"Zabytki Urbanistyki i Architektury w Polsce." ''Odbudowa i konserwacja.'' vol. 1, Miasta historyczne. Warszawa 1986, p. 168 #''Archiwum Państwowe w Kaliszu,'' "Deutscher Kreischef in Kalisch," sygn. 117, k. 302, Verzeichnis der im August 1914 abgebrannten Grundstucke in Kalisch (''Spis spalonych nieruchomości w Kaliszu w sierpniu 1914 r.'')


Sources and recommended reading

*L.J. Flockerzie: "Poland's Louvain. Documents on the Destruction of Kalisz, August 1914". The Polish Review Nr 4/1983
Two photos documenting the scale of destruction of Kalisz and following reconstruction
*Na zgliszczach Kalisza: ku wiecznej pamiątce pogromu teutońskiego, dokonanego przez Prusaków w sierpniu 1914 r Bronisław Tomczyk Press, 1915 {{DEFAULTSORT:Destruction Of Kalisz Kalisz Poland in World War I Germany–Poland relations German Empire in World War I World War I crimes by Imperial Germany 1914 in Poland 1914 in military history August 1914 events Mass murder in 1914
Kalisz (The oldest city of Poland) , image_skyline = , image_caption = ''Top:'' Town Hall, Former "Calisia" Piano Factory''Middle:'' Courthouse, "Gołębnik" tenement''Bottom:'' Aerial view of the Kalisz Old Town , image_flag = POL Kalisz flag.svg ...