Ostrów Mazowiecka is a town in eastern

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 ...

with 23,486 inhabitants (2004). Situated in the

Masovian Voivodeship The Masovian Voivodeship, also known as the Mazovia Province ( pl, województwo mazowieckie ) is a voivodeship (province) in east-central Poland, with its capital located in the city of Warsaw, which also serves as the capital of the country. Th ...

(since 1999), previously in

Ostrołęka Voivodeship Ostrołęka Voivodeship () was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland in the period 1975–1998. It was superseded by Masovian Voivodeship. Ostrołęka. Major cities and towns ''Population on 31 December 1998.'' * ...

(1975–1998). It is the capital of

Ostrów Mazowiecka County Ostrów (Polish for "river island") may refer to: Places Poland ; Greater Poland Voivodeship * Ostrów Wielkopolski, a town in Greater Poland Voivodeship (west-central Poland) * Ostrów, Greater Poland Voivodeship in Greater Poland Voivodeship ( ...

History

Ostrów was granted

town rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

in 1434 by Duke

Bolesław IV of Warsaw Boleslav or Bolesław may refer to: In people: * Boleslaw (given name) In geography: *Bolesław, Dąbrowa County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland *Bolesław, Olkusz County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland *Bolesław, Silesian Voivodeship, Pol ...

. Its name comes from the

Old Polish The Old Polish language ( pl, język staropolski, staropolszczyzna) was a period in the history of the Polish language between the 10th and the 16th centuries. It was followed by the Middle Polish language. The sources for the study of the Ol ...

word ''ostrowa''. In 1461 a parish school was founded in the town. In 1514, Duchess Anna Radziwiłł, who is commemorated in the town with a monument, established four annual fairs and a weekly market, boosting the development of Ostrów. In the 16th century Polish King

Sigismund II Augustus Sigismund II Augustus ( pl, Zygmunt II August, lt, Žygimantas Augustas; 1 August 1520 – 7 July 1572) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548. He was the first ruler ...

built a residence in Ostrów. Ostrów was a Polish royal town, administratively located in the

in the Greater Poland Province of the Kingdom of Poland. The town's inhabitants took part in the Kościuszko Uprising of 1794; however, the following year it was annexed by

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 ...

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 1807 it was included in 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 ...

, and in 1815 it became part of so-called Congress Poland within the

Russian Partition The Russian Partition ( pl, zabór rosyjski), 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 Po ...

of Poland. Many inhabitants took part in several battles of the Polish January Uprising of 1863–1864 against Russia, and an insurgent hospital was located in Ostrów. Ostrów was subjected to anti-Polish repressions, was one of the sites of Russian executions of Polish insurgents, and there are memorials at the execution sites. Despite such circumstances, in the following decades, various Polish organizations were founded in Ostrów. In the 19th century, the town saw a significant influx of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

settlers as a result of Russian discriminatory policies, and according to the 1897 census, 5,660 inhabitants out of 10,471 were Jews. During

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 ...

, it was occupied by

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, in 1918 it became part of restored independent Poland, and in 1920 a battle was fought on the town's outskirts during the

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 (' ...

World War II

During the joint German-Soviet

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 ...

, Ostrów Mazowiecka was captured by Germany on September 8, 1939, and in mid-September the '' Einsatzgruppe V'' entered the town to commit various atrocities against the population. Already on 19 September the Germans arrested nine

Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in C ...

, including chairmen of local veterans' organizations Włodzimierz Gadomski and Jan Radbalski. On 9 November 1939, one of the German soldiers set fire to the buildings on 3-ego Maja Street. The German authorities accused the Jews of starting the fire. On 11 November (though according to other sources, on 10 November) 500–800 Jews were killed. The Polish underground resistance movement was organized already in autumn of 1939. The first resistance organizations in the area were Service for Poland's Victory, , , National Military Organization, Secret Polish Army, , , . Major Eugeniusz Mieszkowski '' nom de guerre Ostry'' unified the resistance organizations into a district of the

Home Army The Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK; ) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) est ...

under the cryptonym "Opocznik" ("

wheatear The wheatears are passerine birds of the genus ''Oenanthe''. They were formerly considered to be members of the Thrush (bird), thrush family, Turdidae, but are now more commonly placed in the Old World flycatcher, flycatcher family, Muscicapid ...

").''Księga pamięci żołnierzy Armii Krajowej Obwodu Ostrów Maz. 1939-1944'', p. 10 It covered the Ostrów County, and was divided into five centers, one of which was located in the town. In addition to typical military, sabotage, and intelligence activities, the resistance movement also organized secret Polish education and issued and distributed underground Polish press. In July 1941, the Germans briefly operated the Stalag 324

prisoner-of-war 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. ...

in the town. On May 1, 1943, the Home Army blew up the headquarters of the German ''Arbeitsamt'' in retaliation for round-ups and deportations of the local population for forced labour.''Księga pamięci żołnierzy Armii Krajowej Obwodu Ostrów Maz. 1939-1944'', p. 14 On May 25, 1943, the Polish resistance successfully assassinated the chief of the local German administration, in retaliation for which the Germans massacred about 140 Poles. The German occupation ended in 1944, and Ostrów was restored to Poland, although with a Soviet-installed communist regime, which stayed in power until the

Fall of Communism The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Nat ...

in the 1980s. The

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

and UB repressed members of the Polish resistance movement and began arresting and deporting them to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

in September 1944.''Księga pamięci żołnierzy Armii Krajowej Obwodu Ostrów Maz. 1939-1944'', p. 23 Many members of the Home Army soon returned to the underground and continued their resistance against the communists.

Transport

Ostrów Mazowiecka is located at the intersection of Polish S8 and S61 highways, with the latter still under construction (as of 2021).

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Ostrów Mazowiecka is twinned with: * Brembate di Sopra, Italy *

Ryazan Ryazan ( rus, Рязань, p=rʲɪˈzanʲ, a=ru-Ryazan.ogg) is the largest city and administrative center of Ryazan Oblast, Russia. The city is located on the banks of the Oka River in Central Russia, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 Cens ...

, Russia * Iziaslav, Ukraine

Notable people

* Jadwiga Długoborska (1899–1944), teacher, social and charity worker * Jan Dołęga-Zakrzewski (1866–1936), politician, surveyor, publicist, mayor of Ostrów Mazowiecka (1930-1933) * Krystyna Sienkiewicz (1934–2017), actress and singer

Gallery

WNMP Ostrów.jpg, Church of the Assumption Ostrow-Mazowiecka-19HLZPGJ.jpg, Duchess Anna Radziwiłł monument Ostrow-Mazowiecka-19HMAFXQ-jatki.jpg, Mensa carnifiucium Park miejski im. Jana Pawła II w Ostrowi Mazowieckiej – Panoramio.jpg, Municipal park

References

External links

Jewish Community in Ostrów Mazowiecka
on Virtual Shtetl Cities and towns in Masovian Voivodeship Ostrów Mazowiecka County Masovian Voivodeship (1526–1795) Łomża Governorate Warsaw Voivodeship (1919–1939) Shtetls Holocaust locations in Poland {{Masovian-geo-stub