Powiercie is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

in the administrative district of Gmina Koło, within

Koło County __NOTOC__ Koło County ( pl, powiat kolski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Greater Poland Voivodeship, west-central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government ...

Greater Poland Voivodeship Greater Poland Voivodeship ( pl, Województwo wielkopolskie; ), also known as Wielkopolska Voivodeship, Wielkopolska Province, or Greater Poland Province, is a voivodeship, or province, in west-central Poland. It was created on 1 January 1999 ...

, in west-central Poland. It lies approximately east of

Koło Koło (; during the German occupation called ''Wartbrücken'' in 1940–41, ''Warthbrücken'' in 1941–45) is a town on the Warta River in central Poland with 23,101 inhabitants (2006). It is situated in the Greater Poland Voivodship (since 199 ...

and east of the regional capital

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 ...

. The village has a population of 710. An agricultural school is situated here, formerly a gardening school.

World War II

During the most deadly phase of

the Holocaust in Poland The Holocaust in Poland was part of the European-wide Holocaust organized by Nazi Germany and took place in German-occupied Poland. During the genocide, three million Polish Jews were murdered, half of all Jews murdered during the Holocaust. ...

on January 16, 1942, the ''SS'' and police began deportations from the

Łódź Ghetto The Łódź Ghetto or Litzmannstadt Ghetto (after the Nazi German name for Łódź) was a Nazi ghetto established by the German authorities for Polish Jews and Roma following the Invasion of Poland. It was the second-largest ghetto in all of ...

to the

Chełmno extermination camp , known for = , location = Near Chełmno nad Nerem, ''Reichsgau Wartheland'' (German-occupied Poland) , built by = , operated by = , commandant = Herbert Lange, Christian Wirth , original use = , construction = , in operatio ...

nearby. German officials transported the Jews from Łódź by train to

railway station, six miles (10 km) northwest of

Chełmno Chełmno (; older en, Culm; formerly ) is a town in northern Poland near the Vistula river with 18,915 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is the seat of the Chełmno County in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. Due to its regional impor ...

. There, the ''SS'' and police personnel supervised transfer of the Jews from the freight as well as passenger trains, to smaller-size cargo trains running on a narrow-gauge track, which took them from Koło to the Powiercie station.Alan Heath, "Unloading the Victims
YouTube video
(deportation photo, 1 minute). Narration by Alan Heath. Beginning in late July 1942, the victims were brought to the camp directly after the regular railway line linking Koło with Dąbie was restored; the bridge over the Rgilewka River had been repaired.Alan Heath, "Bridge over Rgilewka
YouTube vido.
Narration by Alan Heath. As round-ups in Łódź normally took place in the morning, it was usually late afternoon by the time the victims arrived by rail. Therefore, they were marched to a disused mill at Zawadki some two kilometres from Powiercie where they spent the night. The mill continued to be used after the railway repairs, if transports arrived late.Alan Heath, "Route to Zawadka
YouTube video.
Narration by Alan Heath. The following morning the Jews were transported from Zawadki by truck, in numbers which could be easily controlled at their destination point. They were "processed" immediately upon arrival at the manor-house camp.Alan Heath, "The Warta at Zawadki
YouTube video
Narration by Alan Heath.

References

{{coord, 52, 11, N, 18, 42, E, region:PL_type:city, display=title Powiercie