Żalno is a village in the administrative district of

Gmina Kęsowo __NOTOC__ Gmina Kęsowo is a rural gmina (administrative district) in Tuchola County, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-central Poland. Its seat is the village of Kęsowo, which lies approximately south-west of Tuchola and north of Bydgos ...

, within

Tuchola County __NOTOC__ Tuchola County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, north-central Poland. It came into being on 1 January 1999 as a result of the Polish local government reforms pas ...

Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship * Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship is one of the 16 voivodeships (provinces) in Poland. * Kuyavian-Pomeranian is one of 13 Polish constituency of the European Parliament. * Kuyavian-Pomeranian Regional Assembly is the regional legislature of t ...

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

Tuchola Tuchola (; ) is a town in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship in northern Poland. The Pomeranian town, which is the seat of Tuchola County, had a population of 13,418 . Geographical location Tuchola lies about north of Bydgoszcz, close to th ...

, and north of

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...

History

Żalno was a private village of the Żaliński

noble family Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the rea ...

Poraj coat of arms Poraj is a Polish Coat of Arms. Used by several knighthood families of medieval Poland and noble families of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth - those descended in the male-line from the Poraj family and those allowed into the heraldic clan ...

, administratively located in the Tuchola County in the

Pomeranian Voivodeship Pomeranian Voivodeship ( ; ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship, or province, in northwestern Poland. The provincial capital is Gdańsk. The voivodeship was established on January 1, 1999, out of the former voivodeships of Gdańsk Voivo ...

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 ...

. It was annexed by

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

in the

First Partition of Poland The First Partition of Poland took place in 1772 as the first of three partitions that eventually ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. The growth of power in the Russian Empire threatened the Kingdom of Prussia an ...

in 1772. Following

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 ...

, Poland regained independence and control of the village. During the

German occupation of Poland German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

(

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

), Żalno was one of the sites of executions of

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

, carried out by the Germans in 1939 as part of the ''

Intelligenzaktion The ''Intelligenzaktion'' (), or the Intelligentsia mass shootings, was a series of mass murders committed against the Polish people, Polish intelligentsia (teachers, priests, physicians, and other prominent members of Polish society) during the ...

''. Polish farmers from Żalno were also among the victims of large massacres of Poles from the region, perpetrated by the ''

Selbstschutz ''Selbstschutz'' (German for "self-protection") is the name given to different iterations of ethnic-German self-protection units formed both after the First World War and in the lead-up to the Second World War. The first incarnation of the ''Sel ...

'' in 1939 in nearby

Rudzki Most Rudzki Most () is a district of Tuchola, Poland, located in the south-eastern part of the town, along the west bank of the Brda River. It is on the edge of the Tuchola Landscape Park, and was incorporated into the town limits and jurisdiction of ...

. In 1941, the occupiers carried out expulsions of Poles, who then were deported to

forced labour Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, or violence, including death or other forms of ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, while their houses were handed over to

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

colonists as part of the ''

Lebensraum (, ) is a German concept of expansionism and Völkisch movement, ''Völkisch'' nationalism, the philosophy and policies of which were common to German politics from the 1890s to the 1940s. First popularized around 1901, '' lso in:' beca ...

'' policy. Further expulsions of Polish inhabitants were carried out in 1942 and 1943, and the Poles were deported to the

Potulice concentration camp Potulice concentration camp () was a concentration camp established and operated by Nazi Germany during World War II in Potulice near Nakło in the territory of occupied Poland. Until the spring of 1941 it was a subcamp of the Stutthof concentra ...

, and some were eventually sent to forced labour in Germany.Wardzyńska (2017), pp. 122, 135

References

Villages in Tuchola County {{Tuchola-geo-stub