Bocheń is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in the administrative district of

Gmina Łowicz __NOTOC__ Gmina Łowicz is a rural gmina (administrative district) in Łowicz County, Łódź Voivodeship, in central Poland. Its seat is the town of Łowicz, although the town is not part of the territory of the gmina. The gmina covers an area of ...

, within

Łowicz County __NOTOC__ Łowicz County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Łódź Voivodeship, central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its ...

Łódź Voivodeship Łódź Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) of Poland. The province is named after its capital and largest city, Łódź, pronounced . Łódź Voivodeship is bordered by six other voivodeships: Masovian Voivodeship ...

, in central

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. It lies approximately west of

Łowicz Łowicz is a town in central Poland with 27,436 inhabitants (2021). It is situated in the Łódź Voivodeship. Together with a nearby station of Bednary, Łowicz is a major rail junction of central Poland, where the line from Warsaw splits into ...

and northeast of the regional capital,

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

History

Bocheń dates back to

prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

early medieval The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Middle Ages of Europ ...

times. The village was mentioned in a medieval document from 1359. During the

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

, which started

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 ...

, on September 16, 1939, the Germans murdered 15

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

farmers in Bocheń. 12 Polish farmers from Bocheń and nearby Guźnia were also murdered that day by

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

troops near the Rydwan lake, south of Bocheń and Guźnia (see also ''

Nazi crimes against the Polish nation War crime, Crimes against the Polish nation committed by Nazi Germany and Axis powers, Axis collaborationist forces during the invasion of Poland, along with Schutzmannschaft#Police battalions, auxiliary battalions during the subsequent occu ...

''). 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 ...

the village was an important center of Polish resistance, and even underground Polish press was issued there.

Notable people

* Adam of Łowicz (died in 1514), Polish Renaissance humanist, writer and philosopher, professor of medicine at the

University of Kraków The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the oldest universities in continuous operation in the wor ...

, and rector of the university in 1510–1511

References

Villages in Łowicz County Sites of Nazi war crimes during the Invasion of Poland Sites of World War II massacres of Poles {{Łowicz-geo-stub