Czempiń is a town in
Kościan County,
Greater Poland Voivodeship,
Poland. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 4,921.
History
As part of the region of
Greater Poland
Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; german: Großpolen, sv, Storpolen, la, Polonia Maior), is a Polish historical regions, historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed ...
, i.e. the cradle of the Polish state, the area formed part of Poland since its establishment in the 10th century. It was a
private town, administratively located in the Kościan County in the
Poznań Voivodeship in the
Greater Poland Province. The Szołdrski family erected a
Baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
palace in Czempiń.
During the
German occupation of Poland (
World War II), several prominent
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 Ce ...
from Czempiń were among the victims of massacres of Poles committed by the Germans in nearby
Kościan on October 2 and 23, 1939 and in the forest near Kościan on November 7, 1939 (see also: ''
Intelligenzaktion''). In 1939, 1941 and 1943, the occupiers carried out
expulsions of Poles, whose houses were then handed over to
German colonists as part of the ''
Lebensraum'' policy.
Poles expelled in 1939 and 1943 were deported to the
General Government
The General Government (german: Generalgouvernement, pl, Generalne Gubernatorstwo, uk, Генеральна губернія), also referred to as the General Governorate for the Occupied Polish Region (german: Generalgouvernement für die be ...
in the more eastern part of German-occupied Poland, whereas expellees from 1941 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, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...
in Germany.
[ Some local teachers were among Polish teachers murdered in the Mauthausen concentration camp.][Wardzyńska (2009), p. 214] In 1940, the Germans renamed the town to ''Karlshausen'' in attempt to erase traces of Polish origin.
Transport
The Voivodeship road 310 runs through Czempiń, and the S5 highway passes nearby, west of the town. There is a train station in Czempiń.
Sports
The local football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
club is Helios Czempiń. It competes in the lower leagues.
References
Cities and towns in Greater Poland Voivodeship
Kościan County
Poznań Voivodeship (1921–1939)
{{GreaterPoland-geo-stub