Solec Kujawski (Polish pronunciation: ; german: Schulitz) is a town in north-central

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

with 15,505 inhabitants, located in

Bydgoszcz County __NOTOC__ Bydgoszcz County ( pl, powiat bydgoski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, north-central Poland. It was created on 1 January 1999 as a result of the Polish local gove ...

in the

Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, also known as Cuiavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship or simply Kujawsko-Pomorskie, or Kujawy-Pomerania Province ( pl, województwo kujawsko-pomorskie ) is one of the 16 voivodeships (provinces) into which Poland is divid ...

. It is situated within the historic region of

Kuyavia Kuyavia ( pl, Kujawy; german: Kujawien; la, Cuiavia), also referred to as Cuyavia, is a historical region in north-central Poland, situated on the left bank of Vistula, as well as east from Noteć River and Lake Gopło. It is divided into three ...

, around southeast of

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz ( , , ; german: Bromberg) is a city in northern Poland, straddling the meeting of the River Vistula with its left-bank tributary, the Brda. With a city population of 339,053 as of December 2021 and an urban agglomeration with more ...

. The town features Saint Stanislaus in its coat of arms.

Urban parts

*Makowiska *Otorowo *Przyłubie *Solec Kujawski - City *Wypaleniska

History

The oldest known mention of Solec dates back to 1263, when it was part of the Duchy of Kuyavia within fragmented

Piast The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I (c. 930–992). The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of king Casimir III the Great. Branch ...

-ruled

. From 1267 it was part of the Polish

Duchy of Inowrocław The Duchy of Inowrocław ( pl, Księstwo Inowrocławskie) was one of the territories created during the period of the fragmentation of Poland. It was originally part of the Duchy of Kuyavia, but was separated by Ziemomysł and Władysław I th ...

, which in the 14th century was transformed into the

Inowrocław Voivodeship Inowrocław Voivodeship ( pl, województwo inowrocławskie) was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland from the 14th century to the First Partition of Poland in 1772. Together with the neighbouring Brześć Kujawski Voiv ...

of the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to: Historical political entities * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031 * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exi ...

, which soon became part of the larger Greater Poland Province. In 1325 Duke

Przemysł of Inowrocław Przemysł of Inowrocław (pl: ''Przemysł inowrocławski''; ca. 1278 – November 1338/16 February 1339), was a Polish prince member of the House of Piast, Duke of Inowrocław during 1287-1314 (under the regency of his mother until 1294 and his b ...

vested Solec with

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 traditio ...

, which were confirmed by various Polish kings in the following centuries. In the First Partition of Poland in 1772, the town 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 ...

, which introduced

Germanisation Germanisation, or Germanization, is the spread of the German language, people and culture. It was a central idea of German conservative thought in the 19th and the 20th centuries, when conservatism and ethnic nationalism went hand in hand. In ling ...

policies, confiscated Polish estates and limited Polish education. In 1807 Solec was regained by Poles and included within the short-lived

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 was re-annexed by Prussia, initially as part of the semi-autonomous

Grand Duchy of Poznań The Grand Duchy of Posen (german: Großherzogtum Posen; pl, Wielkie Księstwo Poznańskie) was part of the Kingdom of Prussia, created from territories annexed by Prussia after the Partitions of Poland, and formally established following th ...

. After the unsuccessful Polish

November Uprising The November Uprising (1830–31), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in ...

of 1830–1831, Germanisation policies intensified, and in 1832 the Prussians completely removed the Polish language from offices. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, in 1918, Poland regained independence, and the Greater Poland Uprising broke out, which goal was to reunite the region and town with Poland. A battle was fought nearby, and the town was eventually reintegrated with Poland. Just before the outbreak of

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the Poles were preparing for the German invasion, while the local

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

minority members were preparing to carry out crimes against Poles. Local Germans carried out acts of sabotage against the Polish Army even before the German army entered the town on September 7, 1939, and afterwards they were organized into 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 ''Selb ...

'' whose task was to exterminate Poles. During the German

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 af ...

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

soldiers and local German minority members murdered 44 people from the town already on September 14. Some of the victims were brutally beaten with rifles (up to the point that they broke apart). The town was then occupied by Germany until 1945. 42 Poles from Solec were executed by the Germans in October and early November 1939 in various places in the town. Some Poles were dragged out of their homes at night by the ''Selbstschutz'' and shot in the municipal park. Others were imprisoned by the ''Selbstschutz'', beaten unconscious and murdered on the spot or at the local market. On the outskirts of the town, the ''Selbstschutz'' murdered at least 50 Poles, who hailed from

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to t ...

. The town was subjected to harsh

policies, Polish schools were closed down, and the usage of the Polish language was forbidden. The Germans destroyed both the memorial and the tombstone of Polish insurgents of 1918–1919. About 1,000 Poles were expelled from Solec to the General Government, and some were also deported to

Nazi concentration camps From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as concen ...

. Jan Mąkowski, local Catholic parish priest in the 1920s, was imprisoned in the

Stutthof Stutthof was a Nazi concentration camp established by Nazi Germany in a secluded, marshy, and wooded area near the village of Stutthof (now Sztutowo) 34 km (21 mi) east of the city of Danzig (Gdańsk) in the territory of the German- ...

and Sachsenhausen concentration camps, and killed in the latter in 1940. The Germans brought

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

, French and

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

to the town as forced labour. In the final stages of the war Solec was restored to Poland. The memorial and the tombstone of Polish insurgents of 1918–1919 were rebuilt, and a new monument, which also commemorates the fallen in World War II, was erected in 1999.

Points of interest

The dinosaur park is located in the town. The Duke Przemysł Museum of Solec ('' Muzeum Solca im. księcia Przemysła'') is the local historic museum. South of Solec Kujawski there is the longwave-transmitter Solec Kujawski.

Sports

The local football team is . It competes in the lower leagues.

Gallery

SolecKuj ratusz2 7-2015.jpg, Town hall SolecKuj muzeum4 7-2015.jpg, Museum of Solec Jura Park Solec Kujawski.JPG, JuraPark Solec SolecKuj kscNSPJ3 7-2015.jpg, Sacred Heart church

References

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Bydgoszcz County Populated places on the Vistula Massacres in Poland Nazi war crimes in Poland