Szamocin () is a town in

Chodzież County __NOTOC__ Chodzież County () 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 reforms passed ...

Greater Poland Voivodeship Greater Poland Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship, or province, in west-central Poland. The province is named after the region called Greater Poland (''Wielkopolska'' ). The modern province includes most of this historic re ...

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 ...

History

''Szamoczino'' in the Piast-ruled

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 ...

was first mentioned in a 1364 deed, although it surely existed earlier and was probably founded in the 12th century. It was a private village of Polish nobility, administratively located in the Kcynia County in the Kalisz Voivodeship in the Greater Poland Province. It received town privileges from the hands of King

Augustus III of Poland Augustus III (; – "the Saxon"; ; 17 October 1696 5 October 1763) was List of Polish monarchs, King of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1733 until 1763, as well as List of rulers of Saxony, Elector of Saxony i ...

in 1748. 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 the town was annexed by the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

. After the successful Greater Poland uprising of 1806, it was regained by Poles and included within the short-lived

Duchy of Warsaw The Duchy of Warsaw (; ; ), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a First French Empire, French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during the Napoleonic Wars. It initially comprised the ethnical ...

. It was re-annexed by Prussia in 1815, whereafter it was governed within the Kreis Kolmar in Posen, part of the Grand Duchy of Posen. During the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

, the town evolved to a centre of the

weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal ...

industry. From 1871 it was part 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 ...

. After

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 ...

, in 1918, Poland regained independence, and the Greater Poland Uprising broke out, which goal was to reintegrate the region with the reborn Polish state. On January 13, 1919, the town was captured by Polish insurgents led by Maksymilian Bartsch, but was lost to Germany on the same day. The insurgents made an unsuccessful attempt to recapture the town, however in accordance to the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...

it was still reintegrated with the newly established

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

in 1921. After the joint German-Soviet

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 ...

, in September 1939, it was captured by Germany, and already on September 17, the Germans murdered two Polish boy scouts in the town. Inhabitants of Szamocin were also among 41 Poles murdered in the nearby village of Morzewo on November 7, 1939. On December 10–12, 1939, the Germans expelled hundreds of Polish and

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

inhabitants from the town to the

General Government The General Government (, ; ; ), formally the General Governorate for the Occupied Polish Region (), was a German zone of occupation established after the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, Slovak Republic (1939–1945), Slovakia and the Soviet ...

. In 1943, the German administration renamed the town ''Fritzenstadt'', to erase traces of Polish origin. After the German occupation ended in 1945, the original Polish name was restored.

Sports

The local

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club is Sokół Szamocin. It competes in the lower leagues.

Notable people

* Ernst Toller (1893–1939), playwright * Heinz Seelig (1909–1992), Israeli architect *

Adam Szejnfeld Adam Stanisław Szejnfeld (; born 13 November 1958) is a Polish politician. He was elected to the Sejm on 25 September 2005, getting 26,568 votes in 38 Piła district as a candidate from the Civic Platform list. Life and career In the 80's he wa ...

(born 1958), politician; councillor and Mayor of Szamocin 1990–1998 * Bartosz Ślusarski (born 1981), footballer * Radosław Cierzniak (born 1983), footballer

Nearby municipalities

* Margonin * Chodzież

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Szamocin is twinned with: * Grasberg,

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20080111035809/http://www.szamocin.umig.gov.pl/ {{Authority control Cities and towns in Greater Poland Voivodeship Chodzież County Historic Jewish communities in Poland