Totskoye () is a rural locality (a '' selo'') and the

administrative center An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgiu ...

of Totsky District of

Orenburg Oblast Orenburg Oblast (also Orenburzhye) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), mainly located in Eastern Europe. Its administrative center is the city of Orenburg. From 1938 to 1957, it bore the name Chkalov Oblast in honor of Valery Chkal ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. Population:

History

The settlement was founded in 1736. During

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 ...

, it was the site of a

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as Prisoner of war, prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, inte ...

that became notorious for a

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...

epidemic in the winter of 1915-1916. More than 9,000 of 17,000 prisoners died. Czech writer

Jaroslav Hašek Jaroslav Hašek (; 1883–1923) was a Czechs, Czech writer, Humorism, humorist, Satire, satirist, journalist, Bohemianism, bohemian, first anarchist and then communist, and commissar of the Red Army against the Czechoslovak Legion. He is best k ...

was one of its survivors. During

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 ...

, it was the site of a

for Polish prisoners. In 1941–1942, the 6th and 7th Infantry Divisions of the Polish Anders' Army were formed and stationed in Totskoye. Poles were housed in makeshift camps in dire conditions, mostly in tents and dugouts, and suffered from shortages of food, medicine, warm clothing and footwear. Due to extreme cold reaching , the Poles were relocated to

Shahrisabz Shahrisabz, lit. "Green City" in Persian, is a district-level city in Qashqadaryo Region in southern Uzbekistan. The Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) has selected Shakhrisabz as its tourism capital for 2024. It is located approximately 80& ...

and Karmana in early 1942. A monument for Polish soldiers is erected there. In 1954, the Totskoye range was the site of the Soviet nuclear tests. Totskoye is also the site of the Totskoye air base.

References

External links

Red Poppies in Totskoye

A gallery of the Kresy-Siberia Society
Rural localities in Orenburg Oblast Buzuluksky Uyezd 1736 establishments in Europe Populated places established in 1736 {{Orenburg-geo-stub