Zamch is a village in the administrative district of

Gmina Obsza Gmina Obsza is a rural gmina (administrative district) in Biłgoraj County, Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland. Its seat is the village of Obsza, which lies approximately south-east of Biłgoraj and south of the regional capital Lublin. The ...

, within

Biłgoraj County Biłgoraj County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Lublin Voivodeship, eastern Poland. It was established on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its adminis ...

Lublin Voivodeship Lublin Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) of Poland, located in the southeastern part of the country, with its capital being the city of Lublin. The region is named after its largest city and regional capital, Lu ...

, in south-eastern Poland. It lies approximately east of

Obsza Obsza is a village in Biłgoraj County, Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Obsza. It lies approximately south-east of Biłgoraj and south of the regional capital Lublin ...

, south-east of

Biłgoraj Biłgoraj (, ''Bilgoray'', ) is a town in south-eastern Poland with 25,838 inhabitants as of December 2021. Since 1999 it has been situated in Lublin Voivodeship; it was previously located in Zamość Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is located sou ...

, and south of the regional capital

Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...

History

Zamch was a ''

starostwo ''Starostwo'' (literally " eldership") is an administrative unit established from the 14th century in the Polish Crown and later in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth until the partition of Poland in 1795. Starostwos were established in the ...

'', administered by the Pilecki and

Zamoyski The House of Zamoyski (plural: Zamoyscy) is an important Poland, Polish noble (''szlachta'') family Magnates of Poland and Lithuania, belonging to the category of Polish magnates. They used the Jelita coat of arms. The surname "Zamoyski" litera ...

noble families. In 1578, in Zamch,

Jan Zamoyski Jan Sariusz Zamoyski (; 19 March 1542 – 3 June 1605) was a Polish nobleman, magnate, statesman and the 1st '' ordynat'' of Zamość. He served as the Royal Secretary from 1565, Deputy Chancellor from 1576, Grand Chancellor of the Crown f ...

received the Polish King

Stephen Bathory Stephen or Steven is an English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is widely regarded as the firs ...

, and leading Polish Renaissance poet

Jan Kochanowski Jan Kochanowski (; 1530 – 22 August 1584) was a Polish Renaissance poet who wrote in Latin and Polish and established poetic patterns that would become integral to Polish literary language. He has been called the greatest Polish poet before ...

also visited the village. Following the 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, the village was occupied by Germany until 1944. On 16 August 1943, the German occupiers and Ukrainian auxiliaries committed a massacre of eight

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

. On 2 March 1945, the

Ukrainian Insurgent Army The Ukrainian Insurgent Army (, abbreviated UPA) was a Ukrainian nationalist partisan formation founded by the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) on 14 October 1942. The UPA launched guerrilla warfare against Nazi Germany, the S ...

committed a massacre of 15 Poles.

Notable people

Rafał Hadziewicz Rafał Hadziewicz (13 October 1803, Zamch – 7 September 1883, Kielce) was a Polish painter; primarily of portraits and religious works, and an expert on ancient culture. Biography From 1816 to 1822, he attended the Royal Lyceum (formerly th ...

(1803–1883), Polish painter

References

Villages in Biłgoraj County Sites of Nazi war crimes in Poland Sites of World War II massacres of Poles {{Biłgoraj-geo-stub