Działdowo

{{Infobox settlement | name = Działdowo | image_skyline = {{multiple image | perrow = 1/2 | border = infobox | total_width = 266 | image1 = Dzialdowo1.jpg{{!}}Aerial view of Działdowo | image2 = 2024-07 Działdowo (11).jpg{{!}}Działdowo Castle | image3 = 2024-07 Działdowo (12).jpg{{!}}Town hall | caption1 = Aerial view | caption2 = Działdowo Castle | caption3 = Town hall }} | image_flag = POL Działdowo flag.svg | image_shield = POL Działdowo COA.svg | pushpin_map = Poland | pushpin_label_position = bottom | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = {{POL}} | subdivision_type1 = Voivodeship | subdivision_name1 = Warmian-Masurian | subdivision_type2 = County | subdivision_name2 = Działdowo | subdivision_type3 = Gmina | subdivision_name3 = Działdowo <small>(urban gmina)</small> | leader_title = Mayor | leader_name = Grzegorz Mrowiński | established_title = Established | established_date = 14th century | established_title3 = Town rights | established_date3 = 1344 | area_total_km2 = 13.35 | population_as_of = 31 December 2021<ref name="population">{{Cite web |url=https://bdl.stat.gov.pl/BDL/dane/teryt/jednostka |title=Local Data Bank |access-date=2022-08-02 |publisher=Statistics Poland}} Data for territorial unit 2803011.</ref> | population_total = 20935 | population_density_km2 = auto | timezone = CET | utc_offset = +1 | timezone_DST = CEST | utc_offset_DST = +2 | coordinates = {{coord|53|14|N|20|11|E|region:PL|display=title,inline}} | postal_code_type = Postal code | postal_code = 13-200 | area_code = +48 23 | blank_name = Car plates | blank_info = NDZ | blank_name_sec2 = Voivodeship roads | blank_info_sec2 = 32px 32px 32px | website = https://www.dzialdowo.pl }}

'''Działdowo''' ({{IPA|pl|d͡ʑau̯ˈdɔvɔ|pron}}; {{langx|de|Soldau}}, {{Langx|prg|Saldawa}}) is a town in northern Poland{{TERYT}} with 20,935 inhabitants as of December 2021,<ref name="population" /> the capital of Działdowo County. As part of Masuria, it is situated in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship.

Founded in the Middle Ages and granted town rights in 1344, the town features heritage sites in various styles, including Gothic, Baroque, Gothic Revival and Baroque Revival, a preserved medieval urban layout with a market square and a medieval castle. It is particularly known as the location of the Soldau concentration camp during the German occupation of Poland in World War II. The town is a major railroad junction connecting the capital city of Warsaw with Gdańsk and Olsztyn to the north.

== Geography == {{Adjacent communities | width = auto | state = expanded | Centre = Działdowo | North = Ostróda Dąbrówno Burkat | South = Kurki | E = Malinowo | SE = Kisiny Iłowo-Osada Mława | SW = Księży Dwór | W = Wysoka <b>Lidzbark</b> | NE = Nidzica Kozłowo Komorniki | NW = Rudolfowo }}

== History == The first settlement in the vicinity, known as ''Sasinowie'' in Polish and ''Sassen'' in German, was established by the Old Prussians, an indigenous Baltic tribe. The Teutonic Knights conquered the region and built a castle, a wing of which still remains. The new settlement near the castle founded by Mikołaj z Karbowa and named Soldov was granted town privileges on 14 August 1344 by the Grand Master Ludolf König. The name Dzialdoff was first written on a 1409 map during the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War.<ref name="Marek Przybyszewski" />

=== Polish sovereignty === thumb|left|Działdowo Castle

In 1444, the town joined the anti-Teutonic Prussian Confederation, at the request of which King Casimir IV Jagiellon signed the act of incorporation of the region to the Kingdom of Poland in 1454,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Górski |first=Karol |title=Związek Pruski i poddanie się Prus Polsce: zbiór tekstów źródłowych |year=1949 |publisher=Instytut Zachodni |location=Poznań |language=pl |pages=XXXVIII, 54}}</ref> and then the townspeople expelled the Teutonic Knights and recognized the Polish King as rightful ruler.<ref name="SG">{{Cite book |title=Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom II |year=1881 |language=pl |page=262}}</ref> During the subsequent Thirteen Years' War, the town was briefly captured by the Teutonic Knights in 1455.{{r|SG}} After the peace treaty signed in Toruń in 1466, it became a part of Poland as a fief held by the State of the Teutonic Knights.<ref>Górski, pp. 96-97, 214-215</ref>

Within the Duchy of Prussia (a Polish fiefdom until 1657), the settlement converted to Lutheranism during the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. The following communes belonged to the Protestant parish of Soldau: Borowo, Bursz, Gajówki, Kisiny, Komorniki, Księży Dwór, Kurki, Malinowo, Pierławki, Prusinowo, Rudolfowo, Wysoka, and Zakrzewo.

=== Kingdom of Prussia and Germany === thumb|The castle in the 19th century thumb|Exaltation of the Holy Cross church

In 1701, the town became part of the Kingdom of Prussia, from 1773 on within the newly formed province of East Prussia. Within the Kingdom of Prussia and the later German Empire, the settlement developed into an important Prussian Eastern Railway junction in the second half of the 19th century.

The town had a Polish majority in 1825, with 1,496 Poles and 386 Germans living within it.<ref>Stanisław Salmonowicz, Gerard Labuda, Kazimierz Ślaski (1993), ''Historia Pomorza: (1815-1850), Gospodarka, Społeczeństwo'', page 163.</ref> At the same time, the Prussian authorities were hostile to the local population due to its Polish pro-independence activity during the November and January Uprisings in Congress Poland. During the January Uprising of 1863 an ammunition depot and contact point was secretly established by local people trying to help their fellow Poles in the struggle against the Russian Empire; it was located at the house of Doctor Russendorf.<ref name="dzialdowo"/> Prussian authorities arrested several locals and harassed the local population which tried to form military units to aid the uprising.<ref name="autogenerated2">Jerzy Łapo, [http://www.sztetl.org.pl/pl/article/dzialdowo/3,historia-miejscowosci/ History of Działdowo] ''Virtual Shtetl'' 2014.</ref> The area remained Polish despite attempts at Germanisation. In 1815, 79% of the local population were Poles, and only 21% Germans. In 1837, 74% were Poles and 26% Germans. In the second half of the 19th century, 87% of the district's population were Poles. With the increase of Germanisation efforts in 1910, the whole district population was divided among 57% Poles, 42% Germans and 1% Jews according to official German statistics.<ref name="autogenerated2" /> In 1910, the town itself had 4,728 inhabitants, 3,589 of them Germans.<ref name="Marek Przybyszewski">Marek Przybyszewski, [https://web.archive.org/web/20101022004220/http://www.historia.terramail.pl/opracowania/nowozytna/zamek_centrum_administracji.html IBH Opracowania - Zamek w Działdowie jako centrum administracyjne ziemi sasińskiej (Castle in Działdowo as Centre of Government).] Archive, 22 October 2010.</ref> In 1912, the Germans introduced the terms "Masurs" and "Masurian language" instead of "Poles" and "Polish language" in the census in the area.<ref name="autogenerated2" /> It was part of the ''Landkreis Neidenburg'' district in East Prussia, and it was the southernmost town in the province.

The town was fought over in the early stages of World War I. It was briefly occupied by Russian troops and won back by the Germans during the Battle of Tannenberg. The occupation of Soldau is described in Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's novel ''August 1914''.

=== Interwar Poland === thumb|Postcard from 1928

Despite the attempts of the local German populace and authorities and the German Government, the town together with neighboring settlements was transferred to reborn Poland on 17 January 1920 by the Treaty of Versailles for geostrategic reasons without participating in the East Prussian plebiscite.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Ostpreussen, Geschichte und Mythos |first=Andreas |last=Kossert |publisher=Siedler |year=2005 |isbn=3-88680-808-4 |page=283 ff |language=de}}</ref> The Prussian Eastern Railway connection to German Prussia such as Deutsch Eylau (Iława), Osterode (Ostróda), and Neidenburg (Nidzica) in East Prussia were severed after the border changes. After the town was ceded to Poland, a large number of the German inhabitants left, including not only German-speakers, but, at roughly the same percentage, Polish-speakers, despite Polish campaigns to win them over as Polish nationals.<ref>Charles W. Ingrao, Franz A.J. Szabo (Eds.): ''The Germans and the East'', p. 264</ref>

The candidate of the German Party, Ernst Barczewski, was elected to the Sejm with 74.6% of votes in 1920,<ref name="Kossert">{{Cite book |title=Masuren Ostpreussens vergessener Süden |quote="74,6 Prozent der Soldauer Stimmen gingen an den Kandidaten der deutschen Soldauer Bewegung [...] Dennoch gelang Superintendent Barczewksi 1928 mit 34,6 Prozent der Stimmen der Einzug in den Warschauer Senat" |first=Andreas |last=Kossert |year=2006 |isbn=3-570-55006-0 |page=284 |publisher=RM-Buch-und-Medien-Vertrieb |language=de}}</ref> and to the Polish Senate with 34.6% of votes for the Bloc of National Minorities in 1928.<ref name="Kossert"/> In 1921, the Polish census gave the following data regarding the ethnic composition of the whole district: Poles, 15,496; Germans, 8,187; others, 44.<ref name="autogenerated2" />

During the Polish-Soviet War, Działdowo was briefly occupied by the Red Army, which was cheered as a liberator by the local German populace, with the Red Army hoisting the German flag again.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1920/08/16/archives/russians-hoist-the-german-flag-over-soldau-say-polish-corridor-will.html NY Times report: Russians Hoist the German Flag Over Soldau. August 16, 1920.]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=80r6Mbnxf8IC&pg=PA37&vq=soldau&hl=de&source=gbs_search_r&cad=1_1Richard Blanke, Orphans of Versailles]</ref> However, the city was soon recovered by the Polish Army.

The city became a part of the Warsaw Voivodeship in 1938 after being a part of the Pomeranian Voivodeship for 19 years.

=== World War II === [[File:Działdowo - Monument to victims of KL Soldau.jpg|thumb|Monument to victims of the German Nazi Soldau concentration camp]]

During the German Nazi - Russian Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939 that began World War II, the town was invaded by Germany, and then the ''Einsatzgruppe V'' entered to commit crimes against the Polish population.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wardzyńska |first=Maria |year=2009 |title=Był rok 1939. Operacja niemieckiej policji bezpieczeństwa w Polsce. Intelligenzaktion |language=pl |location=Warszawa |publisher=IPN |page=54}}</ref> Under German occupation, the town was annexed back into the Neidenburg District by Nazi Germany. The German minority in the town formed the ''Selbstschutz'' death squad that captured and tortured Polish leaders and members of the political and cultural elites before murdering them.<ref name="dzialdowo">[https://web.archive.org/web/20120216001914/http://www.dzialdowo.pl/?miasto.historia.1939_1945 Nasze miasto. Historia: Lata 1939–1945.] Dzialdowo.pl {{in lang|pl}}</ref> Only some of the local Polish activists were caught by the Germans, as most fled and hid under assumed names in the General Government (German-occupied central Poland).<ref name="mc">{{Cite journal |last=Cygański |first=Mirosław |year=1984 |title=Hitlerowskie prześladowania przywódców i aktywu Związków Polaków w Niemczech w latach 1939-1945 |journal=Przegląd Zachodni |language=pl |issue=4 |page=44}}</ref>

In 1939, the occupiers established the Dulag Soldau prisoner-of-war camp for captured Polish soldiers at the pre-war Polish military barracks.<ref name="mw">Wardzyńska, p. 227</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Megargee |first1=Geoffrey P. |last2=Overmans |first2=Rüdiger |last3=Vogt |first3=Wolfgang |year=2022 |title=The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV |publisher=Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum |page=527 |isbn=978-0-253-06089-1}}</ref> In December 1939 it was converted into a camp for Polish civilians arrested during the ''Intelligenzaktion'',<ref name="mw"/> which later became the Soldau concentration camp, at which 10,000–13,000 prisoners out of 30,000 were murdered.<ref name="Marek Przybyszewski" /> The first mass transport of Polish prisoners came to the camp from the nearby Ciechanów County in December 1939, and those were the victims of the first mass execution in the camp.<ref>Wardzyńska, p. 228</ref> The Germans also operated two forced labour camps in the town.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=100001148 |title=Arbeitserziehungslager Soldau |website=bundesarchiv.de |access-date=23 October 2021 |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=1115 |title=Straf- bzw. Arbeitserziehungslager Soldau |website=bundesarchiv.de |access-date=23 October 2021 |language=de}}</ref> In 1943 in Warsaw, activists from Działdowo established the secret Masurian Research Institute (''Mazurski Instytut Badawczy''), which was part of the Polish Secret Teaching Organization.<ref name="mc"/>

The town was heavily damaged during the fighting on the Eastern Front. The Soviet NKVD operated an assembly point for captured Polish resistance members in the town, who were then deported to Siberia.<ref name="bc">{{Cite book |last=Chrzanowski |first=Bogdan |editor-last=Górski |editor-first=Grzegorz |year=1999 |title=Polskie Państwo Podziemne na Pomorzu 1939–1945 |language=pl |location=Toruń |publisher=Fundacja Archiwum Pomorskie Armii Krajowej |page=134 |chapter=Gloria Victis – tragiczny epilog |isbn=83-910175-3-2}}</ref> The Poles either returned to Poland later on, or died in Soviet captivity.<ref name=bc/> It was then restored to Poland.

=== Present day === The city became a part of the Warsaw Voivodeship in 1945, a part of Olsztyn Voivodeship in 1950, a part of Ciechanów Voivodeship in 1975 and a part of Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship in 1999.

== Transport == thumb|Railway station

The town is located at the intersection of the Voivodeship roads 542, 544, 545. There is also a train station on the Gdańsk-Warsaw line, with daily connections to Gdańsk, Warsaw and Olsztyn.

== Notable residents == * Kasia Stankiewicz (born 1977), singer * Nina Patalon (born 1986), Polish footballer and manager * Mateusz Sobotka (born 2004), footballer

== International relations == {{Main|List of twin towns and sister cities in Poland}}

Działdowo is twinned with: * {{flagicon|GER}} Hersfeld-Rotenburg, Germany * {{flagicon|UKR}} Truskavets, Ukraine

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == {{Commons category|Działdowo}} * [http://www.dzialdowo.pl/ Official town webpage] {{in lang|pl}} * [https://sztetl.org.pl/en/towns/d/492-dzialdowo Jewish community of Działdowo] on Virtual Shtetl

Category:Cities and towns in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship Category:Działdowo County Category:Cittaslow Category:Holocaust locations in Poland Category:Sites of Nazi war crimes in the Invasion of Poland Category:Intelligenzaktion massacre locations Category:Masuria