{{Short description|Largest prison in Poland}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}} thumb|right|Main entrance with the clock tower thumb|right|100px|One of the buildings of the Wronki Prison '''Wronki Prison''' ({{langx|pl|Zakład Karny Wronki}}) is the largest<ref>{{in lang|pl}} Agata Pilarska-Jakubczak, [http://www.sw.gov.pl/index.php/forum/more/534 Biją bo lubią] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091015091046/http://www.sw.gov.pl/index.php/forum/more/534 |date=15 October 2009 }}, Forum Penitencjarne, 2009-8, Centralny Zarząd Służby Więziennej</ref><ref name=frank>{{in lang|pl}} Anna Frankowska, [http://prawo.money.pl/aktualnosci/wiadomosci/artykul/63%3Bzl%3Bkosztuje%3Bjeden%3Bdzien%3Bw%3Bwiezieniu,52,0,359220.html 63 zł kosztuje jeden dzień w więzieniu], 2008-08-05, Money.pl</ref><ref name=dept>{{in lang|pl}} Jacek Deptuła, [http://www.pomorska.pl/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080927/REPORTAZ/615878842 Ciasno i duszno, Wysoki Sądzie], Gazeta Pomorska, 27 września 2008</ref> prison in Poland, holding over 1400 prisoners. Established by the German Empire in 1889, it is located in the town of Wronki, within the Greater Poland Voivodeship.
==History== Wronki Prison, three four-story buildings in a cross formation, was designed to accommodate 750–800 prisoners, accompanied by buildings housing the guards and other auxiliary personnel. It was built in 1889 by the Prussian government of Germany and brought into use in 1894 as the ''Zentralgefängnis für die Provinz Posen''.<ref name=govpl>{{in lang|pl}} [http://www.sw.gov.pl/index.php/jednostki/10/349 Ogólnopolski Portal Służby Więziennej – ZK Wronki] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091201014405/http://www.sw.gov.pl/index.php/jednostki/10/349 |date=1 December 2009 }}</ref><ref name=hcz>{{in lang|pl}} Henryk Czarnecki, [http://hczarnecki.republika.pl/wronki.htm Centralne Więzienie Wronki – Rys historyczny] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180217144815/http://hczarnecki.republika.pl/wronki.htm |date=17 February 2018 }}</ref><ref name=townoff>[http://www.wronki.pl/spacer.php?pan_id=1101-1001-1070 Więzienie] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080429160751/http://www.wronki.pl/spacer.php?pan_id=1101-1001-1070 |date=29 April 2008 }}, official pages of Wronki town and gmina</ref> It was modeled on contemporary American prisons (the Philadelphia System).<ref name=govpl/><ref name=townoff/> Prisoners were employed in production of stockings and in other tasks.<ref name=govpl/><ref name=townoff/> In 1890, the New York Times reported that a "town prison" building in Prussian Wronke was the site of a fatal scaffolding collapse. At least two workers were killed, and dozens were injured.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1890-11-24 |title=CURRENT FOREIGN TOPICS. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1890/11/24/archives/current-foreign-topics.html |access-date=2024-08-28 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
On 30 December 1918 the prison was taken over by Polish insurgents of the Greater Poland Uprising.<ref name=hcz/> The prisoners were set free while the prison became a temporary barracks for the insurgents. The prison resumed operations in late July 1919 as part of the new prison system of the Second Polish Republic.<ref name=hcz/> In interwar Poland the prison was used as a site for political prisoners.<ref name=govpl/>
During the invasion of Poland, the prisoners were set free.<ref name=govpl/> It was then taken over by Nazi Germany, first used as a temporary holding place for prisoners of war and incorporated into the Nazi Germany prison system in Reichsgau Wartheland.<ref name=hcz/> Most prisoners at that time were Polish political prisoners; the prison was heavily overpopulated (it was during that time that the highest number of prisoners was reported: 4,358),<ref name=hcz/><ref name=townoff/> and prisoners were mistreated.<ref name=hcz/> At least 804 people (out of about 20,000 who passed through it at that time) died in the Wronki Prison during German occupation of Poland.<ref name=hcz/><ref name=townoff/>
In 1945 when the prison was taken over by the Soviet and Polish forces, it was used briefly to hold German prisoners of war and other German prisoners.<ref name=hcz/> After the war, from 1945–1955, the prison was attached to the Ministry of Public Security and again used for political prisoners.<ref name=govpl/> A notable group of prisoners early on was formed from former soldiers of the Polish Home Army.<ref name=hcz/> The prison was still overcrowded, often holding about 3,000 prisoners,<ref name=hcz/> and prisoners were again mistreated.<ref name=hcz/><ref>Marek Jan Chodakiewicz: The Dialectics of Pain: The Interrogation Methods of the Communist Secret Police in Poland, 1944–1955. Glaukopis, vol. 2/3 (2004–2005), [http://www.projectinposterum.org/docs/chodakiewicz2.htm Reproduced online].</ref> About 250 prisoners died during that period, out of over 15,000 imprisoned.<ref name=hcz/><ref name=townoff/>
In 1958 a metalwork business was added to the prison.<ref name=govpl/>
Currently, the prison employs 400 personnel.<ref name=govpl/> Its official capacity is 1474 inmates; overcrowding (in late June 2009 it held 1658; in 2004 it had 1783) is causing concern.<ref name=frank/><ref name=gaz1>{{in lang|pl}} Piotr Żytnicki, [http://wyborcza.pl/1,76842,6922648,Do_sadu__bo_cela_byla_za_ciasna.html Do sądu, bo cela była za ciasna], Gazeta Wyborcza, 13 August 2009</ref><ref name=gaz2>{{in lang|pl}} Piotr Żytnicki, [http://miasta.gazeta.pl/poznan/1,41265,6920953,Wiezniowie_chca_odszkodowan__Maja_za_ciasno.html Więźniowie chcą odszkodowań. Mają za ciasno], Gazeta Wyborcza Poznań, 13 August 2009</ref><ref>{{in lang|pl}} [http://poznan.naszemiasto.pl/wydarzenia/369156.html Wronki głodują spokojnie], BAS, PM, 27 May 2004</ref>
==Structure and organization== The prison has an infirmary, a section for mentally ill patients, a chapel, library, sports center and secondary level educational institution (capacity of 90 prisoners).<ref name=govpl/>
Currently the prison is designed to hold male prisoners serving repeated terms from 3 months to 25 years.<ref name=townoff/>
Prisoners are employed by the prison, attached metalwork business and other workplaces, as well as for the town and gmina Wronki.<ref name=govpl/>
==Notable prisoners== {{Div col}} *Irena Bobowska<ref>{{in lang|pl}} [http://www.blekitna14.poznan.pl/dzwiez/patronka.html Irena "Nenia" Bobowska – patronka "Więzi"]{{Dead link|date=April 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> *Stepan Bandera<ref name=townoff/><ref>{{in lang|pl}} Janusz Marciszewski, [http://wielkopolska.naszemiasto.pl/turystyka/specjalna_artykul/15004.html Uwolnić Banderę] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090703045814/http://wielkopolska.naszemiasto.pl/turystyka/specjalna_artykul/15004.html |date=3 July 2009 }}, NaszeMiasto.pl</ref> *Wiesław Chrzanowski<ref name=tp2>{{in lang|pl}} [http://www.tygodnik.com.pl/numer/2746/listyspletta362000.html Listy w sprawie biskupa Spletta], Tygodnik Powszechny, Nr 46 (2746), 18 listopada 2001</ref><ref name=money>{{in lang|pl}} [http://www.money.pl/archiwum/wiadomosci_agencyjne/pap/artykul/ipn%3Bumorzyl%3Bsledztwo%3Bws%3Bzbrodni%3Bw%3Bstalinowskim%3Bwiezieniu,60,0,407100.html IPN umorzył śledztwo ws. zbrodni w stalinowskim więzieniu], Money.pl, 8 December 2008</ref> *Stanisław Karolkiewicz<ref>{{in lang|pl}} [http://www.money.pl/archiwum/wiadomosci_agencyjne/pap/artykul/byly%3Bprezes%3Bzwiazku%3Bzolnierzy%3Bak%3Bgen%3Bkarolkiewicz%3Bwalczy%3Bo%3Bdobre%3Bimie,17,0,216593.html Były prezes związku żołnierzy AK, gen. Karolkiewicz, walczy o dobre imię], Money.pl, 18 January 2007</ref> *Jacek Kuroń<ref name=tp1>{{in lang|pl}} Elżbieta Tarkowska, [http://www.tygodnik.com.pl/dodatek-ks/02/tarkowska.html Ścieżki Jacka Kuronia], Tygodnik Powszechny, Nr 46 (2784), 17 listopada 2002</ref> *Rosa Luxemburg<ref name=townoff/> *Stefan Mossor<ref name=money/> *Stanisław Skalski<ref name=money/> *Carl Maria Splett<ref name=tp2/> *Stanisław Tatar<ref name=money/> * Wojciech Korfanty * Zenon Kossak {{div col end}}
==Notes== <!--See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Footnotes for an explanation of how to generate footnotes using the <ref(erences/)> tags--> {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{in lang|pl}} [http://hczarnecki.republika.pl/wojna.htm A Polish prisoner from the time of Nazi German occupation of Poland recalls his experiences in Wronki Prison] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180128201526/http://hczarnecki.republika.pl/wojna.htm |date=28 January 2018 }} *{{in lang|pl}} [http://www.lex.com.pl/czasopisma/gs/cyrulik.html X sędzią w stanie spoczynku Wojciechem Cyruliczkiem rozmawia Krzysztof Bachorzewski], Gazeta Sądowa, PAŹDZIERNIK 2007 (interview with a former judge and director of Wronki prison) *[http://www.wronki.pl/spacer_/img_upload/orig/wiezienie%20-%20makieta.jpg Model of a prison made by one of the inmates]{{Dead link|date=April 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
==Further reading== {{Commons category|Więzienie we Wronkach}} *Excerpt of memoirs from a prisoner of Wronki Prison shortly before 1950: Stéphane Courtois, Mark Kramer, ''The black book of communism: crimes, terror, repression'', Harvard University Press, 1999, {{ISBN|0-674-07608-7}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=H1jsgYCoRioC&pg=PA383 Google Print, p.383] *J. Stępień, Wspomnienia z wiezienia w Wronkach (Memoirs of an ex-prisoner from the Wronki Prison), Rocznik Nadnotecki 21, 1990, p. 63–80 *Zygmunt Pociecha, ''System Wronki (dot. Centralnego Wiezienia Karnego w latach 50-tych)'' (System Wronki, concerning the Central Prison in Wronki during the 50s), in ZH (Zeszyty Historyczne) 98/1991, p. 107–137 *Eligiusz Grupiński, ''Ofiary zakladu karnego we Wronkach w latach 1946–1956 pochowane na cmentarzu parafialnym we Wronkach'' (The victims of the prison in Wronki in the years 1946–1956 buried on the cemetery in Wronki), Rocznik Nadnotecki 21, 1990, p. 89–102 *Władysław Minkiewicz, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=zrVGnwEACAAJ Mokotów—Wronki—Rawicz: wspomnienia 1939–1954]'' (Mokotów – Wronki – Rawicz: memoirs 1939–1954), Niezależna Oficyna Wydawnicza & Oficyna Wydawnicza "Pokolenie", 1988 *Tadeusz Wolsza, ''W cieniu Wronek, Jaworzyna i Piechcina—1945–1956: życie codzienne w polskich więzieniach, obozach i ośrodkach pracy więźniów'' (In the shadow of Wronki, Jaworzyn and Piechcin – 1945–1956: everyday life in Polish prisons camps and labor centers for prisoners), Instytut Historii PAN, 2003, {{ISBN|83-88909-06-1}} *Anna Walendowska-Garczarczyk, ''Eksterminacja Polaków w zakładach karnych Rawicza i Wronek w okresie okupacji hitlerowskiej 1939–1945'' (Extermination of Poles in Rawicz and Wronki prisons during Nazi occupation 1939–1945), Issue 91 of Seria Historia Volume 91, Wydawn. Nauk. Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, 1981
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Category:1889 establishments in Germany Category:Defunct prisons in Germany Category:Prisons in Poland Category:Wronki Category:Buildings and structures in Greater Poland Voivodeship