Toszek | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Coat of arms | |
  Toszek | |
| Coordinates:50°27′N18°31′E / 50.450°N 18.517°E /50.450; 18.517 | |
| Country |  Poland |
| Voivodeship | Silesian |
| County | Gliwice |
| Gmina | Toszek |
| Town rights | about 1235 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Grzegorz Kupczyk |
| Area | |
• Total | 9.67 km2 (3.73 sq mi) |
| Population (2019-06-30[1]) | |
• Total | 3,600 |
| • Density | 370/km2 (960/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 44-180 |
| Car plates | SGL |
| Climate | Cfb |
| National roads |  |
| Voivodeship roads |  |
| Website | http://www.toszek.pl/ |
Toszek[ˈtɔʂɛk] (German:Tost) is a town in southernPoland. It is situated withinGliwice County in theSilesian Voivodeship (province),[2] and its population was estimated at 3,600 inhabitants in 2019. It is situated on the Toszecki Potok River, atributary ofKłodnica.
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The beginning of the settlement and fortified keep dates back to the 9th and 10th centuries when the area was ruled by thePiasts,Mieszko I of Poland and laterBolesław I the Brave.[3] The fortified keep had grown to the size of a town during the rule ofDuke of WrocławBolesław I the Tall and during his rule it received town rights in 1235. After 1281 it became the seat of the regional Duchy and title of local ruler Bolesław was "the enlightened Bolesław, Duke of Toszek". In the 14th century the original Polish settlement passed to theCrown of Bohemia. In 1536, the city receivedMagdeburg rights from KingFerdinand I of Bohemia.
In 1593Rudolf II soldthe castle and the area to Freiherr von Redern auf Groß Strehlitz. UnderHabsburg rule, like many other areas in Silesia, the Toszek area was subjected toGermanisation, however a large portion of the population remainedPolish.[4] In 1645, along with the Duchy of Opole, Toszek returned to Polish rule under theHouse of Vasa. Toszek (Tost) burned down on 18 August 1677, and was looted in 1807. From 1742, the town belonged toPrussia and from 1871 was also part ofGermany. From 1791 to 1797 it was owned byJoseph von Eichendorff. Administratively, it was part of the Tost-Gleiwitz district in theProvince of Silesia. It became part of theProvince of Upper Silesia in 1919, close to the Polish border. According to the German census of 1871, the town had a population of 1,775, of which 900 (50.7%) werePoles.[5] On 20 March 1921, theUpper Silesia plebiscite was held in which a majority of inhabitants voted to remain in Germany rather than rejoin Poland, which just regained independence followingWorld War I (1348 or 86% vs. 217 or 13.8%, at 97.4% turnout). Local Polish activists were intensively persecuted since 1937.[6] DuringKristallnacht, theJews of Toszek were sent by the Germans toconcentration camps, where later they were all murdered.[7]
During theSecond World War, the civilian internment camp IIag VIII was situated in the city. English civilians, interned in theCamp Schoorl (Netherlands), were transferred to Tost on 3 September 1940. The writerP.G. Wodehouse was among the British internees: he is recorded as having commented on the region, "If this isUpper Silesia, one wonders whatLower Silesia must be like...".[8] From November 1943 to November 1944, the German Nazi government operated the Oflag 6prisoner-of-war camp forFrench officers.[9] The Germans also operated the E478forced labour subcamp of theStalag VIII-B/344 POW camp in the town.[10] After the war, a SovietNKVD camp was established in the town where between June–December 1945 about 3,000 incarcerated people died. About 1,000 prisoners were from Silesia includingWrocław, but from July 1945 the NKVD brought in thousands more prisoners from theBautzen area of Saxony. Sybille Krägel[11] from Saxony, whose father died in the Tost prison, and others, traced the prisoner lists and over 4,500 are identified by now with 800 more yet unidentified.[12] A memorial to NKVD victims is placed in Toszek.[13]
Following the 1945Potsdam Agreement the town once more became part of Poland.
There is a train station in Toszek. The PolishNational road 94 andVoivodeship road 907 pass through Toszek, and theA4 motorway runs nearby, south of the town.
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