Radomsko | |
|---|---|
 City Museum in the historicRatusz | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
  Radomsko | |
| Coordinates:51°4′N19°27′E / 51.067°N 19.450°E /51.067; 19.450 | |
| Country |  Poland |
| Voivodeship |  Łódź |
| County | Radomsko |
| Gmina | Radomsko(urban gmina) |
| Established | 11th century |
| First mentioned | 1243 |
| City rights | 1266 |
| Government | |
| • City Mayor | Jarosław Ferenc |
| Area | |
• Total | 62.01 km2 (23.94 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 254 m (833 ft) |
| Lowest elevation | 220 m (720 ft) |
| Population (31 December 2021) | |
• Total | 44,700 [1] |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 97-500 |
| Vehicle registration | ERA |
| Website | http://www.radomsko.pl |
Radomsko (pronounced[raˈdɔmskɔ]ⓘ) is a city in southernPoland with 44,700 inhabitants (2021).[1] It is situated on theRadomka river in theŁódź Voivodeship. Located in theSieradz Land, it is the county seat ofRadomsko County.
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Radomsko dates back to the 11th century.[2] The oldest known mention of Radomsko comes from a document ofKonrad I of Masovia from 1243.[2] It receivedtown privileges from DukeLeszek II the Black ofSieradz in 1266. During the times of fragmentation ofPiast-ruledPoland, it was part of theSeniorate Province andDuchy of Sieradz, and afterwards it was a county seat androyal town of the Kingdom of Poland, administratively located in theSieradz Voivodeship in theGreater Poland Province.[3] In 1288, Duke Leszek II the Black broughtFranciscans to the town, and in 1328, KingLadislaus the Short funded the construction of theGothic Franciscan church.[4]
In 1382 and 1384, congresses ofPolish nobility were held in Radomsko, during which PrincessJadwiga of Poland was chosen as Queen of Poland as the country's first female monarch.[5] It was probably Radomsko where an agreement was concluded under which the future king of PolandWładysław II Jagiełło married Jadwiga, hence founding theJagiellonian dynasty.[4] Nowadays, Queen Jadwiga is considered thepatron saint of Radomsko.[5] The town developed under the patronage of the Jagiellonian dynasty, and was granted important trade and taxprivileges by KingsWładysław II Jagiełło in 1427 andSigismund II Augustus in 1549 and 1552.[2]
In 1793 as a consequence of theSecond Partition of Poland the town became part of theKingdom of Prussia. In 1807 it became part of the PolishDuchy of Warsaw, then in 1815 part ofCongress Poland within theRussian Empire. In 1846 the section of theWarsaw–Vienna railway that ran through the town opened, providing a railway connection to Warsaw. Inhabitants took part in theNovember andJanuary uprisings against Russia.[2] One of the first battles of the PolishJanuary Uprising in the region took place in Radomsko on January 24, 1863.[6] Further clashes between Polish insurgents and Russian troops took place in Radomsko on March 14 and June 24, 1863.[7] After the fall of the January Uprising,anti-Polish repressions, includingRussification policies, intensified.[2] The Russian administration expelled Franciscan monks from the town.[4]
DuringWorld War I, the town was occupied byAustria. On 7 November 1918, local inhabitants and members of the secretPolish Military Organisation disarmed the Austrians and liberated the town, four days before Poland officially regained independence.[8] Polish political prisoners were then released.[8] The Franciscans came back to their monastery in 1918.[4]
On 1 September 1939, the first day of the Germaninvasion of Poland that startedWorld War II, the Germans air raided the town.[9] Dozens of civilians were killed in the bombings. Radomsko was taken over by theWehrmacht on 3 September 1939.[10] The next day, the Germans carried out executions ofPoles in the present-day districts of Bartodzieje, Folwarki and Stobiecko Miejskie.[2] On 6–8 September 1939, theEinsatzgruppe II entered the town, and then carried out mass arrests of Poles, and searched Polish offices and organizations.[11]Polish underground resistance was organized already in October 1939.[9] There was alsosecret Polish schooling.[2]
In March 1940, the Germans carried out mass arrests of 60 Poles in the town and county.[12] In April 1940 aNazi ghetto was set up in the Przedborze district for localPolish Jews. Over 120 Poles from Radomsko and the area were murdered by the Russians in the largeKatyn massacre in April–May 1940.[13] During theGerman AB-Aktion, 53 Polish teachers and school principals were arrested on 11 June 1940, and further mass arrests of Poles were carried out in August 1940[14] and in 1941.[2] The victims were interrogated by theGestapo, deported toconcentration camps or murdered in the forests nearOlsztyn during large massacres carried out in June, July and October 1940[15] or in the Kopiec district and nearby villages.[2] In September 1942, the GermanKreishauptmann (district administrator) issued a document stating that Poles in the city and county werehiding Jews who had escaped from the ghetto, and reminded of the death penalty imposed on Poles for giving shelter to Jews or supplying them with food.[16] The ghetto was liquidated in two stages duringthe Holocaust. The first deportation action took place in early October 1942 with prisoners sent aboardfreight trains to theTreblinka extermination camp. On 12 October, approximately 9,000 Jews were deported. A small group of Jewishslave laborers was allowed to stay. They were sent to Treblinka in January 1943. Radomsko was declaredJudenfrei. In retaliation, the unit ofArmia Krajowa ambushed and shot the Chief of Gestapo Willy Berger and his deputy Johann Wagner on 27 May 1943. The German pacification action took place on 3 August 1943 inRejowice. The settlement was levelled; some AK soldiers were captured and brought to Radomsko. The Nazi prison in Radomsko, located at the historicRatusz, was attacked by AK on the night of 7–8 August 1943; and the prisoners were rescued. The attack was led byPorucznik Stanisław "Zbigniew" Sojczyński.[9] There are multiple known cases of local Poles, who were persecuted by the Germans forrescuing Jews.[17]
To eliminate the "Polish bandits" in the vicinity of Radomsko, some 1,000SS and Wehrmacht soldiers were called in by the German administration. The battle was fought on 1 June 1944 near Krzętów, against about 80 AK partisans led by Florian "Andrzej" Budniak. The German army, unfamiliar with the local forest, lost 250 men and retreated. The second battle was launched on 12 September 1944 near Ewina. It was one of the biggest battles of thePolish underground in World War II, fought for several hours. The 3rd Brigade ofArmia Ludowa (PAL) with 600 partisans, stood against the German force ten times larger. The losses of the enemy were estimated at approximately 100 killed and 200 wounded. The Polish losses amounted to 12 killed partisans, 11 wounded, and several missing. The battles earned Radomsko the Nazi German nickname of 'Banditenstadt', meaning 'the City of Bandits'.[2]
In 1944, during and following theWarsaw Uprising, the Germans carried out deportations of Varsovians from theDulag 121 camp inPruszków, where they were initially imprisoned, to Radomsko.[18] Those Poles were mainly old people, ill people and women with children.[18] In 1945, the German occupation ended and the town was restored to Poland, although with aSoviet-installed communist regime, which then stayed in power until theFall of Communism in the 1980s.
In April 1946, 167 partisans of theUnderground Polish Army attacked a communist prison and liberated over 50 prisoners.[19] In the following weeks, the communists increased repressions and arrested about 150 people associated with theresistance movement.[19] In May 1946, the communists sentenced 17 participants of the action from April 1946, including 12 to death.[19] Those sentenced to death were brutally murdered, and then their bodies were thrown into a well near thePilica river.[19]
The Culture Center and the Regional Museum were opened in 1967 and 1969, respectively.[19] From 1975 to 1998, Radomsko was located in thePiotrków Voivodeship. In December 1981, the communists imprisoned eight localSolidarity members.[19] The local people gathered and tried to stop the transport of the arrested activists, however, they were still interned by the communists inSieradz and thenŁowicz.[19]
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ThePolish Railway line 1, which connectsWarsaw andKatowice, the country's two largest metropolitan areas, runs through the town.Polish State Railways (PKP) provide Radomsko with connections with various cities throughout Poland, includingŁódź,Częstochowa,Sosnowiec,Gliwice,Wrocław,Toruń,Bydgoszcz,Gdańsk,Gdynia,Białystok,Olsztyn andLublin.
The town can also be reached by thePolish National road 1, theA1 autostrada (highway), which connects the largest Polish port city ofGdańsk in the north with theKatowice urban area and theCzech Republic–Poland border atGorzyczki in the south. The town is also located on the Polish National roads 42 and91, and theEuropean route E75, which connects northernNorway andFinland withGreece.
The officially protectedtraditional foods originating from Radomsko areradomszczańska zalewajka and tatarczuch of Radomsko (as designated by theMinistry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland).Radomszczańska zalewajka is a distinct type ofzalewajka, a traditional Polish soup made of diced and boiledpotatoes, sour rye (żur) made ofsourdough bread, andsłonina withskwarki. It differs from other types by the use of dried mushrooms and localsmetana.[20] Tatarczuch is a sweet,honey-tastingbrown bread made ofbuckwheatflour.[21]
RKS Radomskofootball club was founded in 1979. It competes in the lower leagues, although in the past it played in thePoland's top division.
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Radomsko istwinned with:
Seat:Radomsko (urban gmina) | ||
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| International | |
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| National | |
| Geographic | |
| Other | |
