Łomża ( Polish pronunciation: [ˈwɔmʐa] ) is a city in north-eastern Poland , approximately 150 kilometres (93 mi) to the north-east of Warsaw and 80 kilometres (50 mi) west of Białystok . It is situated alongside the Narew river as part of the Podlaskie Voivodeship . It is the capital of Łomża County and has been the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Łomża since 1925.
122-443: Łomża is one of the principal economic, educational, and cultural centres of north-eastern Masovia as well as one of the three main cities of Podlaskie Voivodeship (beside Białystok and Suwałki ). It lends its name to the protected area of Łomża Landscape Park . The town is also the location of the Łomża Brewery . Łomża was founded in the 10th century, on the site of the present day village called Stara Łomża ( Old Łomża ). It
244-422: A conversation with Prime Minister David Lloyd George , commented sarcastically: "The war of giants has ended, the wars of the pygmies begin." The Polish–Soviet War was the longest lasting of the international engagements. The territory of what had become Poland had been a major battleground during World War I and the new country lacked political stability. It had won the hard-fought Polish–Ukrainian War against
366-588: A definitive ruling in regard to Poland's eastern border but on 8 December 1919, the Allied Supreme War Council issued a provisional boundary (its later version would be known as the Curzon Line ). It was an attempt to define the areas that had an "indisputably Polish ethnic majority". The permanent border was contingent on the Western powers' future negotiations with White Russia , presumed to prevail in
488-494: A few days later. The number of Jews herded into the Łomża Ghetto from surrounding villages and towns including Jedwabne , Stawiski , Piątnica , Rotki , Wizna , Łomża, and others, ranged from 10,000 to 18,000. Over two-thousand people were murdered in the Giełczyn Forest outside of town. Many Jews perished from malnutrition and diseases such as dysentery and typhus . The rest were shipped to Auschwitz . The Łomża synagogue
610-786: A group of mathematicians from the University of Warsaw and the University of Lwów (most notably the founders of the Polish School of Mathematics – Stanisław Leśniewski , Stefan Mazurkiewicz and Wacław Sierpiński ), who succeeded in breaking the Soviet Russian ciphers as well. During the Polish–Soviet War, the Polish decryption of Red Army radio messages made it possible to use Polish military forces efficiently against Soviet Russian forces and to win many individual battles, most importantly
732-587: A local Polish offensive action of 13–16 February, led by General Antoni Listowski, near Byaroza , Belarus. The event has been presented as the beginning of the war of liberation by the Polish side, or of Polish aggression by the Russian side. By late February, the Soviet westward offensive had come to a halt. As the low-level warfare continued, the Polish units crossed the Neman River, took Pinsk on 5 March and reached
854-490: A municipal swimming pool to open in 2011, which is the second such facility in the city. Masovia Mazovia or Masovia ( Polish : Mazowsze [maˈzɔfʂɛ] ) is a historical region in mid-north-eastern Poland . It spans the North European Plain , roughly between Łódź and Białystok , with Warsaw being the unofficial capital and largest city. Throughout the centuries, Mazovia developed
976-824: A public speech, however, they ended in October 1861 when the Russians imposed martial law . Afterwards the Polish resistance began preparations for an uprising. In 1863 the January Uprising broke out and many local Poles joined it. In July 1863, the Russians carried out a massacre of 50 unarmed young Poles in the nearby forest in Wygoda , mainly students of local schools, who joined the uprising. The victims were tortured and murdered in gruesome ways: some had their eyes gouged out, bones broken, or insides torn out before they died. From November 1863,
1098-518: A result of the fragmentation of Poland after the death of Polish monarch Bolesław III Wrymouth , in 1138 the Duchy of Mazovia was established, and during the 12th and 13th centuries it joined temporarily various adjacent lands and endured invasions of Prussians , Yotvingians , and Ruthenians . To protect its northern section Conrad I of Mazovia called in the Teutonic Knights in 1226 and granted them
1220-644: A separate sub-culture featuring diverse folk songs, architecture, dress and traditions different from those of other Poles . Historical Mazovia existed from the Middle Ages until the partitions of Poland and consisted of three voivodeships with the capitals in Warsaw , Płock and Rawa . The main city of the region was Płock , which was even capital of Poland from 1079 to 1138; however, in Early Modern Times Płock lost its importance to Warsaw, which became
1342-543: A takeover of the western part of the province. The Polish–Ukrainian warfare there was discontinued from late May, and in early September an armistice was signed. On 21 November 1919, after contentious deliberations, the Allied Supreme War Council mandated Polish control over eastern Galicia for 25 years, with guarantees of autonomy for the Ukrainian population. The Conference of Ambassadors , which replaced
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#17328521222191464-614: A year and a half for a full-scale war to develop. The Western powers considered any significant territorial expansion of Poland, at the expense of Russia or Germany, to be highly disruptive to the post-World War I order. Among other factors, the Western Allies did not want to give Germany and Russia a reason to conspire together. The rise of the unrecognized Bolshevik regime complicated this rationale. The Treaty of Versailles , signed on 28 June 1919, regulated Poland's western border. The Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920) had not made
1586-542: Is Pałac Kultury i Nauki . Masovia also boasts 11 Historic Monuments of Poland : Historical monuments elsewhere include the manor house in Żelazowa Wola where composer Frédéric Chopin was born and his museum is located nowadays. Płock, once the seat of the Mazovian princes, and Łowicz , the residence of the archbishops of Gniezno , are noted for their cathedrals . There are also palaces and parks in Nieborów and Arkadia,
1708-460: Is Płock , where large petrochemical plants PKN Orlen operate. The rest of Mazovia belongs to the poorest parts of Poland. In agriculture the most typical Mazovian crops are potatoes and rye , but the most popular (as in the whole of Poland) is wheat. Others are barley , sugar beets , fruits (with their biggest Polish basin in the south of the region), and vegetables. Pigs are commonly bred, often also cows and chickens. Kampinos National Park
1830-551: Is 33,500 km . It has population of 5 million (3 million of them inhabit the metropolis of Warsaw ). Inhabited by the various Lechitic West Slavic tribes, Vistula Veneti and with other people who had settled here such as the Wielbark people. The historical region of Mazovia ( Mazowsze ) in the beginning encompassed only the territories on the right bank of Vistula near Płock and had strong connections with Greater Poland (through Włocławek and Kruszwica ). In
1952-463: Is also referred to as the "War of 1920" ( Polish : Wojna 1920 roku ). The ending year of the conflict is variously given as either 1920 or 1921; this confusion stems from the fact that while the ceasefire came into force on 18 October 1920, the official treaty ending the war was signed on 18 March 1921. While the events of late 1918 and 1919 can be described as a border conflict and only in spring 1920 were both sides engaged in an all-out war ,
2074-610: Is among the oldest high schools in Poland. In 1618 a great fire destroyed most of the city, and six years later, an epidemic killed 5,021 persons decimating its population. A series of disasters (including the Swedish invasion and the Cossack raids) resulted in its rapid decline. The 3rd Polish National Cavalry Brigade was stationed in Łomża before the Third Partition of Poland. As a result of
2196-447: Is evidence of many Jewish and Protestant gravestones at the Łomża cemeteries, particularly the two abandoned Jewish cemeteries. The history of education in Łomża dates back to the early 15th century, when the first parish was founded. In 1614, Jesuits residing in Łomża created a Collegium (present-day I Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Tadeusza Kościuszki). One of its rectors was Andrew Bobola . The educational level has not decreased after
2318-415: Is high, based on the results of the exams and countrywide lists. For example, I Liceum Ogólnokształcące rates as a top national and central Poland school. The economy of Łomża is closely connected to its natural environment, with agricultural and forestry industries at the forefront of the region's economic development. The economy is ecologically friendly, including the food industries, brewing, electronics,
2440-579: Is no specific regional cuisine of Mazovia. Formerly, dairy foods dominated the peasant cuisine. Nobles used poultry, geese, chickens and ducks. The most separate Mazovian culinary regions are Kurpie and Łowicz , where traditional dishes survive to the present day. In Kurpie, traditional dishes are prepared with ingredients collected in the forest: berries, honey and mushrooms. There are several traditional Polish dishes like flaki (tripes), kluski (noodles and dumplings), which are prepared in different way than in other parts of Poland. Mazovian Voivodeship
2562-735: Is one of Poland's largest national parks and is popular with tourists making day trips from Warsaw to hike among the park's primeval forests, sand dunes, and marshland. The main cultural centre of the region, and, alongside Kraków , in all of Poland, is Warsaw, which is home to dozens of theatres, the National Philharmonic, the National Opera House, the National Library, the National Museum, Centrum Nauki Kopernik , Muzeum Powstania Warszawskiego , Temple of Divine Providence , and
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#17328521222192684-602: Is ranked decidedly first in Poland according to the Gross Domestic Product . This is thanks to Warsaw, which is a financial centre of East-Central Europe . The majority of state enterprises are headquartered in this metropolis . It is a hub for both rail and vehicular traffic, with access throughout Poland and across Europe. Warsaw Chopin Airport is the nation's busiest. There are many branches of industry and services well developed in this city. The other economical center
2806-670: The Sicherheitspolizei carried out deportations of Poles including teenage boys from the local prison to the Stutthof concentration camp . The Red Army fought back and successfully captured Łomża on September 13, 1944. Afterwards the city was restored to Poland. Between 1946 and 1975, the oldest part of the city was rebuilt. New housing estates came into existence along with several industrial plants, among them Łomża cotton and furniture factories and starch manufacturer PEPEES, as well as municipal thermal power station. The city transit system
2928-588: The Battle of Warsaw . On 5 January 1919, the Red Army took Vilnius, which led to the establishment of the Socialist Soviet Republic of Lithuania and Belorussia (Litbel) on 28 February. On 10 February, Soviet Russia's People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Georgy Chicherin wrote to Polish Prime Minister Ignacy Paderewski, proposing resolution of matters of disagreement and establishment of relations between
3050-536: The Chełmno Land as a fief. After the reunification of the Polish state by Władysław I in the early 14th century, Mazovia became its fief in 1351. In the second half of 15th century western Mazovia and in 1526/1529 the main part (with its capital in Warsaw) was incorporated into the Polish state. In the 15th century the eastern part of the region ( Łomża ) was settled, mainly by the yeomanry ( drobna szlachta ). Mazovia
3172-901: The Estonian War of Independence , the Latvian War of Independence , and the Lithuanian Wars of Independence were all fought in the Baltic Sea region. Russia was overwhelmed by domestic struggles. In early March 1919, the Communist International was established in Moscow . The Hungarian Soviet Republic was proclaimed in March and the Bavarian Soviet Republic in April. Winston Churchill , in
3294-584: The Far North . Numerous sites were looted . The Palmiry massacres carried out by Nazi Germany in the village of Palmiry near Warsaw, were one of the largest massacres of Poles committed during the Intelligenzaktion and AB-Aktion , whereas many Poles from north-eastern Mazovia were among the victims of the Soviet-perpetrated Katyn massacre . Despite such circumstances, the Polish resistance
3416-800: The Habsburg monarchy . After the collapse of the Central Powers and the Armistice of 11 November 1918 , Vladimir Lenin 's Soviet Russia annulled the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and moved forces westward to reclaim the Ober Ost regions abandoned by the Germans. Lenin viewed the newly independent Poland as a critical route for spreading communist revolutions into Europe . Meanwhile, Polish leaders, including Józef Piłsudski , aimed to restore Poland’s pre-1772 borders and secure
3538-634: The Kiev offensive with the goal of securing favorable borders for Poland. On 7 May, Polish and allied Ukrainian forces captured Kiev , though Soviet armies in the area were not decisively defeated. The offensive lacked local support, and many Ukrainians joined the Red Army rather than Petliura’s forces. In response, the Soviet Red Army launched a successful counteroffensive starting in June 1920. By August, Soviet troops had pushed Polish forces back to Warsaw . However, at
3660-757: The Kingdom of Poland and for the Grand Duchy of Lithuania . In the first half of the 14th century, the Principality of Kiev and the land between the Dnieper , Pripyat , and Daugava (Western Dvina) rivers became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1352, Poland and Lithuania divided the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia between themselves. In 1569, in accordance with the terms of the Union of Lublin between Poland and Lithuania, some of
3782-1017: The Modlin Fortress , castles in Czersk , Pułtusk , Ciechanów , Opinogóra , Rawa Mazowiecka , Sochaczew and Liw , as well as churches in Niepokalanów , Góra Kalwaria , Warka , Skierniewice , Czerwińsk , Wyszogród , Zakroczym , Szreńsk , Przasnysz , Ostrołęka , Łomża , Szczuczyn , Wizna , Brok , Zuzela , Rostkowo , and Boguszyce . Interesting folklore is found in the subregion of Kurpie ; another skansen has been established in Sierpc . Successful sports teams in Masovia include association football teams Legia Warsaw , Polonia Warsaw and Wisła Płock , basketball teams Polonia Warsaw , Legia Warsaw and Znicz Pruszków , and handball teams Wisła Płock and KS Warszawianka . The following table lists
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3904-608: The Partitions of Poland Łomża was annexed by Prussia in 1795. In 1807 it was included in the short-lived Polish Duchy of Warsaw , within which it was the seat of the Łomża Department . In 1815 Łomża became part of Congress Poland , which was forcibly integrated into the Russian Empire over the course of the 19th century. After the Russian massacres of Polish protesters in Warsaw in 1861, Polish demonstrations took place in Łomża, at which even romantic poet Władysław Syrokomla gave
4026-753: The Regency Council of the Kingdom of Poland, a body installed by the Central Powers . Subsequently, he was recognized by many Polish politicians as temporary chief of state and exercised in practice extensive powers. Under the Small Constitution of 20 February 1919, he became chief of state . As such, he reported to the Legislative Sejm . With the collapse of the Russian and German occupying authorities , virtually all of Poland's neighbours began fighting over borders and other issues. The Finnish Civil War ,
4148-627: The Romanian border. A Red Army assault between the Daugava and Berezina Rivers was repelled in October and the front had become relatively inactive with sporadic encounters only, as the line designated by Piłsudski to be the goal of the Polish operation in the north was reached. In autumn 1919, the Sejm voted to incorporate into Poland the conquered territories up to the Daugava and Berezina Rivers, including Minsk. The Polish successes in summer 1919 resulted from
4270-781: The Russian Civil War . The Russian state lost territory due to the German offensive and the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk , signed by the emergent Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic . Several nations of the region saw a chance for independence and seized their opportunity to gain it. The defeat of Germany on the Western Front and the withdrawal of the Imperial German Army in the Eastern Front had left Berlin in no position to retaliate against Soviet Russia, which swiftly repudiated
4392-679: The Sanctuary of Blessed Jerzy Popiełuszko . Warsaw has many magnificent historic buildings and monuments, including those in the Old Town and the New Town, both of which were almost completely demolished during World War II but were meticulously restored and were designated UNESCO World Heritage sites in 1980. Several important edifices has been built at the adjacent street Krakowskie Przedmieście . There are also royal palaces and gardens of Łazienki and Wilanów . The most interesting building from post-war period
4514-589: The Socialist Soviet Republic of Lithuania and Belorussia (Litbel). It is however unlikely that the Soviet forced plannes further incursions westward. From late 1919, Lenin, encouraged by the Red Army's civil war victories over the White Russian forces and their Western allies, began to envision the future of world revolution with greater optimism. The Bolsheviks proclaimed the need for the dictatorship of
4636-550: The Vistula river and its confluence with Narew and Bug . Forests (mainly coniferous) cover one-fifth of the region, with the large Kampinos Forest , Puszcza Biała and Puszcza Zielona . In the north Mazovia borders on the Masurian subregion of former Prussia , in the east on Podlachia , in the south on Lesser Poland and in the west on Greater Poland (subregions of Łęczyca Land , Kujawy and Dobrzyń Land ). The area of Mazovia
4758-440: The West Ukrainian People's Republic by July 1919 but had already become embroiled in new conflicts with Germany (the 1919–1921 Silesian Uprisings ) and the January 1919 border conflict with Czechoslovakia . Meanwhile, Soviet Russia focused on thwarting the counterrevolution and the 1918–1925 intervention by the Allied powers . The first clashes between Polish and Soviet forces occurred in autumn and winter 1918/1919, but it took
4880-425: The Western Rifle Division in October 1918. In summer 1918, a short-lived Polish communist government, led by Stefan Heltman, was created in Moscow. Both the military and civilian structures were meant to facilitate the eventual introduction of communism into Poland in the form of a Polish Soviet Republic . Given the precarious situation resulting from the withdrawal of German forces from Belarus and Lithuania and
5002-431: The Battle of Warsaw cemented its position as a significant player in Eastern European geopolitics in the interwar period. The war is known by several names. "Polish–Soviet War" is the most common but other names include "Russo–Polish War" (or "Polish–Russian War") and "Polish–Bolshevik War". This last term (or just "Bolshevik War" ( Polish : Wojna bolszewicka )) is most common in Polish sources. In some Polish sources it
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5124-408: The Curly built a palace there in the 12th century. In 1444 the town was granted an exemption from the transit tax on Narew river contributing to its further development. In the 16th century King Sigismund II Augustus gave Łomża the right to hold great fairs three times a year, similar to Warsaw and Płock . In 1614 the Jesuits founded a Jesuit College, which as today's I Liceum Ogólnokształcące
5246-446: The German front by mid-June. The offensive in the east was resumed at the end of June, following the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty, signed and ratified by Germany, preserved the status quo in western Poland. On the southern front in Volhynia, in May and in July the Polish forces confronted the Red Army, which was in process of pushing Petliura's Ukrainian units out of the contested territories. The rural Orthodox population there
5368-476: The Germans handed over north-eastern Mazovia with Łomża and Zambrów to the Soviet Union in accordance with the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact . Under German occupation , the population was subjected to mass arrests, executions, expulsions and deportations to forced labour , concentration camps and Nazi ghettos , whereas under Soviet occupation the population was subjected to mass arrests, executions, deportation to forced labour in Siberia , Central Asia and
5490-470: The Historical Site Preservation Law. The city also decided to install doors and replace the roof on one of the original cemetery's buildings. In the 1997, a Torah was discovered that had been hidden in a home in Łomża since World War II. The Torah was discovered while the home was being razed to build new housing. The Torah was bought by Gerald C. Bender, a man living in Illinois in the United States whose father had been born and raised in Łomża. Bender bought
5612-577: The Holocaust . In the winter of 1942–1943, the Germans buried some 300 kidnapped Polish children from another region of occupied Poland in the Łąck forests, after the children froze to death in a freight train . Since 1943, the Sicherheitspolizei also carried out deportations of Poles including teenage boys from Płock and Łomża to the Stutthof concentration camp . Germany operated several prisoner-of-war camps , including Oflag 73, Stalag 319, Stalag 324, Stalag 333 and Stalag 368 with several subcamps, for Polish, Italian , Soviet and Romanian POWs in
5734-528: The Jewish Aid Society estimated that 22,000 Jewish residents of Łomża were made homeless from the war. On October 29, 1941, German troops forced over 1,000 Jewish residents of Łomża to kneel in trenches, and they murdered them all with machine guns. They continued murdering entire families. On 12 August 1941, a Łomża Ghetto was created in the vicinity of the Old Market Square (Stary Rynek). The Nazi Einsatzkommando under SS-Obersturmführer Hermann Schaper committed mass killings of alleged Soviet collaborators
5856-456: The KEN school pijarom in 1774. Łomża has educated a number of dignitaries, among others: Szymon Konarski, Rafał Krajewski, Jakub Ignacy Weight, Wojciech Szweykowski, and Adam Chętnik. Currently in Łomża there is a well-developed network of public and private schools at all levels. There are seven primary schools, eight schools, ten secondary schools, six universities (including three non-public) and two schools of art. The educational level in Łomża
5978-597: The Paris Peace Conference. At the conference, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ignacy Paderewski declared Poland's support for self-determination of the eastern nations, in line with Woodrow Wilson 's doctrine and in an effort to secure Western support for Poland's policies in regard to Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania. The Polish offensive was discontinued around the line of German trenches and fortifications from World War I, because of high likelihood of Poland's war with Weimar Germany over territorial and other issues. Half of Poland's military strength had been concentrated on
6100-558: The Polish Army. The Polish Self-Defence forces were defeated by the Soviets at a number of locations. Minsk was taken by the Russian Western Army on 11 December 1918. The Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia was declared there on 31 December. After three days of heavy fighting with the Western Rifle Division, the Self-Defence units withdrew from Vilnius on 5 January 1919. Polish–Soviet skirmishes continued in January and February. The Polish armed forces were hurriedly formed to fight in several border wars. Two major formations manned
6222-419: The Polish borders in Galicia and Volhynia and crush a Ukrainian attempt at self-determination in the disputed territories east of the Curzon Line, which contained a significant Polish minority. On 7 February 1919, Piłsudski spoke on the subject of Poland's future frontiers: "At the moment Poland is essentially without borders and all that we can gain in this regard in the west depends on the Entente – on
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#17328521222196344-439: The Polish claim to Lwów and eastern Galicia was indisputable; in April 1919, the Legislative Sejm unanimously declared that all of Galicia should be annexed by Poland. In April to June 1919, the Polish Blue Army of General Józef Haller arrived from France . It consisted of over 67,000 well-equipped and highly trained soldiers. The Blue Army helped drive the Ukrainian forces east past the Zbruch River and decisively contributed to
6466-422: The Red Army. In late autumn 1918, the Polish 4th Rifle Division fought the Red Army in Russia. The division operated under the authority of the Polish Army in France and General Józef Haller . Politically, the division fought under the Polish National Committee (KNP), recognized by the Allies as a temporary government of Poland. In January 1919, per Piłsudski's decision, the 4th Rifle Division became part of
6588-456: The Russian Civil War. Piłsudski and his allies blamed Prime Minister Ignacy Paderewski for this outcome and caused his dismissal. Paderewski, embittered, withdrew from politics. The leader of Russia's new Bolshevik government, Vladimir Lenin , aimed to regain control of the territories abandoned by Russia in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918 (the treaty was annulled by Russia on 13 November 1918) and to set up Soviet governments in
6710-424: The Russian Governor-General at Warsaw. In the aftermath of World War I , the map of Central and Eastern Europe changed drastically. The German Empire 's defeat rendered obsolete Berlin 's plans for the creation of Eastern European German-dominated states ( Mitteleuropa ), which included another rendition of the Kingdom of Poland . The Russian Empire collapsed, which resulted in the Russian Revolution and
6832-423: The Russian front in February 1919: the northern, led by General Wacław Iwaszkiewicz-Rudoszański , and the southern, under General Antoni Listowski . On 18 October 1918, the Ukrainian National Council was formed in Eastern Galicia , still part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire ; it was led by Yevhen Petrushevych . The establishment of a Ukrainian state there was proclaimed in November 1918; it had become known as
6954-425: The Russians carried out mass arrests and confiscations of Polish property, and many insurgents escaped from the country. Russians deported hundreds of Poles from the county to Katorga to Siberia , and Łomża was one of the sites of Russian executions of Polish insurgents. At the place of the executions, Poles put up crosses several times, and the Russians removed them. During World War I , the Russian administration
7076-404: The Russians in the Katyn massacre in 1940. The Soviets carried out arrests of the Capuchin monks and expelled Benedictine nuns in mid-1940. According to Soviet data from September 1940, over 330 Polish families were deported from the district to the USSR. In 1941 the local Polish underground resistance movement was weakened when the Soviets arrested its commander. The Soviets held 2,128 people in
7198-439: The South and South-east, Russia could easily move into the status of second-grade power. Poland, as the largest and strongest of the new states, could easily establish a sphere of influence stretching from Finland to the Caucasus ". Piłsudski's concepts appeared more progressive and democratic in comparison with the rival National Democracy 's plans, although both pursued the idea of direct incorporation and Polonization of
7320-401: The Soviet General August Kork of the 15th Army mounted an unsuccessful defence of the town against the Polish Fourth Army of General Leonard Skierski , before continuing its retreat eastward under pressure from the Polish forces. In September 1939, during the joint Soviet and German invasion of Poland , Łomża was largely destroyed by the Wehrmacht during the Battle of Łomża , and then
7442-422: The Supreme War Council, recognized the Polish claim to eastern Galicia in March 1923. Jan Kowalewski , a polyglot and amateur cryptographer , broke the codes and ciphers of the army of the West Ukrainian People's Republic and of General Anton Denikin 's White Russian forces. In August 1919, he became chief of the Polish General Staff 's cryptography section in Warsaw. By early September, he had gathered
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#17328521222197564-425: The Torah in order to donate it to a synagogue . Łomża is the third largest city in Podlaskie Voivodeship with 62,019 inhabitants as of 2021. General population in blue. Number of Poles of Jewish faith in green. Source: Qiryat Tiv'on, Israel. The inhabitants of Łomża are predominantly Roman Catholic, although over the centuries in addition to the Catholics, followers of other religions have settled there. There
7686-415: The Ukrainian lands passed to the Polish Crown . Between 1772 and 1795, many of the East Slavic territories became part of the Russian Empire in the course of the Partitions of Poland–Lithuania . In 1795 (the Third Partition of Poland ), Poland lost formal independence. After the Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815, much of the territory of the Duchy of Warsaw was transferred to Russian control and became
7808-446: The West Ukrainian People's Republic and it claimed Lwów as its capital. Because of Russia-related political considerations, the Ukrainian attempts failed to generate support of the Entente powers. Key buildings in Lwów were seized by the Ukrainians on 31 October 1918. On 1 November, Polish residents of the city counterattacked and the Polish–Ukrainian War began. Lwów was under Polish control from 22 November. To Polish politicians,
7930-405: The White forces elsewhere, withdrew from its positions. The Polish "Lithuanian–Belarusian Front " was established on 15 May and placed under command of General Stanisław Szeptycki . In a statute passed on 15 May, Polish Sejm called for the inclusion of the eastern borderline nations in the Polish state as autonomous entities. It was intended to make a positive impression on the participants at
8052-544: The autonomous Congress Poland (officially the Kingdom of Poland). After young Poles refused conscription to the Imperial Russian Army during the January Uprising of 1863, Tsar Alexander II stripped Congress Poland of its separate constitution, attempted to force general use of the Russian language and took away vast tracts of land from Poles. Congress Poland was incorporated more directly into imperial Russia by being divided into ten provinces, each with an appointed Russian military governor and all under complete control of
8174-420: The capital of Poland. From 1138, Mazovia was governed by a separate branch of the Piast dynasty and when the last ruler of the independent Duchy of Mazovia died, it was fully incorporated to the Polish Crown in 1526. During the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth over 20% of Mazovian population was categorized as petty nobility . Between 1816 and 1844, the Mazovian Governorate was established, which encompassed
8296-407: The cities in Mazovia with a population greater than 20,000 (2015): Polish%E2%80%93Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (14 February 1919 – 18 March 1921) was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic , following World War I and the Russian Revolution , over territories previously controlled by the Russian Empire and
8418-458: The city is a registered office of the Podlaskie Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture. By the end of 2007, the number of people steadily employed in Łomża was 13,408, including 7,170 women, however, the unemployment rate (as of 2009) remained considerably high at 14.1 percent. The number of businesses registered by the end of 2008 was 6,421 of which 6,280 belonged to the private sector. The history of sport in Łomża dates back to
8540-405: The city was turned over by the Germans to the Red Army , which entered on September 29. The Soviets established a local station of the NKVD , and the Polish population was subjected to various repressions . In January 1940, the Soviets changed several street names, even calling one September 17 Street , after the day of the Soviet invasion of Poland . At least 32 Poles from Łomża were murdered by
8662-447: The country's position in the region. Throughout 1919, Polish forces occupied much of present-day Lithuania and Belarus , emerging victorious in the Polish–Ukrainian War . However, Soviet forces regained strength after their victories in the Russian Civil War , and Symon Petliura , leader of the Ukrainian People's Republic , was forced to ally with Piłsudski in 1920 to resist the advancing Bolsheviks. In April 1920, Piłsudski launched
8784-611: The decisive Battle of Warsaw (1920) , Polish forces achieved an unexpected victory between 12 and 25 August 1920, turning the tide of the war. This battle, often referred to as the "Miracle on the Vistula," is considered one of the most significant military triumphs in Polish history. The war ended with a ceasefire on 18 October 1920, and peace negotiations led to the Peace of Riga , signed on 18 March 1921. The treaty divided disputed territories between Poland and Soviet Russia. Poland’s eastern border
8906-460: The disputed eastern lands. However Piłsudski used his "federation" idea instrumentally. As he wrote to his close associate Leon Wasilewski in April 1919, (for now) "I want to be neither an imperialist nor a federalist. ... Taking into account that, in this God's world, an empty talk of the brotherhood of people and nations as well as the American little doctrines seem to be winning, I gladly side with
9028-460: The east, the Polish forces took Lida on 17 April, Novogrudok on 18 April, Baranavichy on 19 April and Grodno on 28 April. Piłsudski's group entered Vilnius on 19 April and captured the city after two days of fighting. The Polish action drove the Litbel government from its proclaimed capital. Upon the taking of Vilnius, in pursuit of his federation objectives, Piłsudski issued a "Proclamation to
9150-549: The east. They had been incorporated into the Russian Empire in 1772–1795 and had remained its parts, as the Northwest Territory , until World War I . After the war they were contested by the Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Lithuanian , and Latvian interests. In newly independent Poland, politics were strongly influenced by Józef Piłsudski . On 11 November 1918, Piłsudski was made head of Polish armed forces by
9272-559: The emerging countries in the western parts of the former Russian Empire. The more ambitious goal was to also reach Germany, where he expected a socialist revolution to break out. By the end of summer 1919, the Soviets had taken over most of eastern and central Ukraine (formerly parts of the Russian Empire) and driven the Directorate of Ukraine from Kiev . In February 1919, they set up
9394-515: The end of the 19th century, when the first amateur races were held in 1897. Two years later, Łomża Rowing Society was established, and initiated its activities on January 26, 1902. The first football club was founded on April 16, 1926, currently known as ŁKS Łomża . It is the city's most successful football club, having played on the Polish second tier in the 1930s, 1940s, and 2000s. There are several sports clubs in town including volleyball, basketball, athletics, and martial arts. The inhabitants of
9516-685: The expected arrival of the Red Army there, Polish Self-Defence had been organized in autumn 1918 around major concentrations of Polish population, such as Minsk , Vilnius and Grodno . They were based on the Polish Military Organisation and were recognized as part of the Polish Armed Forces by the decree of Polish Chief of State Piłsudski, issued on 7 December 1918. The German Soldatenrat of Ober Ost declared on 15 November that its authority in Vilnius would be transferred to
9638-477: The extent to which it may wish to squeeze Germany. In the east, it's a different matter; there are doors here that open and close and it depends on who forces them open and how far". Polish military forces had thus set out to expand far in the eastern direction. As Piłsudski imagined, "Closed within the boundaries of the 16th century, cut off from the Black Sea and Baltic Sea, deprived of land and mineral wealth of
9760-492: The fact that the Soviets prioritized the war with the White forces, which was more crucial for them. The successes created an illusion of Polish military prowess and Soviet weakness. As Piłsudski put it, "I am not worried about the strength of Russia; if I wanted to, I could go now, say to Moscow, and no one would be able to resist my power ...". The offensive was restrained in late summer by Piłsudski, because he did not want to improve
9882-521: The federalists". According to Chwalba, the differences between Piłsudski's vision of Poland and that of his rival National Democratic leader Roman Dmowski were more rhetorical than real. Piłsudski had made many obfuscating statements, but never specifically stated his views regarding Poland's eastern borders or political arrangements he intended for the region. From late 1917, Polish revolutionary military units were formed in Russia. They were combined into
10004-624: The first time and the town of Babruysk was captured. By 2 September, Polish units reached the Daugava River. Barysaw was taken on 10 September and parts of Polotsk on 21 September. By mid-September, the Poles secured the region along the Daugava from the Dysna River to Daugavpils . The frontline had also extended south, cutting through Polesia and Volhynia; along the Zbruch River it reached
10126-544: The future Polish state by structuring it as the Polish-led, multinational federation." Piłsudski had wanted to break up the Russian Empire and set up the Intermarium federation of various different states: Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine and other Central and East European countries that emerged from the crumbling empires after World War I. In Piłsudski's vision, Poland would replace a truncated and vastly reduced Russia as
10248-435: The great power of Eastern Europe. His plan excluded negotiations prior to military victory. He had hoped that the new Poland-led union would become a counterweight to any potential imperialist intentions of Russia or Germany. Piłsudski believed that there could be no independent Poland without a Ukraine free of Russian control, thus his main interest was in splitting Ukraine from Russia. He used military force to expand
10370-469: The historian Andrzej Chwalba , however, the scenario was different in late 1919 and winter–spring 1920. The Soviets, facing decreasing revolutionary fervor in Europe and having to deal with Russia's own problems, attempted to make peace with its neighbors, including Poland. According to Aviel Roshwald , (Piłsudski) "hoped to incorporate most of the territories of the defunct Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth into
10492-487: The inhabitants of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania" on 22 April. It was sharply criticized by his rival National Democrats, who demanded direct incorporation of the former Grand Duchy lands by Poland and signaled their opposition to Piłsudski's territorial and political concepts. Piłsudski had thus proceeded to restore the historic territories of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by military means, leaving
10614-516: The larger Greater Poland Province . The Polish- Lithuanian Union of Lublin (1569) established Mazovia as the central region of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , with Warsaw rising to prominence as the seat of the state legislature ( sejm ). In 1596 King Sigismund III Vasa moved the Polish capital from Kraków to Warsaw . During the 17th and 18th centuries Swedish, Transylvanian, Saxon, and Russian invasions wreaked havoc on
10736-690: The last Polish anti-communist partisans, Stanisław Marchewka [ pl ] , killed by the communists in Jeziorko in 1957. Particularly large anti-communist protest occurred in the region in 1976 . During and following the Korean War , in 1951–1959, Poland admitted 200 North Korean orphans in Gołotczyzna and Otwock in Mazovia. Those times Warsaw Voivodeship was still roughly similar to historical Mazovia and used to be informally called so, but in 1975 it
10858-456: The local prison and local Polish intelligentsia , were murdered in large massacres in nearby villages of Sławiec , Jeziorko and Pniewo in 1942–1943. The Jewish population of Łomża, which numbered 9,000 at the beginning of the war, was almost entirely wiped out, murdered at a nearby forest or sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp to be murdered there. Only a few dozen survived. Since 1943,
10980-582: The local prison as of June 21, 1941, the day before Germany invaded the Soviet Union , and on June 20–21 they carried out mass deportations of Poles to Russia. Łomża remained under Soviet control until Operation Barbarossa . In June 1941, at the onset of the Russian campaign Łomża was captured by the Wehrmacht and used as a communications hub by the German forces. Hundreds of Poles, including those initially held in
11102-706: The manufacture of building materials and furniture, the production and processing of agricultural crops, as well as tourism and agro-tourism. Even the largest companies employ less than 1,000 workers, even though a number of firms are listed on the Podlaskie Top One Hundred Entrepreneurs. Among them, the Łomża Brewery (large scale producer of beer), DOMEL (producer of unleaded windows), FARGOTEX (importer of upholstery fabrics), Konrad (importer of farm animals), Łomża furniture factory (Łomżyńska Fabryka Mebli), PEPEES (producer of potato starch), Purzeczko (the personal and property protection). On top of that,
11224-416: The necessary political determinations for later. On 25 April, Lenin ordered the Western Front commander to reclaim Vilnius as soon as possible. The Red Army formations that attacked the Polish forces were defeated by Edward Rydz-Śmigły 's units between 30 April and 7 May. While the Poles extended their holdings further, the Red Army, unable to accomplish its objectives and facing intensified combat with
11346-494: The occupying German forces opened fire on Poles who tried to liberate the city, but it was still reintegrated with the reborn Polish state. During the Polish-Soviet War of 1919–1921, the city was attacked by the Russians on July 29, 1920, and then it was defended by the Poles for a week. Łomża was directly in the path of the Russian army's catastrophic retreat following its defeat at the Battle of Warsaw . On August 15, 1920,
11468-483: The only visible remnants of the city's Jewish history is the Jewish cemetery. In 1999, the Łomża Jewish Cemetery Foundation was officially founded as a charity devoted to restoring the cemetery, showing respect to the deceased buried there, and to improve relations between Poles and Jews. Łomża declared the Jewish cemetery to be historical sites, and the city erected signed warning that any damage caused would be punishable under
11590-647: The outcome of the war. The West Ukrainian People's Republic was defeated by mid-July and eastern Galicia had come under Polish administration. The destruction of the West Ukrainian Republic confirmed the belief held by many Ukrainians that Poland was the main enemy of their nation. From January 1919 fighting also took place in Volhynia, where the Poles faced the forces of the Ukrainian People's Republic led by Symon Petliura . The Polish offensive resulted in
11712-699: The outskirts of Lida ; on 4 March, Piłsudski ordered further movement to the east stopped. The Soviet leadership had become preoccupied with the issue of providing military assistance to the Hungarian Soviet Republic and with the Siberian offensive of the White Army , led by Alexander Kolchak . By July 1919 Polish armies eliminated the West Ukrainian People's Republic. Secretly preparing an assault on Soviet-held Vilnius, in early April Piłsudski
11834-578: The period of the rule of the first Polish monarchs of the Piast dynasty , Płock was one of their seats, and on the Cathedral Hill (Wzgórze Tumskie) they raised palatium . In the period 1037–1047 it was the capital of the independent, Mazovian state of Masław . Between 1079 and 1138 this city was de facto the capital of Poland . Since 1075 it has been the seat of the Diocese of Płock encompassing northern Mazovia;
11956-505: The proletariat and agitated for a worldwide communist community. They intended to link the revolution in Russia with a communist Revolutions and interventions in Hungary (1918–1920) they had hoped for and to assist other communist movements in Europe. To be able to provide direct physical support to revolutionaries in the West, the Red Army would have to cross the territory of Romania. According to
12078-503: The region. The population of Warsaw decreased sharply as a result of executions, the extermination of the city's Jews, the deaths of some 200,000 inhabitants during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, and the deportation of the city's left-bank population following the uprising. Some 40,000–50,000 Poles were murdered in the Wola massacre alone, one of the largest massacres of Poles. Shortly after
12200-521: The region. In 1793 western Mazovia, and two years later the rest of the region were annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia in the Second and Third Partitions of Poland, while the south-eastern portion was annexed by Austria . In 1807 it became part of the Duchy of Warsaw . In 1815 the region was incorporated into the Congress Kingdom of Poland , which was dependent on Russia . In the 19th century Mazovia
12322-510: The south formed the archdeaconate of Czersk belonging to Poznań , and the Duchy of Łowicz was part of the Archdiocese of Gniezno (this division remained as long as until the Partitions of Poland ). During the 9th century Mazovia was perhaps inhabited by the tribe of Mazovians , and it was incorporated into the Polish state in the second half of 10th century under the Piast ruler Mieszko I . As
12444-622: The south of the region along with Łęczyca Land and south-eastern Kuyavia . The former inhabitants of Mazovia are the Masurians , who since the Late Middle Ages settled in neighboring southern Prussia , a region later called Masuria , where they converted to Protestantism in the Reformation era, thus leaving Catholicism , to which their relatives from Mazovia still adhered. The borders of contemporary Mazovian Voivodeship (province), which
12566-461: The town have been the most successful in athletics, sports fighting and bodybuilding. Sports in Łomża are supported by the Society for Promoting Physical Culture and the Łomża School Sports Association. In 1998, an indoor sports arena opened for national and international sporting events, including indoor football matches and martial arts tournaments. In 2009, a contract was signed for the construction of
12688-553: The treaty and proceeded to recover many of the former territories of the Russian Empire. However, preoccupied with the civil war, it did not have the resources to react swiftly to the national rebellions. In November 1918, Poland became a sovereign state . Among the several border wars fought by the Second Polish Republic was the successful Greater Poland uprising (1918–1919) against Weimar Germany . The historic Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth included vast territories in
12810-560: The two states. It was one of the series of notes exchanged by the two governments in 1918 and 1919. In February, Polish troops marched east to face the Soviets; the new Polish Sejm declared the need to liberate "the northeast provinces of Poland with their capital in Wilno [Vilnius]". After the German World War I troops had been evacuated from the region, the Battle of Bereza Kartuska , a Polish–Soviet skirmish, took place. It occurred during
12932-535: The uprising, Adolf Hitler ordered German troops to destroy the city . In 1944–1945, the region was occupied by the Soviet Red Army , and gradually restored to Poland, although with a Soviet-installed communist regime, which then stayed in power until the Fall of Communism in the 1980s. The rebuilding of the Polish capital was the main task of the postwar period. The Polish resistance remained active, with one of
13054-689: The victorious Battle of Warsaw . During the joint German-Soviet invasion of Poland , which started World War II in September 1939, Mazovia was invaded by the German Army, and the Einsatzgruppen IV and V followed to commit various crimes against Poles . The largest massacres were committed in Zambrów , Śladów and Zakroczym , in which over 200, over 300 and around 600 Polish prisoners of war and civilians were murdered, respectively. On 25–29 September,
13176-401: The warfare that took place in late April 1920 was an escalation of the fighting that had begun a year and a half earlier. The war's main territories of contention lie in what is now Ukraine and Belarus . Until the mid-13th century, they formed part of the medieval state of Kievan Rus' . After a period of internal wars and the 1240 Mongol invasion , the lands became objects of expansion for
13298-563: Was able to shift some of the forces used in Ukraine to the northern front. The idea was to create a fait accompli and to prevent the Western powers from granting the territories claimed by Poland to White Russia (the Whites were expected to prevail in the Russian Civil War). A new Polish offensive started on 16 April. Five thousand soldiers, led by Piłsudski, headed for Vilnius. Advancing to
13420-418: Was also established during this time. By the beginning of the 1970s, the population had reached almost 30,000 inhabitants. It was the capital of the Łomża Voivodeship from 1975 to 1998. References to Jewish residents in Łomża ( Yiddish : לאמזשע , romanized : Lomzhe ) date to 1494. The population numbers date back only to 1808, when 157 Jews were officially counted. A magnificent stone synagogue
13542-616: Was briefly occupied by Germany . The Einsatzgruppe V entered Łomża in mid-September to commit various crimes against Poles . Germans carried out searches of Polish offices, organizations, and Catholic institutions, including the bishop's seat and the Capuchin monastery, and banned preaching and the organization of meetings. On September 26, 1939, a Soviet aircraft dropped anti-Polish propaganda leaflets, which stated that "Poles are not capable of self-governing their country," so "the Soviets come to take care of them out of mercy." Soon afterwards
13664-502: Was built there in 1881 on the initiative of Rabbi Eliezer-Simcha Rabinowicz. The Great Synagogue designed by Enrico Marconi became a centre of the Zionist movement . The Lomza Yeshiva attracted hundreds of Orthodox Jewish students, founded in 1883. In 1931, there were 8,912 Jews who lived in the city. World War I was especially hard on the Jewish community of Łomża, which was a major battle area against German military forces. In 1915,
13786-584: Was considered underdeveloped in comparison with Greater Poland and Lesser Poland , with the lowest urban population. In the Early Modern Times Mazovia was known for exporting grain, timber, and fur. It was also distinct because there was no reformation here. Mazovia was divided into three voivodeships, each of them divided into lands ( Polish : ziemie , Latin : terrae ), each of them divided into counties ( Polish : powiaty , Latin : districtus ) and all three voivodeships formed part of
13908-473: Was created in 1999, do not exactly reflect the original size of Mazovia, as they do not include the historically Mazovian cities of Łomża and Łowicz , but include the historically Lesser Polish cities of Radom and Siedlce . Mazovia has a landscape without hills (in contrast to Lesser Poland ) and without lakes (in contrast to Greater Poland ). It is spread over the Mazovian Lowland , on both sides of
14030-592: Was destroyed. The ghetto was liquidated in the final deportation action on 1 November 1942. Only a small number of the Jews of Łomża survived the Holocaust; some found refuge with Catholic Polish families . At the end of 1944, the Red Army recaptured the territory. Following the Yalta Conference , the Soviets ceded the city to Poland , with its total population reduced to 12,500 inhabitants, none of whom were Jewish. One of
14152-455: Was divided into several little voivodeships. However, in 1999 Mazovian Voivodeship was created as one of 16 administrative regions of Poland . The Mazovian language probably existed as a separate dialect until the 20th century. The ethnonym Mazur has given the name for a phonetic phenomenon known as mazurzenie (although it is common in the Lesser Polish dialect as well). There
14274-559: Was established about 200 km east of the Curzon Line , securing Polish control over parts of modern-day Ukraine and Belarus . The war resulted in the official recognition of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic as Soviet states, undermining Piłsudski’s ambitions for a Intermarium federation led by Poland. Despite this, Poland's success at
14396-545: Was evacuated in June 1915, and the city was occupied by Germany from August 1915 until 1918. In 1916 the Poles finally erected a still preserved monument at the site of the Russian executions of Polish insurgents. In 1916–1917, the Polish Legions were stationed in the city. In 1917–1918, Łomża was the location of a German internment camp for soldiers of the Polish Legions. In November 1918, Poland regained independence, and
14518-553: Was first mentioned in official records in the 14th century. Łomża received its municipal rights in 1416, and became an important political and economic center in the mid-16th century. Łomża was a royal city of Poland and the capital of the Łomża Land , an administrative unit ( ziemia ) of the Masovian Voivodeship in the Greater Poland Province until Poland lost its independence in 1795. Polish Duke Bolesław IV
14640-530: Was hostile to the Polish authorities and actively supported the Bolsheviks. Also in Podolia and near the eastern reaches of Galicia, the Polish armies kept slowly advancing to the east until December. They crossed the Zbruch River and displaced Soviet forces from a number of localities. The Polish forces took Minsk on 8 August. The Berezina River was reached on 18 August. On 28 August, tanks were deployed for
14762-614: Was organized and active in the region. Following the Operation Barbarossa in 1941, Germany also occupied north-eastern Mazovia. The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest German-established Jewish ghetto in occupied Europe, and other sizeable ghettos in the region were located in Otwock , Płońsk , Łomża and Płock , with the surviving Jews eventually deported by the occupiers to the Treblinka , Auschwitz and other extermination camps during
14884-493: Was the site of large Polish uprisings ( November Uprising and January Uprising ) against Russian rule. In that era pre-partition Mazovia was divided among Warsaw , Płock and Augustów (the last one replaced later by Łomża ). Since 1918 Mazovia has been a part of the resurrected Poland, being roughly equivalent to the Warsaw Voivodeship . In 1920, Mazovia was invaded by Soviet Russia , but Poland secured its freedom in
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