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127-687: Września was first mentioned in 1256 in a document issued in Poznań . Early sources speak of Wressna (1317) or Wresna (1364). Września was granted town privileges before 1357. It was a private town , owned by various Polish nobles families , administratively located in the Kalisz Voivodeship of the Greater Poland Province of the Polish Crown . The coat of arms of Września is the Poraj coat of arms of

254-613: A breakthrough at Sedan outflanked the force which the French and British had sent into Belgium. By the end of May, the Belgian and Dutch armies had surrendered and the British were evacuating their Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk . German forces reached Paris on 14 June. In total, around 100,000 French soldiers were killed in action. The trauma from the German victories caused a period of division within

381-506: A big problem for Vichy's policy of moral rejuvenation summarised in its motto Travail, famille, patrie (Work, family, homeland). From October 1940, Vichy attempted to limit women's access to work which had particular effects on prisoners' families. Because of the emphasis on family values under Vichy, the government was especially worried about infidelity among the wives of prisoners in Germany. Concerned about prisoners' wives having babies,

508-523: A dozen died every day. Initially, following the armistice, it was rumoured that all French troops would be soon returned by the Germans. Petain tasked Georges Scapini , a World War I veteran and a pro-German member of the Chamber of Deputies , to negotiate the release of hostages. Scapini initially argued to the Germans that the transfer of prisoners as a goodwill gesture would ensure French public support for

635-723: A fortified stronghold between the Warta and Cybina rivers on what is now Ostrów Tumski . Mieszko I , the first historically recorded ruler of the West Polans and of the early Polish state which they dominated, built one of his main stable headquarters in Poznań. Mieszko's baptism in AD 966, seen as a defining moment in the Christianization of the Polish state, may have taken place in Poznań. Following

762-595: A four-year term. The current council members were elected in 2023. The council consists of 37 members. The Chairman of the Poznań City Council is Grzegorz Ganowicz (KO), and the Vice-Chairpersons are Przemysław Alexandrowicz (PiS), Agnieszka Lewandowska (KO), and Halina Owsianna. The council members collaborate within 14 permanent committees. The office of the President of Poznań is held by Jacek Jaśkowiak , with

889-407: A free worker in a German factory. Around 221,000 prisoners joined the scheme. The policy benefited the Germans, for whom the prisoners were a good source of extra labour, but it meant they were also able to transfer to the front German soldiers guarding POW camps, freeing 30,000 of them as a result of the policy. Although the exact number of French prisoners who escaped from captivity in Germany

1016-418: A large number of Poles and Spanish republicans , who had emigrated to France, subsequently served in the French army and were captured by the Germans. These foreign prisoners were often singled out for worse treatment. In 1944 and 1945, as the German situation deteriorated, provision of food to POW camps became more sporadic and starvation became a problem. As Soviet troops advanced westwards, camps in

1143-510: A new conservative and authoritarian Vichy regime ostensibly to lead a moral renewal of France and to purge the country of the communism , freemasonry , and Jewish influence which conservatives blamed for causing the military defeat in June 1940. Although the Vichy regime continued to control the so-called zone libre in southern France, the north and north-west of the country, including Paris , became

1270-461: A single duke, but at other times these constituted separate duchies. In about 1249, Duke Przemysł I began constructing what would become the Royal Castle on a hill on the left bank of the Warta . Then in 1253, Przemysł issued a charter to Thomas of Gubin for the founding of a town under Magdeburg law , between the castle and the river. Thomas brought a large number of German settlers to aid in

1397-537: A small scale only, a camp was established at Lübeck for French prisoners dubbed "enemies of the Reich", where they could be detained in isolation. Prisoners considered rebellious, however, were often sent to special camps in which conditions were extremely poor. Within Stalags and Oflags , prisoners had substantial amounts of leisure time. Letters and parcels from home could take months to arrive in camps and be distributed by

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1524-457: A space of 650,000 square metres it attracted around 4.5 million visitors. In the 1930s, the fair ranked as European fourth largest organiser of international trade events. The city's boundaries were again expanded in 1925 to include Główna, Komandoria , Rataje , Starołęka, Dębiec , Szeląg and Winogrady , and in 1933: Golęcin and Podolany . During the German occupation of 1939–1945, Poznań

1651-547: A substantial number of soldiers from the French colonial empire. Nevertheless, approximately a third of all French prisoners of war were French farmers or peasants and, in some regions, the total proportion of agricultural workers captured was much higher. This created labour shortages in many civilian occupations, particularly agriculture which was largely unmechanised. During the interwar period , France had experienced considerable immigration from elsewhere in Europe. In particular,

1778-472: A unit of administrative division and local government. However, in 1815, following the Congress of Vienna , the region was returned to Prussia, and Poznań became the capital of the semi-autonomous Grand Duchy of Posen . Around 1820, Poznań had over 20,000 inhabitants, 70% of whom were Poles, 20% Jews, and 10% Germans. The city continued to expand, and various projects were funded by Polish philanthropists, such as

1905-714: Is an antique coach house at the Kosciuszko Street . From 1975 to 1998, it was part of the Poznań Voivodeship . In 1979, the Maria Konopnicka Monument designed by Mieczysław Welter was unveiled to pay tribute to poet and writer Maria Konopnicka for her support of the Września schoolchildren during the Września school strike (1901–1904). Among the members of the community special mention may be made of Rabbi Ẓebi Hirsch , and his father Rabbi Aaron Mirels , and

2032-549: Is a centre of trade, sport, education, technology and tourism. It is an important academic site, with about 130,000 students and Adam Mickiewicz University , the third largest Polish university. The city serves as the seat of the oldest Polish diocese , now being one of the most populous Catholic archdioceses in the country. The city also hosts the Poznań International Fair , the biggest industrial fair in Poland and one of

2159-485: Is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's Fair ( Jarmark Świętojański ), traditional Saint Martin's croissants and a local dialect . Among its most important heritage sites are the Renaissance Old Town, Town Hall and Gothic Cathedral . Poznań is the fifth-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland . As of 2023,

2286-405: Is home to over 1 million inhabitants. The complex infrastructure, population density, number of companies and gross product per capita of Poznań suburbs may be only compared to Warsaw suburbs. Many parts of closer suburbs such as Tarnowo Podgorne , Komorniki , Suchy Las , and Dopiewo produce more in terms of GDP per capita than the city itself. The relocation of Poznań from the right to

2413-628: Is one of the production sites of the Greater Poland liliput cheese ( ser liliput wielkopolski ), a traditional regional Polish cheese , protected as a traditional food by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland . Pozna%C5%84 Poznań ( Polish: [ˈpɔznaɲ] ) is a city on the River Warta in west Poland , within the Greater Poland region. The city

2540-465: Is unknown, it has been estimated at around 70,000, representing approximately five per cent of all French prisoners. The Vichy government did not encourage prisoners to escape, but many of its officials were sympathetic to escapees who reached French territory. Some prisoners, particularly those working in agriculture, spent substantial amounts of time without guards, and prisoners caught by the Germans trying to escape were rarely severely punished. During

2667-427: Is within the transition zone between a humid continental and oceanic climate ( Köppen : Cfb to Dfb although it just fits in the second in the 0 °C isotherm) and with relatively cold winters and warm summers. Snow is common in winter, when night-time temperatures are typically below zero. In summer temperatures may often reach 30 °C (86 °F). Annual rainfall is more than 500 mm (20 in), among

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2794-679: The ancien régime to his fellow prisoners in another camp. Jean-Paul Sartre also delivered lectures on philosophy. Drama was also extremely popular and, despite only having very limited resources, numerous plays were staged. Politically, the prisoners of war in Germany were given virtually more freedom than civilians in occupied France. In accordance with the Geneva Conventions , French prisoners elected hommes de confiance (Men of trust) from among their number to represent their interests. The Germans attempted to encourage prisoners to adopt Nazi or collaborationist ideologies, even supporting

2921-485: The zone occupée under German military occupation. Alsace-Lorraine became a de facto part of Germany while Italy also received a small occupied region in France's south-east. In practice, Vichy exercised only very limited form of sovereignty in the occupied zones. Vichy was nominally independent and saw itself as neutral in the ongoing conflict. It retained control over France's pre-war colonial empire but in practice

3048-626: The Armistice of 22 June 1940 , the Vichy French government adopted a policy of collaboration in hopes for German concessions allowing repatriation. The Germans nevertheless deferred the return of prisoners until the negotiation of a final peace treaty, which never occurred due to the United Kingdom's refusal to surrender and Germany's defeat in the Battle of Britain . The absence of a large proportion of

3175-604: The Jesuits ' college, founded in the city in 1571 during the Counter-Reformation , had the right to award degrees from 1611 until 1773, when it was combined with the academy. In the second half of the 17th century and most of the 18th, Poznań was severely affected by a series of wars, attendant military occupations, lootings and destruction – the Second and Third Northern Wars, the War of

3302-563: The Polish local government reforms of 1999, Poznań again became the capital of a larger province entitled Greater Poland Voivodeship . It also became the seat of a powiat Poznań County , with the city itself gaining separate powiat status. Post-communism infrastructural developments include the opening of the Pestka Fast Tram route in 1997, and Poznań's first motorway connections in 2003 as Poland's east–west A2 highway runs south of

3429-516: The Polish resistance movement remained active throughout the war. The synagogue was destroyed in 1940 and a camp for French prisoners of war operated in the area. Additionally, from April 1941 to 1943 a forced labor camp for Jews operated in the vicinity of the town. Following the arrival of the Red Army and the end of the war the town was made part of the People's Republic of Poland . In Września there

3556-637: The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , Poznań was the seat of a voivodeship . The city's importance began to grow in the Jagiellonian period, due to its position on trading routes from Lithuania and Ruthenia to western Europe. It would become a major center for the fur trade by the late 16th century. Suburban settlements developed around the city walls, on the river islands, and on the right bank, with some (Ostrów Tumski, Śródka , Chwaliszewo, Ostrówek) obtaining their own town charters. However,

3683-552: The Prussian Settlement Commission founded in 1886. Germans accounted for 38% of the city's population in 1867, though this percentage would later decline somewhat, particularly after the region returned to Poland. Another expansion of Festung Posen was planned, with an outer ring of more widely spaced forts around the perimeter of the city. Building of the first nine forts began in 1876, and nine intermediate forts were built from 1887. The inner ring of fortifications

3810-568: The Raczyński Library and the Bazar hotel. The city's first railway, running north-west to Stargard , opened in 1848. Due to its strategic location, the Prussian authorities intended to make Poznań into a fortress city, building a ring of defensive fortifications around it. Work began on the citadel with Fort Winiary in 1828, and in subsequent years the entire set of defenses called Festung Posen

3937-451: The Red Cross ; consequently, most had little regular contact with their families. The Red Cross also provided food, books, sports equipment and musical instruments, as well as information and letters. Thanks to the access to books, the historian Fernand Braudel wrote most of his influential work La Méditerranée et le monde méditerranéen à l'époque de Philippe II (1949), which established

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4064-579: The Second Partition of Poland , Poznań came under the control of the Kingdom of Prussia , becoming part of (and initially the seat of) the province of South Prussia . The Prussian authorities expanded the city boundaries, making the walled city and its closest suburbs into a single administrative unit. Left-bank suburbs were incorporated in 1797, and Ostrów Tumski, Chwaliszewo, Śródka, Ostrówek and Łacina (St. Roch) in 1800. The old city walls were taken down in

4191-497: The baptism , construction began of Poznań's cathedral , the first in Poland. Poznań was probably the main seat of the first missionary bishop sent to Poland, Bishop Jordan . The Congress of Gniezno in 1000 led to the country's first permanent archbishopric being established in Gniezno (which is generally regarded as Poland's capital in that period), although Poznań continued to have independent bishops of its own. Poznań's cathedral

4318-478: The 15th century. French prisoners of war in World War II Although no precise estimates exist, the number of French soldiers captured by Nazi Germany during the Battle of France between May and June 1940 is generally recognised around 1.8 million, equivalent to around 10 percent of the total adult male population of France at the time. After a brief period of captivity in France, most of

4445-582: The 1940 Battle of France, the prisoners were blamed for the French defeat and portrayed as cowards who had surrendered, rather than fight to the death. They were also unfavourably compared with other men of their generation who had served in the Free French Forces or Resistance . Prisoners had little effect on the resistance in France. Initially there were three resistance networks based around repatriated prisoners split along political lines, but in March 1944,

4572-592: The Axis occupation and the Vichy regime. From his contacts with the German Ambassador Otto Abetz and Hermann Reinecke of the OKW , however, he realized that the prisoners were to be used as a bargaining chip to ensure French collaboration, and that a full transfer of French prisoners would be impossible. After the expulsion of 100,000 Jews from Lorraine was ordered by its Gauleiter Josef Bürckel , Hitler would make

4699-505: The Battle of France. Among those captured who narrowly escaped execution was Léopold Sédar Senghor , an academic who would become the first President of independent Senegal in 1960. Unlike their white compatriots, the colonial prisoners of war were imprisoned in Frontstalags in France rather than being brought to Germany. By keeping colonial soldiers in France on the pretext of preventing

4826-554: The Bible commentator Rabbi Meïr Löb Malbim . Ẓebi Mirels , was the author of the " Mispar Ẓeba'am ", and presented a Hebrew hymn to General Möllendorf when the latter was sent by king Frederick William II of Prussia to receive the allegiance of the new province of southern Prussia . Rabbi Aaron Mirels, the author of the " Bet Aharon ", is buried in the cemetery at Jelenia Góra in Silesia . In Września, Malbim wrote his first work,

4953-522: The Bogdanka, and Rusałka , an artificial lake formed in 1943 further down the Bogdanka river. The latter two are popular bathing places. Kiekrz lake is much used for sailing , while Malta is a competitive rowing and canoeing venue. The city centre – including the Old Town , the former islands of Grobla and Chwaliszewo, the main street Święty Marcin and many other important buildings and districts – lies on

5080-612: The Deputy Presidents being Mariusz Wiśniewski, Jędrzej Solarski, and Natalia Weremczuk. The position of City Treasurer is occupied by Barbara Sajnaj, while Stanisław Tamm serves as the City Secretary. Administrative services for citizens are managed by 30 departments and equivalent organizational units of the City of Poznań Office. Additionally, the city operates 328 municipal organizational units to fulfill various public tasks. Throughout

5207-682: The French prisoners were often allowed to mix quite freely with German civilians. Although unlawful, many French prisoners began relationships with German women. Around 120,000 prisoners from the French colonies were captured during the Battle of France. Most of these troops, around two-thirds, came from the French North African possessions of Tunisia , Morocco and, particularly, Algeria . Around 20 percent were from French West Africa . The rest were from Madagascar and Indochina . Influenced by Nazi racial ideology , German troops summarily killed between 1,000 and 1,500 black prisoners during

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5334-412: The German army as agricultural labourers. Guarding Kommandos came to be regarded as an unnecessary waste of manpower - it was thought unlikely that a prisoner would attempt to escape in a country where he did not know the language. This meant that, in practice, prisoners were allowed a wider measure of freedom compared to the camps. They were often viewed with curiosity by the German rural population, and

5461-474: The Grand Duchy of Poznań , and Polish Theatre opened in 1875. It became a national stage for the inhabitants of the province of Posen, and even in whole Greater Poland region , acting as a mainstay of polish tradition and culture, and as a sign of resistance against the restrictive policies of the Prussian partition authorities. However, the authorities made efforts to Germanize the region, particularly through

5588-616: The Główna, flowing through the neighbourhood of the same name in north-east Poznań; and the Rose Stream (Strumień Różany) flowing east from Morasko in the north of the city. The course of the Warta in central Poznań was formerly quite different from today: the main stream ran between Grobla and Chwaliszewo, which were originally both islands. The branch west of Grobla (the Zgniła Warta – "rotten Warta")

5715-672: The Latin nominative case as Posnania in 1236 and Poznania in 1247. The phrase in Poznan appears in 1146 and 1244. The city's full official name is Stołeczne Miasto Poznań (The Capital City of Poznań), in reference to its role as a centre of political power in the early Polish state under the Piast dynasty . Poznań is known as Posen in German , and was officially called Haupt- und Residenzstadt Posen (Capital and Residence City of Poznań) between 20 August 1910 and 28 November 1918. The Latin names of

5842-574: The Marshal of Greater Poland. Poznań, which holds the status of both a municipality and a county city, is home not only to the local authorities of Poznań but also to the authorities of the Poznań County . Additionally, the city hosts the[Union of Polish Cities and the Association of Municipalities and Counties of Greater Poland . The Poznań City Council is the legislative and supervisory body, elected for

5969-713: The Polish Succession , the Seven Years' War and the Bar Confederation . During the Deluge , Poznań's Jewish community was accused of collaborating with the invading Swedish enemy , and as a result suffered pogroms carried out by both the city's non-Jewish residents and units of the Polish Crown Army . It was also hit by frequent outbreaks of plague , and by floods, particularly that of 1736, which destroyed most of

6096-457: The Poraj family, the first owners of the town. Annual fairs and weekly markets took place in the town. The town was burned down 1664 (other sources speak of 1656) in the war against Sweden . The majority of inhabitants were Poles , but since mid-17th century there have also been German settlers. The town was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia in 1793, following the Second Partition of Poland . After

6223-514: The Prussians in the nearby village of Sokołowo , just north of Września. In 1875 Września gained a railway connection with Gniezno and Wrocław , and in 1882 also with Poznań. Września is known in Poland for a school strike by Polish children in May 1901 in response to the intensification of Germanization (i.e. prohibition of the Polish language at school). The Polish language had long been tolerated in

6350-637: The Restorer in 1039, but the capital was moved to Kraków , which had been relatively unaffected by the troubles. In 1138, by the testament of Boleslaus III , Poland was divided into separate duchies under the late king's sons, and Poznań and its surroundings became the domain of Mieszko III the Old , the first of the Dukes of Greater Poland . This period of fragmentation lasted until 1320. Duchies frequently changed hands; control of Poznań, Gniezno and Kalisz sometimes lay with

6477-535: The Vichy government, the policy was extended to French veterans of World War I and fathers of four or more children. Individual prisoners with good contacts could also be requested for repatriation. In practice, this meant that a disproportionate number of prisoners who were released early came from the upper classes. In 1941, the Germans introduced the Flamenpolitik , intended to divide German-occupied Belgium by favouring Dutch speakers over French ones. In February 1941, repatriation of Flemish prisoners began. At

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6604-402: The Warta. Other tributaries of the Warta within Poznań are the Junikowo Stream (Strumień Junikowski) , which flows through southern Poznań from the west, meeting the Warta just outside the city boundary in Luboń ; the Bogdanka and Wierzbak, formerly two separate tributaries flowing from the north-west and along the north side of the city centre, now with their lower sections diverted underground;

6731-415: The analytical concept of the longue durée , while in captivity in Germany. Numerous clubs, bands, sports teams and societies operated within the camps. In Stalag IX-A, French prisoners established both symphony and jazz orchestras and a choir. An informal "temporary university" was also established in the same camp. The future French President François Mitterrand delivered a series of lectures on

6858-422: The building and settlement of the city – this is an example of the German eastern migration ( Ostsiedlung ) characteristic of that period. The city, which covered the area of today's Old Town neighbourhood, was surrounded by a defensive wall, integrated with the castle. The royal chancery and the university ensured a first flourishing of Polish literary culture in the city. In reunited Poland, and later in

6985-559: The camp itself, some of which could be hundreds of kilometers away. The vast majority of prisoners ( c. 93 percent) were not confined behind barbed wire, but instead worked in German factories or in farms, sometimes without guards. Prisoners arriving in camps were divided into groups by the Germans. Mostly, this consisted of bringing soldiers of similar backgrounds ( Communists , Jews or Bretons ) together for administrative purposes and to limit their interaction with other prisoners. Although this sorting of soldiers generally occurred on

7112-470: The centre. Older residential and commercial districts include those of Wilda, Łazarz and Górczyn to the south, and Jeżyce to the west. There are also significant areas of forest within the city boundaries, particularly in the east adjoining Swarzędz , and around the lakes in the north-west. For more details on Poznań's geography, see the articles on its five main districts: Stare Miasto , Nowe Miasto , Jeżyce , Grunwald , and Wilda . The climate of Poznań

7239-408: The choice of joining the Free French or being repatriated to France. Only 5,668 men volunteered to join the Free French; the remainder chose to be repatriated. According to a statement given by Winston Churchill to the House of Commons on 10 November 1942, "upwards of 1,000 prisoners" loyal to Vichy were taken by the British during October in the Madagascar campaign . The intention of the British

7366-422: The city are Posnania and Civitas Posnaniensis . Its Yiddish name is פּױזן , or Poyzn . In Polish, the city's name has masculine grammatical gender . For centuries before the Christianization of Poland (an event that essentially is credited as the creation of the very first Polish state, the Duchy of Poland ), Poznań was an important cultural and political centre of the Western Polans . It consisted of

7493-409: The city centre it divides into two branches, flowing west and east of Ostrów Tumski Cathedral island, and meeting again further north. The smaller Cybina river flows through eastern Poznań to meet the east branch of the Warta, which is also called Cybina – its northern section was originally a continuation of that river, while its southern section has been artificially widened to form a main stream of

7620-460: The city centre, serving also as a bypass. In 2006 country's first F-16 Fighting Falcons came to be stationed at the 31st Air Base in Krzesiny in the south-east of the city. Poznań continues to host regular trade fairs and international events, including the United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2008. It was one of the host cities for UEFA Euro 2012 . Poznań covers an area of 261.3 km (100.9 sq mi), and has coordinates in

7747-438: The city in 1974. Another infrastructural change, which was completed in 1968, was the rerouting of the river Warta to follow two straight branches either side of Ostrów Tumski. The most recent expansion of the city's boundaries took place in 1987, with the addition of new areas mainly to the north, including Morasko , Radojewo and Kiekrz . The first free local elections following the fall of communism took place in 1990. With

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7874-428: The city's development was hampered by regular major fires and floods. On 2 May 1536 a fire destroyed 175 buildings, including the castle, the town hall, the monastery, and the suburban settlement called St. Martin. In 1519, the Lubrański Academy had been established in Poznań as an institution of higher education, but without the right to award degrees, which was reserved to Kraków's Jagiellonian University . However,

8001-412: The city's population is 540,146, while the Poznań metropolitan area ( Metropolia Poznań ) comprising Poznań County and several other communities is inhabited by over 1.029 million people. It is one of four historical capitals of medieval Poland and the ancient capital of the Greater Poland region, currently the administrative capital of the province called Greater Poland Voivodeship . Poznań

8128-435: The city), and around 40% were Germans (over 65,000 German inhabitants of the city). Other nationalities accounted for 1-2% of the population (mainly Jews). Germans tended to settle in the newer western part of the city, the Kaiserviertel or Kaiser district, Poles in the older east side. And while there was tension between the two major populations there was also some overlap between them, particularly in cultural events. At

8255-439: The city, particularly the Old Town, in ruins. Many monuments were also destroyed, including Gutzon Borglum 's statue of Woodrow Wilson in Poznan. Due to the expulsion and flight of German population Poznań's post-war population became almost uniformly Polish. The city again became a voivodeship capital. In 1950, the size of Poznań Voivodeship was reduced, and the city itself was given separate voivodeship status. This status

8382-436: The city. The German population increased from around 5,000 in 1939 (some 2% of the inhabitants) to around 95,000 in 1944. The Jewish community's history in the city dates back to the 13th century. In the past, the Jewish council in Poznan became one of the oldest and most important Jewish councils in Poland. The pre-war Jewish population of at least about 2,000 were mostly murdered in the Holocaust . A concentration camp

8509-431: The collection of annotations on the first chapters of the Shulḥan 'Aruk , Oraḥ Ḥayyim , which laid the foundation of his renown as a scholar. The musical director, Louis Lewandowski was also born in Września on April 3, 1821. The Września railway station is located in the town, and there are also two defunct narrow-gauge railway stations, Września Miasto and Września Wąskotorowa  [ pl ] . Września

8636-590: The communist party and secret police headquarters, where they were repulsed by gunfire. Riots continued for two days until being quelled by the army; 67 people were killed according to official figures. A monument to the victims was erected in 1981 at Plac Mickiewicza. The post-war years had seen much reconstruction work on buildings damaged in the fighting. From the 1960s onwards intensive housing development took place, consisting mainly of pre-fabricated concrete blocks of flats , especially in Rataje and Winogrady , and later Piątkowo , following its incorporation into

8763-570: The concession of allowing France to assume the protecting power for its own prisoners of war. This was also because the previous protecting power of France, the United States , began to sympathize with Britain and after its diplomatic staff became too small to conduct routine inspections of German prison camps. From the autumn of 1940, the Germans began to repatriate French reservists whose private occupations were in short supply in Vichy France, such as medical workers like doctors and nurses along with postmen and gendarmes. In 1941, after lobbying by

8890-527: The creation of a pro-German newspaper, Le Trait d'Union , for prisoners and pro-Vichy Cercles Pétain groups existed in many separate camps. Although Pétain was generally supported by the prisoners, Pierre Laval who was Petain's de facto Prime Minister was extremely unpopular. Laval's re-promotion in 1942 following his dismissal in December 1940, together with the failure of his Relève system, widely undermined support for Vichy among prisoners. Most French prisoners of war were not held in camps for most of

9017-409: The defeat of Germany in 1945. Prisoners who returned to France, either by repatriation or through escaping, generally found themselves stigmatised by the French civilian population and received little official recognition. France declared war on Germany alongside the United Kingdom following the German invasion of Poland in September 1939. The Anglo-French Supreme War Council decided to stay on

9144-585: The defensive along the border, relying on the Maginot Line in helping counter an anticipated German offensive across the German-French border. As neither side made any offensive moves, a Drôle de Guerre (Phoney War) developed as both sides stood-off along the border. On 10 May 1940, the Germans launched an invasion of France through neutral Belgium , the Netherlands and Luxembourg . Shortly afterwards,

9271-420: The early repatriations , returned prisoners were generally treated with pity, suspicion and disdain by French civilians. Many believed that they had only been allowed to return in exchange for agreeing to collaborate . Later Vichy propaganda had implied that prisoners lived in good conditions, so many civilians believed that the prisoners had suffered much less than civilians during the conflict. As veterans of

9398-467: The early 19th century, and major development took place to the west of the old city, with many of the main streets of today's city center being laid out. In the Greater Poland uprising of 1806 , Polish soldiers and civilian volunteers assisted the efforts of Napoleon by driving out Prussian forces from the region. The city became a part of the Duchy of Warsaw in 1807, and was the seat of Poznań Department –

9525-410: The east were evacuated and moved on foot, in so-called death marches , away from the front in extremely poor conditions. Initially most French prisoners were detained in France, but after repeated escapes, the Germans decided to move the vast majority to new camps in Germany and Eastern Europe. Conditions in camps varied considerably geographically and over time. Conditions were particularly poor in

9652-513: The end of World War I , the final Greater Poland Uprising in 1918–1919 brought Poznań and most of the region back to newly reborn Poland, which was confirmed by the Treaty of Versailles . The local German populace had to acquire Polish citizenship or leave the country. This led to a wide emigration of the ethnic Germans of the town's population – the town's German population decreased from 65,321 in 1910 to 5,980 in 1926 and further to 4,387 in 1934. In

9779-569: The end of the war. Former colonial prisoners of war were demobilised in 1944 but received less compensation than their white counterparts. A mutiny among former prisoners at Thiaroye in French Senegal on 30 November 1944 was repressed with violence. During the Battle of the Alps , 154 French soldiers were captured by the Italians . These prisoners were forgotten during the armistice negotiations, and

9906-498: The escapees was Henri Giraud , a French General who had commanded a division in 1940, who escaped from Königstein prison and, despite his pro-Vichy sympathies, joined the Free French in 1943. Jean-Paul Sartre also managed to escape by forging papers demonstrating that he had a disability, leading to his repatriation. The continued imprisonment of French soldiers was a major theme in Vichy propaganda. Prisoners of war featured in

10033-702: The final agreement makes no mention of them. They were held at the POW camp in Fonte d'Amore in Sulmona , along with 600 Greeks and 200 Britons, treated, by all accounts, in accordance with the laws of war. Their fate is unknown after Italy's armistice with the Allies , when they presumably came under German control. The Allies captured 38,000 Vichy French soldiers in the Syria–Lebanon campaign in June 1941. The prisoners of war were offered

10160-415: The forced Service du travail obligatoire (STO; "Obligatory Work Service") in 1943. The implementation of forced labour deportations from France was accompanied by a new policy in 1943. For every French worker who arrived in Germany, one POW could be "transformed" into a "free worker" ( travailleur libre ). Prisoners had the option and could choose to be transformed from being a prisoner of war to become

10287-540: The government of the Third Republic . German commanders finally met with French officials on 18 June who sought a cessation of hostilities, with the goal being an armistice with Germany. Marshal Philippe Pétain , who had been celebrated as a war hero in World War I , came to power as Prime Minister. Pétain's government signed an armistice agreement on 22 June 1940 to end hostilities. Shortly afterwards, he established

10414-664: The greatest stimulants of sociability under the occupation" and helped to foster a sense of community. Infighting along political and social lines did however occur in local aid committees, and there were also numerous cases of corruption and theft from local funds. Later in the war, the Vichy government increasingly tried to take control of local fund-raising, but this was often resisted by the local groups themselves. In order to show solidarity with their relations in France, prisoners also raised funds among themselves to send back to their native regions if they had been targeted by Allied strategic bombing or food shortages. Initially, there

10541-507: The husband was generally the household's chief wage earner, so many households saw a sharp drop in income and living standards. Only very small allowances were made by the government to families of POWs, which was not sufficient to offset the economic difficulties caused. The large proportion of men in prisoner of war camps changed the gender balance in jobs. Many women took over running family farms and businesses, and others were forced to look for employment. The prisoners of war also posed

10668-413: The interwar Second Polish Republic , the city again became the capital of Poznań Voivodeship . Poznań's university, today called Adam Mickiewicz University , was founded in 1919, and in 1924 the Poznań International Fair began. In 1929, the fair site was the venue for a major National Exhibition ( Powszechna Wystawa Krajowa , popularly PeWuKa ) marking the tenth anniversary of independence; organized on

10795-562: The largest fairs in Europe. The city's other renowned landmarks include the National Museum , Grand Theatre , Fara Church and the Imperial Castle . Poznań is classified as a Gamma−global city by Globalization and World Cities Research Network . According to several rankings it is one of the most business-friendly cities in Poland. It also ranks highly in safety and healthcare quality . The city of Poznań has also, many times, won

10922-693: The law of 15 February 1942 made abortion a treasonable offence that carried the death penalty. For having administered 27 abortions, Marie-Louise Giraud was guillotined on 30 July 1942. In December 1942, a law was issued making cohabitation with wives of prisoners of war illegal. The government also made divorce much harder and officially made adultery an insufficient reason for legal separation in order to stop suspicious POWs divorcing their wives in France. Wives of prisoners who had had affairs were also often demonised by their local communities who considered it equivalent to prostitution. Generally, however, Vichy's moral legislation had little real effect. From

11049-555: The left bank of the Warta River occurred in the mid-13th century, during the height of the Gothic architecture . This significant urban shift led to the preservation of numerous Gothic structures, both religious and secular, on both sides of the Warta River, within the area of the former chartered town. The Gothic style in Poznań flourished from approximately the mid-13th century to the end of

11176-527: The lowest in Poland. The rainiest month is July, mainly due to short but intense cloudbursts and thunderstorms. The number of hours of sunshine are among the highest in the country. The warmest temperature was recorded on 11 July 1959 at 38.7 °C (101.7 °F) The city of Poznań, serving as the administrative center of the Greater Poland Voivodeship , houses both the Voivode of Greater Poland and

11303-564: The male population of France also had important consequences on the position of women in occupied France and charity fundraising on behalf of the prisoners played an important role in French daily life until late in the occupation. Limited repatriation of certain classes of POWs did occur from 1940 and the government was keen to encourage the return of prisoners, even launching the unpopular relève system in order to exchange prisoners of war for French labourers going to work in Germany. Nevertheless, many prisoners remained in German captivity until

11430-548: The old division into five districts called dzielnica is used – although they ceased to be governmental units in 1990. These are: Many citizens of Poznań thanks to the strong economy of the city and high salaries started moving to suburbs of the Poznań County ( powiat ) in the 1990s. Although the number of inhabitants in Poznań itself was decreasing for the past two decades, the suburbs gained almost twice as many inhabitants. The Poznań metropolitan area Metropolia Poznań comprising Poznań County and several other communities

11557-659: The outbreak of the Second World War , the German Wehrmacht occupied the city on September 10, 1939. It was incorporated into Reichsgau Wartheland as a part of the district or county ( kreis ) of Wreschen. The Germans carried out mass arrests of local Poles, who were afterwards imprisoned in the local prison, and soon murdered in large massacres in nearby forests in October and November 1939 (see also: Intelligenzaktion ). Poles were also subjected to mass expulsions , however

11684-408: The patrons of the cathedral. Martin of Tours – the patron of the main street Święty Marcin – is also regarded as one of the patron saints of the city. The name Poznań probably comes from a personal name Poznan , which was in turn derived from the Polish participle poznan(y) – "one who is known/recognized", and would mean "Poznan's town". It is also possible that the name comes directly from

11811-467: The period of detention in France, fines were sometimes imposed on locals for mass escapes of prisoners in the region. It was partially to prevent escapes that led to the German decision to deport prisoners to the Reich. As sick prisoners were often repatriated, many faked illness in an attempt to return home. From 1941, when those in certain occupations were repatriated, others produced fake identification documents to enable them to be released. Among

11938-399: The present-day area of the city; these boundaries were retained after the war. Poznań was captured by the Red Army , assisted by Polish volunteers, on 23 February 1945 following the Battle of Poznań , in which the German army conducted a last-ditch defense in line with Hitler's designation of the city as a Festung . The Citadel was the last point to be taken, and the fighting left much of

12065-532: The prisoners were deported to Germany. In Germany, prisoners were incarcerated in Stalag or Oflag prison camps, according to rank , but the vast majority were soon transferred to work details ( Kommandos ) working in German agriculture or industry. Prisoners from the French colonial empire , however, remained in camps in France with poor living conditions as a result of Nazi racial ideologies . During negotiations for

12192-484: The prize awarded by " Superbrands " for a very high quality city brand. In 2012, the Poznań's Art and Business Centre " Stary Browar " won a competition organised by National Geographic Traveler and was given the first prize as one of the seven "New Polish Wonders". Companies headquartered in the city include energy provider Enea , e-commerce company Allegro and convenience store chain Żabka . The official patron saints of Poznań are Saint Peter and Paul of Tarsus ,

12319-567: The programme of moral rejuvenation promised as part of the Révolution nationale (National Revolution). A recurring idea was the idea of prisoners of war as martyrs or penitents, suffering in order to redeem France from its pre-war excesses. The period of detainment was therefore depicted as a form of purification which would overcome internal divides within France and atone for the defeat of 1940. The government sponsored numerous initiatives aimed at improving conditions or achieving repatriation. At

12446-449: The range 52°17'34''–52°30'27''N, 16°44'08''–17°04'28''E. Its highest point, with an altitude of 157 m (515 ft), is the summit of Morasko hill within the Morasko meteorite nature reserve in the north of the city. The lowest altitude is 60 m (197 ft), in the Warta valley. Poznań's main river is the Warta , which flows through the city from south to north. As it approaches

12573-448: The request of the Vichy government, Georges Scapini , a deputy and World War I veteran, was appointed to lead a committee to monitor the treatment of French prisoners in Germany. Scapini's Service Diplomatique des Prisonniers de Guerre (Prisoners of War Diplomatic Service; SDPG) was given responsibility to negotiate with the German authorities in all matters concerning prisoners of war. A government-backed national fund-raising campaign

12700-399: The scheme. Many, however, were old or sick prisoners who the Germans were often keen to release from custody in any event due to their inability to work (and who technically should have been released under earlier quotas) rather than peasant soldiers portrayed by Vichy propaganda. The failure of the relève to attract sufficient numbers of French workers led to its abandonment in favour of

12827-452: The schools, so the introduction of German as mandatory language led to protests. The controversy led to drawn-out protests between parents and authorities. For refusing to speak German, Polish children were severely beaten by Prussian teachers for several hours. Parents who tried to break into the school and protect their children from Prussian teachers were punished later by a Prussian court stating that their actions were "atrocious acts against

12954-417: The shortage of labour. The government had hoped that returning prisoners of war would be more sympathetic to the Vichy regime, but prisoners coming back were not noticeably more loyal to Vichy than other groups. The relève (relief) was a policy championed by Pierre Laval in which, in exchange for French workers volunteering to work in Germany, a proportional number of prisoners would be released. The policy

13081-594: The spread of tropical diseases , the Germans also wanted to prevent the " racial defilement " ( Rassenschande ) of German women outlawed by the Nuremberg Laws of 1935. Black troops were treated worse than their white compatriots, and some of them were used for "degrading" anthropological experiments or subjects of medical testing into diseases. Although the living conditions for black soldiers gradually improved, they were still considerably lower than those of white French soldiers. The mortality rate among black soldiers

13208-488: The state". The strike spread to neighboring cities and eventually ended in 1904. In 1905 the town was inhabited by about 7000 people of which 65.4% were Poles, 28.9% Germans and 5.5% Jews. In the surrounding county, Poles comprised 85.6% of the population. The hundred-year-long Prussian rule came to an end with the outbreak of the Wielkopolska Uprising in 1918, shortly after Poland regained independence, and in 1920,

13335-419: The suburban buildings. The population of the conurbation declined from 20,000 around 1600 to 6,000 around 1730, and Bambergian and Dutch settlers ( Bambers and Olęders ) were brought in to rebuild the devastated suburbs. In 1778, a "Committee of Good Order" ( Komisja Dobrego Porządku ) was established in the city, which oversaw rebuilding efforts and reorganized the city's administration. However, in 1793, in

13462-408: The successful Greater Poland uprising of 1806 , it was regained by Poles and included within the short-lived Duchy of Warsaw , but it fell back to Prussia in 1815. To resist Germanisation policies local Poles founded numerous organizations, and also took part in the Greater Poland uprising (1848) and January Uprising (1863). On May 2, 1848, the Polish insurgents fought a victorious battle against

13589-1050: The summer of 1940, when facilities proved insufficient to accommodate the large number of new POWs, and in the particularly cold winter that same year. Gradually, as prisoners were repatriated, relieving overcrowding, conditions generally improved. From 1943, however, as the war on the Eastern Front turned against Germany, conditions worsened and the food supply became more precarious. Some camps were purpose-built, like Stalag II-D , but others could be former barracks, asylums or fortresses. Prisoners were generally divided into camp by rank. Officers, given different status to other ranks, were imprisoned in Oflags (short for Offizierslager or "Officers' Camp") while NCOs and other ranks were imprisoned in Stalags (or Stammlager , "Main Camp"). Each Stalag included numerous Arbeitskommandos (work unit) outside

13716-599: The three merged to form the National Movement of Prisoners of War and Deportees. After the war, there was a decade-long period of divisive debate about whether POWs should be considered as veterans, therefore making them eligible for a veteran's card with its accompanying benefits, but this was not resolved until the 1950s. A national organization of former prisoners was established, under the name Fédération nationale des combattants prisonniers de guerre (National Federation of Prisoner of War Veterans), which campaigned for

13843-540: The time, Dutch dialects were still widely spoken in French Flanders and, although Belgian prisoners were primarily targeted by the policy, some French prisoners were also released as a result. The reintegration of French prisoners into civilian life was facilitated by a network of Maisons du Prisonnier (Prisoner Houses), established across France, which would help them readjust and find work. Generally, prisoners found it easy to regain their pre-war jobs because of

13970-535: The town officially once again became part of Poland . About 800 local Poles formed the Września Volunteer Legion ( Legia Ochotnicza Wrzesińska ) under the command of Stanisław Mycielski to fight against the Soviet invasion . It was around this time that construction of the district office building was completed. The 68th Infantry Regiment was stationed in Września since 1921. With the invasion of Poland and

14097-411: The verb poznać , which means "to get to know" or "to recognize", so it may simply mean "known town". The earliest surviving references to the city are found in the chronicles of Thietmar of Merseburg written between 1012 and 1018: episcopus Posnaniensis (" bishop of Poznań ", in an entry for 970) and ab urbe Posnani ("from the city of Poznań", for 1005). The city's name appears in documents in

14224-771: The war, but instead, over 93 percent of French prisoners of war lived and worked on Kommandos of work details. Under the terms of the Geneva Convention NCOs were, like officers, exempted from work during captivity, but Germans often forced them to work. Workers were fed but virtually their entire wages were paid directly to the German army and prisoners were only allowed to retain 70 pfennigs per day. Work Kommandos were very variable, but those in agriculture were generally considered better than ones in factories or mining, where conditions were worse and prisoners were vulnerable to Allied bombing raids . In rural areas of Germany, French prisoners replaced locals conscripted into

14351-422: The west side of the Warta. Opposite it between the two branches of the Warta is Ostrów Tumski, containing Cathedral and other ecclesiastical buildings, as well as housing and industrial facilities. Facing the cathedral on the east bank of the river is the historic district of Śródka . Large areas of apartment blocks, built from the 1960s onwards, include Rataje in the east, and Winogrady and Piątkowo north of

14478-450: The year, the departments of the City of Poznań Office and municipal administrative units issue approximately 565,000 administrative decisions. Poznań is divided into 42 neighbourhoods called osiedle , each of which has its own elected council with certain decision-making and spending powers. The first uniform elections for these councils covering the whole area of the city were held on 20 March 2011. For certain administrative purposes,

14605-514: Was again to repatriate those POWs who did not wish to join the Free French, perhaps in exchange for British officers interned in France. Following the Japanese occupation of French Indochina , about 4,500 French prisoners were confined in a makeshift prison established at the Citadel of Hanoi in northern Vietnam. Inside its makeshift hospital, where sanitation and medical services were lacking, about half

14732-451: Was also considerably higher. Some colonial troops were repatriated before the end of the war. Around 10,000 North African prisoners were released in 1941. Escapes and repatriations reduced the number of colonial prisoners of war to 30,000 by July 1944. With the Allied advance through France in 1944, between 10–12,000 prisoners were transported to Stalags in Germany where they were held until

14859-408: Was announced in June 1942 and soon became extremely unpopular and divisive across French society, and among the prisoners themselves. The Vichy government had originally hoped that a much greater number of prisoners would be released under the scheme, but the Germans refused to repatriate prisoners in the proportions which Vichy had suggested. In the end, around 100,000 prisoners were repatriated under

14986-640: Was completed. A Greater Poland Uprising during the Revolutions of 1848 was ultimately unsuccessful, and the Grand Duchy lost its remaining autonomy, Poznań becoming simply the capital of the Prussian Province of Posen . It would become part of the German Empire with the unification of German states in 1871. Polish patriots continued to form societies such as the Central Economic Society for

15113-425: Was considerable confusion among families with members serving in the army. It took several months for relations and friends to discover the fate of their relatives and name of casualties. Initially, only very few prisoners, usually those working in important civilian industries, were sent back to France. For wives and families of prisoners of war, life under the occupation was particularly hard. In pre-war France,

15240-583: Was essentially a German client state . By the time of the armistice on 22 June, approximately 1.8 million French soldiers were in captivity; a figure representing roughly 10 percent of the total adult male population of France at the time. One of the terms of the Compiègne Armistice was that French prisoners would remain in German custody until the end of the war which was thought to be imminent. French prisoners came from all backgrounds, regions and civilian occupations within France and also included

15367-419: Was filled in late in the 19th century, and the former main stream west of Chwaliszewo was diverted and filled in during the 1960s. This was done partly to prevent floods, which did serious damage to Poznań frequently throughout history. Poznań's largest lake is Kiekrz in the north-west end of the city. Other large lakes include Malta , an artificial lake formed in 1952 on the lower Cybina river, Strzeszyn on

15494-518: Was incorporated into the Nazi Germany as the capital of Reichsgau Wartheland . Many Polish inhabitants, even children as young as 10, were executed, arrested, expelled to the General Government or used as forced labour . Polish children were also kidnapped and deported to an infamous camp for Polish children in Łódź . At the same time, many Germans and Volksdeutsche were settled in

15621-427: Was lost in the 1975 reforms, which also significantly reduced the size of Poznań Voivodeship. The Poznań 1956 protests are seen as an early instance of discontent with communist rule. In June 1956, a protest by workers at the city's Cegielski locomotive factory developed into a series of strikes and popular protests against the policies of the government. After a protest march on 28 June was fired on, crowds attacked

15748-745: Was now considered obsolete and came to be mostly taken down by the early 20th century, although the citadel remained in use. This made space for further civilian construction, particularly the Prussian Royal Residence Palace ( Zamek ) which was completed in 1910, and other grand buildings around it, including today's central university buildings and the opera house. The city's boundaries were also significantly extended to take in former suburban villages: Piotrowo and Berdychowo in 1896, Łazarz, Górczyn, Jeżyce and Wilda in 1900, and Sołacz in 1907. In 1910, Poznań had 156,696 inhabitants, of which nearly 60% were Poles (over 91,000 Polish inhabitants of

15875-726: Was run by the Secours National (National Aid) for the benefit of French prisoners. Among other activities, the Secours ran a week-long campaign nationally in 1941. At a local level, many communities ran independent initiatives to raise money for their local community's prisoners, often organised around communities or churches, which held prayer days for POWs. These campaigns were immensely successful, and despite German restrictions on public gatherings, French civilians were able to raise large collections from lotteries and sponsored sports matches. These local prisoner relief schemes were "among

16002-600: Was set up in Fort VII , one of the 19th-century perimeter forts. The camp was later moved to Żabikowo south of Poznań. Also the Stalag XXI-D German prisoner-of-war camp for Allied POWs of various nationalities was based in the city. The Polish resistance was active in Poznań with various organizations and activities, and even an underground Polish parliament was established in the city. The Nazi authorities significantly expanded Poznań's boundaries to include most of

16129-513: Was the place of burial of the early Piast monarchs, among them Mieszko I, Bolesław I the Brave , Mieszko II Lambert , Casimir I , and later of Przemysł I and Przemysł II . The pagan reaction that followed Mieszko II's death (probably in Poznań) in 1034 left the region weak, and in 1038, Duke Bretislaus I of Bohemia sacked and destroyed both Poznań and Gniezno. Poland was reunited under Casimir I

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