Tuchola (; ; ) is a town in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship in northern Poland. The Pomeranian town, which is the seat of Tuchola County, had a population of 12,843 as of 31 December 2024.

Geographical location

Tuchola lies about north of Bydgoszcz, close to the Tuchola Forests. Forest areas to the east and north of the town form the protected area of Tuchola Landscape Park.

History

Early history

thumb|left|upright|Statue of Saint Margaret, the [[patron saint of Tuchola]]

Settlement around Tuchola dates from 980, while the town was first mentioned in 1287, when the local church was consecrated by the archbishop of Gniezno Jakub Świnka. It was part of medieval Poland since the establishment of the state in the 10th century, and during its fragmentation it was ruled by the dukes of Gdańsk Pomerania. The place was one of the strongholds of the count of Nowe Peter Swienca, who owned a fortified domicile in the area. In 1330 Tuchola came into possession of the Teutonic Order. It received Chełmno law in 1346 from Heinrich Dusemer, the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, although it probably received town rights before, when it was still part of the Kingdom of Poland. During the reign of Prussian King Frederick the Great, the town was built up again, and German Protestants obtained a church in the town hall.

Early 20th century

During World War I, a prisoner-of-war camp was established near the town, mostly for Romanians and Russians, but also Poles, Italians, French and British.

On November 24, 1918, almost two weeks after Poland's declaration of independence, a Polish rally was held in Tuchola. These events tend to be used by some Russian historians, publicists and politicians, who falsely claim that 22,000 POWs died in the camp, also as a result of alleged executions, as part of Russian negationist Anti-Katyn propaganda.

World War II

thumb|Poles massacred by the Germans in [[Rudzki Most in 1939]]

During the invasion of Poland, which marked the beginning of World War II, Tuchola was captured by the Germans on September 2, 1939. Along with the rest of the region, was occupied by Nazi Germany. The Einsatzkommando 16 entered the town to commit various crimes against Poles. From mid-September 1939, Germans carried out mass arrests of Poles from the town and county, who were initially imprisoned in the local courthouse, and after its overcrowding, they were deported to a temporary concentration camp established in the nearby village of Radzim. Some Poles were executed in Radzim, but more were murdered in Rudzki Most (present-day district of Tuchola), where Germans carried out large massacres of Poles in October and November 1939, killing several hundreds people. Among Poles massacred in Rudzki Most were teachers, school principals, merchants, craftsmen and local officials from Tuchola, including mayor Stanisław Saganowski, as well as farmers, priests, foresters, postmen, railwaymen, merchants, craftsmen and policemen from nearby villages.

The Polish resistance was active in the town, including local units of the Union of Armed Struggle-Home Army and Grunwald organizations.

After the German defeat in 1945, the town reverted to Poland.

Number of inhabitants by year

Education

  • Higher School of Environmental Management ()

Famous residents

  • Louis Lewin (1850–1929), physician, pharmacologist, toxicologist in Berlin
  • Max Liebermann von Sonnenberg (1848–1911), German politician
  • Johannes Holzmann (Senna Hoy) (1882–1914), anarchist author
  • Wilhelm Ambrosius (1903–1955), Kriegsmarine officer
  • Marcin Jędrzejewski - speedway rider and current member of Polish national junior team.
  • Tadeusz Zwiefka - popular TV journalist, and a Civic Platform Member of European Parliament.

See also

  • Camps for Russian prisoners and internees in Poland (1919–1924)

Footnotes

References

  • Municipal website