Wasilków

Wasilków is a town in north-eastern Poland, in Białystok County, in Podlaskie Voivodeship, about north of Białystok, with 12,831 inhabitants (2024). It is a northern suburb of Białystok within the Białystok metropolitan area, situated on the Supraśl River.

History

Source:

The first traces of settlement in the Wasilków commune date back to the Middle Stone Age. Excavations conducted near the town of Nowodworce provided evidence of the settlement of these areas in the Bronze Age, which lasted in Poland until around 1800 BCE. One of the most interesting was the discovery of a flint mine in the Knyszyn Forest near Rybniki. As a result of the research, about fifty archaeological sites have been discovered in the commune. Traces of prehistoric and early-historic settlements have been found in the vicinity of almost every modern village in the Wasilków commune. However, nothing is known about the beginnings of Slavic settlement in Wasilków.

Early history

In the 11th century the territory of Wasilków belonged to Kievan Rus. In 1340, the area of Wasilkow was incorporated into Lithuania by Duke Gediminas. However, earlier this area belonged to Mazovia within fragmented Piast-ruled Poland. The first mention in written sources about the area where the town and the Wasilków starosty was later established in 1358.

A breakthrough date in the history of Wasilków is December 8, 1566, when King Sigismund II Augustus granted town rights and a coat of arms. The town was inhabited by people from the vicinity of Goniądz, Tykocin and Białystok. Two days after granting town rights - on December 10, 1566, King Sigismund II Augustus issued a privilege allowing the creation of a Catholic parish.

In the middle of the 17th century Wasilków was inhabited by about 500 people, and the entire starosty additionally 400 people. The first records from this period appear about Jews who came from Choroszcz and settled in Wasilków. Before the first partition of Poland, Wasilków had about 1,500 inhabitants. After the Third Partition of Poland, Wasilków was incorporated into the Białystok Department of New East Prussia, and from 1807, under the Treaty of Tylża, into the Russian Partition of Poland.

Late modern period

Around 1880, Wasilków had 3,880 inhabitants. There were 12 textile factories in the town, ten of which were owned by Jews. All plants employed a total of about 300 people.

The tragic date in the history of the town is May 5, 1895, when a great fire destroyed almost half of Wasilków, and 10 people died in the fire. At the end of the 19th century, Wasilków had approx. 4,000 inhabitants. residents.

thumb|right|upright|German occupying forces in Wasilków during World War I

In November 1918, there were only two textile factories operating in the town, employing nearly 70 workers. In the 1921 census, 85.8% people declared Polish nationality, and 13.2% declared Jewish nationality.

World War II began in these lands on September 16, 1939, with the entry of the German army. Less than a week later, a cavalry detachment of the Soviet Red Army entered the Tui. This is how the Soviet occupation began, during which several dozen of Wasilkow families were deported to Kazakhstan. In August 1941, the Germans established a ghetto in Wasilków, in which about 1,250 Jews were held. The following year, they were taken to Treblinka, where they were murdered.

As a result of the war, the industry in Wasilków ceased to exist. The town was destroyed in 20%. In the post-war period, a significant date is July 1, 1947, when Father Wacław Rabczyński was appointed vicar and administrator of the parish under the invocation of Transfiguration of the Lord in Wasilków. The summary of the activities of Fr. Rabczyński began in 1958 and completed in 1966 the construction of the church of Of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy at Kościuszko Street. Father Wacław Rabczyński was undoubtedly one of the most outstanding figures in the post-war history of the Wasilkow region.

In 1946 Wasilków had 3,948 inhabitants. The determinant of the changes taking place in the post-war years was the development of Emilia Plater Wool Industry Plant, which in its heyday employed about 2,500 employees. In 1959, the construction of an elementary school on Mickiewicza Street began, and in 1982 a primary school on Polna Street, which was officially opened on May 22, 1985.

After World War II, Wasilków became a satellite town of Białystok. On May 27, 1990, the first half-century free and democratic elections to local self-government took place.

On December 10, 2021, the Wasilków Municipality Bugle Call, composed by Adam Wolański, was established by resolution of the Wasilków Municipal Council. The bugle call is played publicly from the Wasilków Municipal Office building every day at 11:58 a.m. using sound-emitting devices.

History of mayors

{| class="wikitable"

! colspan="4" |Municipal authorities

!From

!To

!Name

!Function

|1569 r.

|NO DATA

|Walenty Ślepowron

|MAYOR

|1668 r.

|Maciej Huryłowicz

|MAYOR

|1668 r.

|Wojciech Grotkowski

|MAYOR

|1669 r.

|NO DATA

|Andrzej Kożuchowski

|MAYOR

|1866 r.

|NO DATA

|Michał Poznański

|MAYOR

|1914 r.

|NO DATA

|Feliks Radziszewski

|MAYOR

|1918 r.

|NO DATA

|Meszka Szternfeld

|MAYOR

|1920 r.

|1924 r.

|Dominik Sobolewski

|MAYOR

|1925 r.

|1926 r.

|Stanisław Winciorek

|MAYOR

|1926 r.

|1929 r.

|Izydor Godlewski

|MAYOR

|1929 r.

|1932 r.

|Michał Godlewski

|MAYOR

|1932 r.

|1934 r.

|p. Rogowski

|MAYOR

|1934 r.

|NO DATA

|Józef Grabowski

|MAYOR

|1944 r.

|1945 r.

|Michał Godlewski

|MAYOR

|1945 r.

|Stanisław Zawadzki

|MAYOR

|1946 r.

|1947 r.

|Władysław Matyszewski

|MAYOR

|1947 r.

|Stefan Dawidziuk

|MAYOR

|1947 r.

|Jan Żukowski

|ACTING MAYOR

|1947 r.

|1950 r.

|Stanisław Baturo

|MAYOR

|1950 r.

|1953 r.

|Mikołaj Grygorczuk