Końskie

Końskie [ˈkɔɲskʲɛ] (listen) (Yiddish: Kinsk, קינצק / קינסק‎; Russian: Koinsk, Коинск) is a town in central Poland with 20,328 inhabitants (2008), situated in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (since 1999), previously in Kielce Voivodeship (1975–1998). Most of the town labour force was employed in the local foundry (Koneckie Zakłady Odlewnicze) in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Since 1997 the town has developed into a major trade centre for small business. Historically, Końskie belongs to the province of Lesser Poland, and since its foundation, until 1795 (see Partitions of Poland), it was part of Lesser Poland's Sandomierz Voivodeship.

Końskie
Part of the former palace in Końskie
Coat of arms
Końskie
Coordinates: 51°12′N 20°25′E
Country Poland
VoivodeshipŚwiętokrzyskie
CountyKońskie County
GminaGmina Końskie
Established11th century
Town rights1748
Government
 • MayorKrzysztof Obratański
Area
 • Total35.70 km2 (13.78 sq mi)
Population
 (2013)
 • Total19,962
 • Density560/km2 (1,400/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
26-200 to 26-204
Area code(s)+48 41
Car platesTKN
Websitehttp://www.umkonskie.pl

History
Romanesque tympanum above the south side door of the Gothic St. Nicholas & St. Adalbert parish church

The oldest settlement which is now Końskie dates back to the 11th century. The burial ground from this period was discovered in the north part of the town in 1925. Końskie was mentioned in historical sources in 1124 for the first time, with Prandota of Prandocin (the progenitor of Odrowąż family) recorded as the owner of the settlement. For the next few centuries the settlement was owned by the Odrowąż family. Iwo Odrowąż, the bishop of Kraków, founded a parish and built a church dedicated to St. Nicholas in 1220–1224. The church was torn down in the 15th century and a new Gothic one was built in its place in the years 1492–1520. Some elements of the older Romanesque church were saved in the new one (e.g. the Romanesque tympanum, pictured). Końskie received city rights from King August III Sas on December 30, 1748.[1]

World War II

Końskie was briefly visited by Adolf Hitler on September 10, 1939, while on the way to Kielce after landing on an airfield nearby. His car cavalcade visited the headquarters of General Walther von Reichenau at the local mansion. Hitler was followed by director Leni Riefenstahl who came a day later, ordered to film the Nazi German victory over Poland. Reportedly, she fainted when witnessing the random killing of two dozen Jews summoned to dig graves on September 12, 1939 (pictured).[2]

Końskie was the centre of Polish underground resistance during World War II, with battles fought by the Armia Krajowa under Major Henryk Dobrzański ("Hubal") in the nearby forests which the German army feared to enter. The town was taken over by the partisans for a few hours on the night of September 1, 1943, with a number of Gestapo agents assassinated.[3] The Nazis retaliated by executing civilians including Jews.[4]

Jewish history of Końskie

The first mention of the Jewish community in Końskie dates to the 16th century. The pre World War II Jewish population of Końskie (known as Koinsk during the Russian occupation or Kinsk in Yiddish – קינצק / קינסק) comprised 60.6% of the total population of the town or about 6,500 persons as of September 1939. The town's Jewish cemetery was founded in the 17th century, and expanded to span two hectares with the last burial in 1943.[5]

After the Nazi German invasion of Poland, a Ghetto was established in 1940 and closed off in the spring of 1941. The Jews of Końskie and Polish prisoners from Końskie and surrounding towns were forced to dig up the graves, which were used in the construction of pig farms, the Modliszewicach spire, and walls in Końskie and nearby villages. The cemetery was also used as a place of execution for both Jews and Poles.[5]

The complete eradication of the Jewish population of Końskie took place on November 3–9, 1942, when all men, women, and children were loaded into cattle cars to Treblinka II and gassed. Approximately 600 Jews were murdered by the Nazis on the way to the camp. In the subsequent January 1943 "Aktion" in the Konskie Ghetto, the remaining Jews were ferreted out from attics and other hiding places and murdered.[6]

Koinsk appears under the name Bociany as the setting for Chava Rosenfarb's Yiddish language novel of the same name. Bociany was published in English in the author's own translation by Syracuse University Press 2000. The translation won the John Glassco Award for Literary Translation in 2000.

The Koinsk Organization of Israel ("Ha'Ayarah She'Li: Sefer Ha'Zikaron Le'Yehudei Konskiyah, Hebrew, 2001) commemorates the tragic death of the Jews of Konskie every year at The Diaspora Museum close to the 25th of the Jewish month of Cheshvan.[7]

Notable buildings and landmarks
Development of the city of Końskie over the centuries (multiphase map)
  • Classicistic Park Palace complex founded by Jan Małachowski of the Nałęcz coat-of-arms in the 17th century (based on Pillnitz complex) includes
    • Egyptian orangery (Egipcjanka)
    • Greek Temple (now theatre)
    • Gloriette
    • Gazebo (Altanka)
    • Two Palace wings (now residence of the municipal council)
    • Community building turned into a pig slaughterhouse by the SS, with Jewish gravestones from the Konskie Jewish cemetery.
  • Spire, built by the SS with Jewish gravestones from the Konskie Jewish cemetery.
  • Cemetery for the German soldiers killed in World War I, respected along with the Polish one
  • Home of Jankiel Pelta at ul. Pilsudskiego 42 (38 Maja-ego 3 till the change of address after World War II)
  • Late Gothic church of Saint Nicholas, 1492, with the Romanesque tympanum from the 13th century. The parish is led by Pralat Zapart
  • Końskie Synagogue built 1684, burned in 1939. Its embers and metal remnants remain in Konskie.

Notable people
  • Jacek Małachowski
  • Stanisław Małachowski
  • Andrzej Szejna
  • Yoav Weingarten, Rabbi of Końskie till his death in 1922, author of Helkat Yoav (OCLC 19138821),[6]
  • Sławomir Lachowski, founder of mBank, the first internet bank in the region.

International relations
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Poland

Twin towns – Sister cities

Końskie is twinned with:

References
  1. (in Polish) BIP Miasta i Gminy Końskie Archived 2010-12-30 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Krzysztof Woźniak (July 24, 2011). "Tragiczne wydarzenia 12 września 1939 (Tragic events of September 12, 1939)". Końskie (in Polish). Końskie.org.pl. Retrieved March 21, 2013.
  3. (in Polish) Cezary Chlebowski, Pozdrówcie Góry Świętokrzyskie Czytelnik, Warszawa 1981, ISBN 83-07-00200-1 pp. 259-262 and 265-266
  4. (in Polish) B. Kacperski, J. Z. Wroniszewski, Konspiracja konecka 43-45, Końskie 2006
  5. "KONSKIE". IAJGS Cemetery Project. IAJGS. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  6. Pessach Goldberg; Danuta Dabrowska; Abraham Wein Jakubowicz; Aharon Weiss (1976). Jewish Communities in Poland, Volume I. Jerusalem, Israel: Pinkas haKehilot branch of Yad Vashem. pp. 240–243. ISBN 965-308-007-5. OCLC 22956042.
  7. "Ha'arayah She'li: Sefer Zikaron Le'Yehudei Konskiyah-Kinsk-Konsk" by the Irgun Yotzei Koinsk

Media related to Końskie, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship at Wikimedia Commons


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