Świecie is located on the west bank of river Vistula at the mouth of river Wda, approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) north-east of Bydgoszcz, 105 kilometers south of Gdańsk and 190 kilometers south-west of Kaliningrad.
History
Gothic-Renaissance Saint Stanislaus and Our Lady of Częstochowa church
A fishermen's village existed at the site of the present-day town in the Early Middle Ages.[1] The area became part of the emerging Polish state in the 10th century. The name of the town comes from the Polish word świecić, which means "to shine".[1] During the period of the fragmentation of Poland, Świecie became the residence of Pomeranian Duke Grzymisław. Grzymisław's duchy included part of Gdańsk Pomerania with prominent towns of Starogard Gdański and Lubiszewo Tczewskie, as well as Skarszewy.
The Teutonic Orderconquered Gdańsk in 1309 and in 1310 bought the region in Soldin from the Margraves of Brandenburg, who claimed the region, which however legally formed part of Poland. By then, the settlement already had the status of Civitas, just as Gdańsk and Tczew did. Świecie was granted a municipal form of government by the Teutonic Order, when it was still located on the high west bank of the Vistula. Probably because of destruction by fire, during the period 1338–1375 the town was relocated down into the valley at the Vistula. The town was briefly recaptured by the Poles after their victory in the Battle of Grunwald in 1410.
In 1772, during the First Partition of Poland, the town was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia, and as Schwetz was integrated into the newly formed Province of West Prussia. In 1871, it also became part of Germany. The economic development was decisively improved by the connection to the railway network in 1888. In 1905, the town had a Protestant church, two Catholic churches and a synagogue.[4] In 1910, Schwetz had a population of 8,042, of which 4,206 (52.3%) were German-speaking, 3,605 (44.8%) were Polish-speaking and 166 (2.1%) were bilingual in German and another language.[5]
After World War I and the restoration of independent Poland, Świecie was restored by Germany to Poland in 1920 according to the Treaty of Versailles and became part of the Pomeranian Voivodeship of the Second Polish Republic.[6] In 1920, Stanisław Kostka, a distinguished Polish activist who was active in Grudziądz and Świecie under Prussian rule, became the mayor of the town.[7] Stanisław Kostka built new flood embankments that protect Świecie from floods to this day, and under his administration the town developed economically and culturally.[7]
Memorial to Polish teachers murdered during the German occupation between 1939 and 1945, with the post office in the background
People shot were finished off by blows delivered by shovels and the butts of assault rifles; they were buried in mass graves when still alive. Mothers were forced to place their children in the pits where they were shot together. Before executions women and girls were raped.(...) [The atrocities] evoked horror even in the Germans, including some soldiers. Terrified at what they saw in the town of Świecie two of them felt compelled to submit a report [to military authorities].[8]
The town was captured by combined Polish and Soviet forces on February 10, 1945,[1] and restored to Poland, where it became part of the Bydgoszcz Voivodeship formed in 1946 in the People's Republic of Poland. An internment camp was operation for Germans of the region, who could be selected for forced labor each morning by the Polish; many Germans died. The camp was dissolved in March, some Germans were sent to Germany, some were sent to the Central Labour Camp in Potulice.[12]
The town grew rapidly with population reaching 13,500 by 1961. Sugar refinery was expanded, meat, cattle feed plants, and mills were built, including the paper factory launched in 1968, with 4,600 employees.[1] In 1988 Świecie was awarded with the Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, one of Poland's highest state orders.[13]
Mondi Świecie SA (before, known as Mondi Packaging Paper Świecie SA, and Frantschach Świecie SA as well as Celuloza Świecie SA) – paper products and packaging
Education
Wyższa Szkoła Menedżerska (Higher School of Management)
^ abKonrad Ciechanowski (2006). "Oboz dla Jencow Cywilnych (Zivilgefangenenlager)" [Internment of Civilian Prisoners]. Obozy Podlegle Organom Policyjnym (Monografia KL STUTTHOF. Chapter 2). Stutthof Museum (Państwowe Muzeum Stutthof w Sztutowie). Archived from the original on October 29, 2007. Retrieved 20 May 2014. Translation from Polish: Rozstrzeliwanych dobijano łopatami, kolbami, a niekiedy zakopywano jeszcze żywych. Matki zmuszano do układania w wykopanych dołach swoich dzieci, a potem je same rozstrzeliwano. Przed rozstrzelaniem gwałcono dziewczęta i kobiety.
^Wardzyńska, Maria (2009). Był rok 1939. Operacja niemieckiej policji bezpieczeństwa w Polsce. Intelligenzaktion (in Polish). Warszawa: IPN. pp. 166–167.
^Wardzyńska, Maria (2017). Wysiedlenia ludności polskiej z okupowanych ziem polskich włączonych do III Rzeszy w latach 1939-1945 (in Polish). Warszawa: IPN. pp. 82, 89, 123. ISBN978-83-8098-174-4.
^Die Vertreibung der deutschen Bevölkerung aus den Gebieten östlich der Oder-Neisse. Dokumentation der Vertreibung der Deutschen aus Ost-Mitteleuropa (in German). Vol. I/2. Deutscher Taschenbuchverlag. 1984. pp. 484–491.
