Editing Płock (section)

==Religion==

===Catholic Church===
[[File:Sanktuarium Miłosierdzia Bożego w Płocku.jpg|thumb|[[Divine Mercy Sanctuary (Płock)|Divine Mercy Sanctuary]]]]
Płock is the oldest legislated seat of the Roman Catholic [[diocese]]; the [[Masovian Blessed Virgin Mary Cathedral]] was built here in the first half of the 12th century and houses the [[sarcophagi]] of Polish monarchs. It is one of the five oldest cathedrals in Poland.

Moreover, the city is famous for the [[Divine Mercy Sanctuary (Płock)|Divine Mercy Sanctuary]], where the apparition of Jesus to Saint [[Faustina Kowalska]] is reported to have taken place, and the [[Divine Mercy (Catholic devotion)|Divine Mercy]] devotion was revealed.<ref>[http://www.milosierdzieplock.pl/eng Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Plock]</ref>

===Mariavite Church===
[[File:Swiatynia w plocku.JPG|thumb|Interior of the [[Temple of Mercy and Charity]] - seat of the [[Mariavite Church|Mariavite]] bishops]]
From the visions of [[Feliksa Kozłowska]] in 1893, the Mariavite order of priests originated, originally working to renew clergy within the Roman Catholic Church. Despite repeated attempts, they were not recognized by the Vatican and in the early 20th century established a separate and independent denomination. This site is the main seat of the [[Mariavite Church|Mariavite]] [[bishop]]s. Their most important church was built here in the beginning of the 20th century; it is called the [[Temple of Mercy and Charity]] and is situated in a pleasant garden on the hill on which the historical centre of Płock is built, near the [[Vistula River]]. Poland in total has about 25,000 members of the Old Catholic Mariavite Church, as it is now named, with another 5,000 in France. A smaller breakaway church, the [[Catholic Mariavite Church]], which has an integrated female priesthood (since 1929), has 3,000 members in Poland.

===Jewish history===
The Jewish presence in Płock ([[Yiddish]]: ''Plotzk'') dates back many centuries, probably to the 13th and 14th centuries, when records include them. The Polish kings extended rights to them in 1264 and the 14th century, and provided continued political support through the centuries.<ref name="JewishHistory"/> At the beginning of the 19th century, their more than 1,200 residents comprised more than 48% of the city's population in what is considered the city's Old Town; through the century, their proportions ranged from 30 and 40 percent.<ref name="people"/> It varied as German migrants were arriving in the region, and the area was becoming urbanized, as more people moved to the city. After Płock fell to [[Russian Empire|Russia]] in the 19th century, it was part of the [[Pale of Settlement]], where Russians allowed the settlement of Jews. As in other parts of the [[Russian Partition]] of Poland, they were restricted to employment in trades and crafts.<ref name="JewishHistory">[http://www.sztetl.org.pl/en/article/plock/5,history/?action=view&page=2 Plock: Jewish Community before 1989] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141213014407/http://www.sztetl.org.pl/en/article/plock/5,history/?action=view&page=2 |date=13 December 2014 }}, Virtual Shtetl, accessed 28 October 2013</ref>
[[File:2013 Small Synagogue in Płock - 02.jpg|thumb|left|Small Synagogue]]

In the late 19th century, Moszek Szlama Sarna (1838–1908) established two [https://jewishplock.eu/en/48-sienkiewicza-street-the-factory-of-the-sarna-family/ factories] to produce farm machines and tools, and the first iron foundry in the city. The Jewish community had two synagogues and two cemeteries (dating to the 15th century), religious and secular schools, and established a library and hospital. They contributed strongly to the economy and culture of the city. In the early 20th century, and had two newspapers, representing active political parties.<ref name="JewishHistory"/>

In 1939, Płock had a Jewish population of 9,000, an estimated 26% of the city's total.<ref name="people"/> After the 1939 [[invasion of Poland]], German Nazi persecution began, about 2,000 Jews fled the city, with half going to Soviet-controlled territory. They were assigned to locations far from the front. In 1940, the Nazis established a [[ghetto]] in Płock. They started actions against the Jews, killing those in an old people's home and sick children, and transporting others to be killed at Brwilski Forest. Ultimately, they transported the Jews to 20 camps and sites in the Radom district, where in 1942 those still alive were sent to Treblinka to be murdered.<ref name="JewishHistory"/> There is evidence that a few Poles tried to help their Jewish neighbors in Płock by smuggling food into the ghetto, sneaking food to them while they were awaiting deportation, and throwing loaves of bread to them on the transport trucks. While small acts, they took courage.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Megargee |first1=Geoffrey |title=Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos |date=2012 |publisher=University of Indiana Press |location=Bloomington, Indiana |isbn=978-0-253-35599-7 |page=Volume II, 22–23}}</ref> By 1946, only 300 Jews survived in Płock. While they were active in the new politics, gradually the Jews left, and by 1959 three remained.<ref name="people">[http://www.sztetl.org.pl/en/article/plock/6,demography/ Płock: Demography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141213084218/http://www.sztetl.org.pl/en/article/plock/6,demography/ |date=13 December 2014 }}, Virtual Shtetl, accessed 28 October 2013</ref> [[Herman Kruk]], a survivor and notable chronicler of life inside the [[Nazi concentration camps]], was born in Płock in 1897.<ref name=Kassow>{{cite web|last=Kassow|first=Samuel D.|title=Vilna Stories|url=http://www.eilatgordinlevitan.com/vilna/vilna_pages/vilna_stories_kruk.html|access-date=31 December 2012}}</ref>

The small synagogue, built in 1810, was one of the few to survive [[World War II]] in the Masovia region of Poland. The Great Synagogue was destroyed during the Holocaust. The small synagogue was designated as a historic building about 1960, but deteriorated in physical condition while vacant. It was renovated and adapted for use as a museum, opening in April 2013 as the Museum of Masovian Jews, a branch of the Museum of Płock Mazowiecki.<ref>[http://samgrubersjewishartmonuments.blogspot.com/2013/03/poland-pock-synagogue-reopens-as-museum.html Samuel D. Gruber, "Poland: Płock Synagogue Reopens as a Museum"], Samuel Gruber's Jewish Art and Monuments blog, accessed 28 October 2013</ref>