Editing Bydgoszcz (section)

== History ==
{{see also|Timeline of Bydgoszcz}}

===Early history and first settlements===
[[File:Zamek Bydgoski - makieta.jpg|thumb|left|Mockup of the old castle in the Old Town]]
In [[ancient history|ancient]] times, there was a development of settlements related to lively trade contacts with the [[Roman Empire]], as a convenient location of today's Bydgoszcz laid on the [[Amber Road]] heading northwest to the Baltic coastline avoiding crossing the Vistula river.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Ptolemy|date=150|title=Photo Gallery: Ptolemy's Geography|url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/mapping-ancient-germania-berlin-researchers-crack-the-ptolemy-code-a-720513.html#fotostrecke-264ad0d0-0001-0002-0000-000000059994|access-date=June 10, 2020|website=The Mirror - International}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dygaszewicz|first=Elżbieta|date=2000|title=From Paleolithic to the Middle Ages|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1150533527|journal=Bydgoszcz Calendar|location=Bydgoszcz|publisher=Society for the Lovers of Bydgoszcz City|issn=0209-3081|oclc=1150533527|ref=none}}</ref><ref>*{{Cite book|last=Wilke|first=Gerard|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/27641385|title=History of Bydgoszcz|publisher=State Publishing House, Sciences|year=1991–2015|isbn=8301066660|editor-last=Biskup|editor-first=Marian|volume=I|location=Warsaw|chapter=Prehistory and Early Middle Ages in the Light of Archaeological Sources (until the Beginning of the 12th Century)|oclc=27641385|editor-last2=Naukowe|editor-first2=Bydgoskie Towarzystwo|ref=none}}</ref>

During the [[West Slavs|early Slavic]] period a fishing settlement called ''Bydgoszcza'' ("Bydgostia" in Latin) became a stronghold on the Vistula [[trade route]]s.

The [[gród]] of Bydgoszcz was built between 1037 and 1053 during the reign of [[Casimir I the Restorer]]. In the 13th century it was the site of a [[castellany]], mentioned in 1238, probably founded in the early 12th century during the reign of [[Bolesław III Wrymouth]]. In the 13th century, the church of [[Saint Giles]] was built as the first church of Bydgoszcz. The Germans later demolished it in the late 19th century.<ref name=TB/>{{Better source needed|date=June 2024}} The first bridge was constructed at the reign of [[Casimir I of Kuyavia]]. In the early 14th century, the [[Duchy of Bydgoszcz and Wyszogród]] was created, with Bydgoszcz serving as its capital with Wyszogród, a settlement today within its borders.

During the [[Polish–Teutonic War (1326–1332)]], the city was captured and destroyed by the [[Teutonic Knights]] in 1330.<ref name=TB>{{cite web|url=http://www.turystyka.bydgoszcz.pl/art/10/historia-bydgoszczy.html|title=Historia Bydgoszczy|website=Bydgoski Serwis Turystyczny|access-date=27 October 2019|language=pl}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=June 2024}} Briefly regained by Poland, it was occupied by the Teutonic Knights from 1331 to 1337 and annexed to their [[State of the Teutonic Order|monastic state]] as{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}{{dubious|date=June 2024}} ''Bromberg''. In 1337, it was recaptured by Poland and was relinquished by the Knights in 1343 at their signing of the [[Treaty of Kalisz (1343)|Treaty of Kalisz]] along with [[Dobrzyń Land|Dobrzyń]] and the remainder of [[Kuyavia]].

===Royal city of Poland===
King [[Casimir III the Great|Casimir III of Poland]] granted Bydgoszcz [[Town privileges|city rights]] (charter) on 19 April 1346.<ref>[[Heinrich Gottfried Philipp Gengler]]:  ''Regesten und Urkunden zur Verfassungs- und Rechtsgeschichte der deutschen Städte im Mittelalter''. Volume I,  Enke, Erlangen 1863, [https://books.google.com/books?id=jzsOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA403 pp. 403–404] and [https://books.google.com/books?id=jzsOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA976 pp. 976–977.]
</ref> The king granted a number of privileges, regarding river trade on the [[Brda (river)|Brda]] and [[Vistula]] and the right to mint coins, and ordered the construction of the castle, which became the seat of the castellan.<ref name=VB>{{cite web|url=https://visitbydgoszcz.pl/pl/poznaj/134-historia-bydgoszczy|title=Historia Bydgoszczy|website=VisitBydgoszcz.pl|access-date=27 October 2019|language=pl}}</ref> Bydgoszcz was an important [[royal city in Poland|royal city of Poland]] located in the [[Inowrocław Voivodeship]].

The city increasingly saw an influx of [[Jew]]s after that date.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} In 1555, however, due to pressure from the clergy, the Jews were expelled{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} and returned only with their annexation to [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]] in 1772.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} After 1370, Bydgoszcz castle was the favourite residence of the grandson of the king and his would-be successor Duke [[Casimir IV, Duke of Pomerania|Casimir IV]], who died there in 1377.<ref name=VB/> In 1397 thanks to Queen [[Jadwiga of Poland]], a [[Carmelites|Carmelite]] convent was established in the city, the third in Poland after [[Gdańsk]] and [[Kraków]].<ref name=VB/>

[[File:Bydgoszcz, Katedra św. Marcina i Mikołaja w Bydgoszczy.jpg|thumb|left|[[Brick Gothic]] [[Bydgoszcz Cathedral]]]]

During the [[Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War]] in 1409 the city was briefly captured by the Teutonic Knights.<ref name=TB/> In the mid-15th century, during the [[Thirteen Years' War (1454–1466)|Thirteen Years' War]], King [[Casimir IV of Poland]] often stayed in Bydgoszcz. At that time, the defensive walls were built<ref name=TB/> and the [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] parish church (the present-day [[Bydgoszcz Cathedral]]). The city was developing dynamically thanks to river trade. Bydgoszcz [[pottery]] and beer were popular throughout Poland. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Bydgoszcz was a significant location for [[wheat]] trading, one of the largest in Poland.<ref name=TB/>{{Better source needed|date=June 2024}} The first mention of a school in Bydgoszcz is from 1466.<ref name=TB/>{{Better source needed|date=June 2024}}

In 1480, a Bernardine monastery was established in Bydgoszcz.<ref name=VB/> The Bernardines erected a new Gothic church and founded a library, part of which has survived to this day.<ref name=VB/> A [[Sejm of the Kingdom of Poland]] was held in Bydgoszcz in 1520.<ref>{{cite book|last=Konopczyński|first=Władysław|year=1948|title=Chronologia sejmów polskich 1493–1793|language=pl|location=Kraków|publisher=[[Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences|Polska Akademia Umiejętności]]|page=135}}</ref> In 1522, after a decision taken by the Polish king, a [[salt]] depot was established in Bydgoszcz, the second in the region{{which|date=June 2024}} after [[Toruń]].<ref name=TB/>{{Better source needed|date=June 2024}} In 1594, Stanisław Cikowski founded a private [[Mint (facility)|mint]], which in the early 17th century was transformed into a royal mint, one of the [[Bydgoszcz Mint|leading mints in Poland]].<ref name=VB/>

In 1621, on the occasion of the Polish victory over the [[Ottoman Empire]] at [[Battle of Khotyn (1621)|Chocim]], one of the most valuable and largest coins in the history of Europe was minted in Bydgoszcz – 100 ducats of [[Sigismund III Vasa]].<ref name=VB/> In 1617 the [[Jesuits]] came to the city, and subsequently established a Jesuit college.<ref name=TB/>{{Better source needed|date=June 2024}}

[[File:Bydgoszcz 1657 sztych E Dalhberga.jpg|left|thumb|Panorama of Bydgoszcz in 1657 by [[Erik Dahlbergh]] at the time of Swedish occupation.]]
During the year of 1629, shortly before the end of the [[Polish–Swedish War (1626–29)|Polish-Swedish War of 1626–29]], the town was conquered by Swedish troops led by king [[Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden|Gustav II Adolph]] of [[Kingdom of Sweden|Sweden]] personally. During this war, the town suffered destruction.<ref>Ludwig Kühnast: ''Historische Nachrichten über die Stadt Bromberg – Von der Gründung der Stadt bis zur preußischen Besitznahme''. Bromberg Berlin Posen 1837,  [https://books.google.com/books?id=6tkAAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA64 pp 64–68].</ref> The town was conquered a second and third time by Sweden in 1656 and 1657 during the [[Second Northern War]]. On the latter occasion, the castle was destroyed completely and has since remained a ruin. After the war only 94 houses were inhabited, 103 stood empty and 35 had burned down. The suburbs had also been considerably damaged.<ref>Ludwig Kühnast (1837), [https://books.google.com/books?id=6tkAAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA112 pp. 112–117].</ref>

The [[Treaty of Bromberg]], agreed in 1657 by King [[John II Casimir Vasa]] of [[Crown of the Kingdom of Poland|Poland]] and Elector [[Frederick William II of Prussia|Frederick William II]] of [[Brandenburg-Prussia]], created a military alliance between Poland and Prussia while marking the withdrawal of Prussia from its alliance with Sweden.

After the [[Convocation Sejm (1764)|Convocation Sejm of 1764]], Bydgoszcz became one of three seats of the [[Crown Tribunal]] for the [[Greater Poland Province of the Polish Crown]] alongside [[Poznań]] and [[Piotrków Trybunalski]].<ref name=TB/>{{Better source needed|date=June 2024}} In 1766 royal cartographer [[Franciszek Florian Czaki]], during a meeting of the Committee of the Crown Treasury in [[Warsaw]], proposed a plan of building a canal, which would connect the Vistula via the Brda with the [[Noteć]] river. [[Józef Wybicki]], Polish jurist and political activist best known as the author of the lyrics of the [[Poland Is Not Yet Lost|national anthem of Poland]], worked at the Crown Tribunal in Bydgoszcz.<ref name=kd>{{cite web|url=https://tygodnikbydgoski.pl/historia/rocznica-smierci-jozefa-wybickiego-razem-z-generalem-dabrowskim-wyzwalal-bydgoszcz|title=Rocznica śmierci Józefa Wybickiego. Razem z generałem Dąbrowskim wyzwalał Bydgoszcz|author=Krzysztof Drozdowski|website=Tygodnik Bydgoski|access-date=7 September 2021|language=pl}}</ref>

===Late modern period===
[[File:Bitwa o most Gdański 1794 r.jpg|thumb|right|Battle of Bydgoszcz in 1794 during [[Kościuszko Uprising]].]]
In 1772, in the [[First Partition of Poland]], the town was acquired by the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] as Bromberg and incorporated into the [[Netze District]] in the newly established province of [[West Prussia]]. At the time, the town was seriously depressed and semi-derelict.<ref name="AEP">August Eduard Preuß: ''Preußische Landes- und Volkskunde''.  Königsberg 1835, [[iarchive:bub gb L sAAAAAcAAJ/page/n403|p. 381.]]</ref> Under [[Frederick the Great]] the town revived, notably with the construction of a canal from Bromberg to [[Nakło nad Notecią|Nakel]] (Nakło) which connected the north-flowing Vistula River via the Brda to the west-flowing [[Noteć]], which in turn flowed to the [[Oder River|Oder]] via the [[Warta]].<ref>Baedeker, Karl, ''Northern Germany'', London, 1904, p.163.</ref> From this period until the end of the German Empire, a large majority of the city's inhabitants spoke German as their main language, and the city would later acquire the nickname "little Berlin" from its similar architectural appearance to the prewar image of the German capital and the work of shared architects such as [[Friedrich Adler (architect)|Friedrich Adler]], [[Ferdinand Lepcke]], [[Heinrich Seeling]], or [[Henry Gross (architect)|Henry Gross]].<ref name="LitBer2"/> During the [[Kościuszko Uprising]], in 1794 the city was briefly recaptured by Poles, commanded by General [[Jan Henryk Dąbrowski]],<ref name="VB" /> and the local Polish administration was co-organized by [[Józef Wybicki]].<ref name="kd" />

{{multiple image
| perrow = 2
| total_width = 350
| align = left
| image1 = Bydgoszcz - plac teatralny i most gdanski 1899-1916 (70484985) (cropped).jpg
| alt1 = 
| caption1 = A postcard (ca 1899-1916), on the left the [[Municipal Theatre, Bydgoszcz|municipal theatre]], demolished in 1945.
| image2 = Bromberg, Posen - Kgl. Preuß. Handwerks-Gewerbeschule (Zeno Ansichtskarten).jpg
| alt2 = 
| caption2 = [[Bydgoszcz Canal]] was one of the key contributions to the city's industrialisation.
| image3 = Wenecja Bydgoska stara pocztówka.jpg
| alt3 = 
| caption3 = An architectural ensemble of tenements built along the leat canal of the [[Brda (river)|Brda]] river near [[Mill Island, Bydgoszcz|Mill Island]] would often become inspiration for local artists.
| image4 = Bromberg, Bahnhofstraße.jpg
| alt4 = 
| caption4 = [[Dworcowa Street]] developed rapidly after the construction of the main railway station in 1851 and became a home for the [[Prussian Eastern Railway]] [[Prussian Eastern Railway Headquarters, Bydgoszcz|headquarters]].
}}

In 1807, after the defeat of Prussia by [[Napoleon]] and the signing of the [[Treaty of Tilsit]], Bydgoszcz became part of the short-lived Polish [[Duchy of Warsaw]], within which it was the seat of the [[Bydgoszcz Department]]. With Napoleon's defeat at the [[Battle of Nations]] in 1813, the town was re-annexed by Prussia as part of the [[Grand Duchy of Posen]] (Poznań), becoming the capital of the [[Bromberg (region)|Bromberg Region]]. During the [[November Uprising]], a [[Resistance movements in partitioned Poland (1795–1918)|Polish insurgent organization]] was active in the city and local Poles helped smuggle volunteers, weapons and ammunition to the [[Russian Partition]] of Poland.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Umiński|first=Janusz|year=1998|title=Losy internowanych na Pomorzu żołnierzy powstania listopadowego|magazine=Jantarowe Szlaki|volume=4 |language=pl|issue=250|page=13}}</ref> After the fall of the uprising, one of the main escape routes for surviving insurgents and civilian insurgent authorities from partitioned Poland to the [[Great Emigration]] led through the city.<ref>Umiński, p. 16</ref>

In 1871 the Province of Posen, along with the rest of the Kingdom of Prussia, became part of the newly formed [[German Empire]]. During German rule, the oldest church of the city (church of Saint Giles), the remains of the castle,<ref name=TB/><ref name=VB/> and the Carmelite church and monastery were demolished. In the mid-19th century, the city saw the arrival of the [[Prussian Eastern Railway]]. The first stretch, from Schneidemühl ([[Piła]]), was opened in July 1851.

At the time of [[World War I]], Poles in Bydgoszcz formed secret organizations, preparing to regain control of the city in the event of Poland regaining its independence.<ref name=TYG>{{cite web|url=http://tygodnikbydgoski.pl/historia/bydgoszcz-w-rece-polskie-przeszla-pokojowo-14-07-19|title=Bydgoszcz w ręce polskie przeszła pokojowo|website=Tygodnik Bydgoski|access-date=27 October 2019|author=Stefan Pastuszewski|language=pl}}</ref>

===Interbellum===
[[File:Bdg Bazylika front 6 07-2013.jpg|thumb|right|The construction of [[Neoclassicism|Neoclassical]] [[Saint Vincent de Paul Basilica, Bydgoszcz|Saint Vincent de Paul Basilica]] was dedicated to the return of the city to the Poles.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bydgoszcz.wyborcza.pl/bydgoszcz/56,48722,22613344,bydgoszcz-niepodlegla-kadry-przedmioty-i-gmachy-xx-lecia,,15.html|title=Bydgoszcz niepodległa. Kadry, przedmioty i gmachy XX-lecia|website=Gazeta Wyborcza|access-date=25 February 2024|language=pl}}</ref>]]

After the war, Bydgoszcz was assigned to the [[Second Polish Republic|recreated Polish state]] by the 1919 [[Versailles Treaty]]. Now officially Bydgoszcz again, the city belonged to the [[Poznań Voivodeship (1921–1939)|Poznań Voivodeship]]. The local populace was required to acquire Polish citizenship or leave the country. This led to a drastic decline in ethnically [[German minority in Poland|German residents]], whose number within the town decreased from over 40.000 in 1910 to 11,016 in 1926.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KVg_tMs_ZPIC&q=adelnau&pg=PA365|title=Polens Politik gegenüber seiner deutschen Minderheit 1919–1939|first1=Albert S.|last1=Kotowski|page=56|publisher=Forschungsstelle Ostmitteleuropa, [[University of Dortmund]] |year=1998 |language=de|isbn=3-447-03997-3}}</ref> A Nazi German youth organization was subsequently founded, which distributed [[Propaganda in Nazi Germany|Nazi propaganda]] books from Germany among the German minority.{{sfn|Wardzyńska|2009|p=23}}

The city's boundaries were greatly expanded in 1920 to include the surrounding suburbs of Okole, Szwederowo, Bartodzieje, Kapuściska, Wilczak, Jachcice and more, which made Bydgoszcz the third largest city in  the [[Second Polish Republic]]<ref>Infrastruktura i gospodarka komunalna. ''Historia Bydgoszczy''. Tom II. Część druga 1920-1939: red. Marian Biskup: Bydgoszcz: Bydgoskie Towarzystwo Naukowe 2004. s. 233–249, {{ISBN|83-921454-0-2}}</ref> in terms of area. In 1938, the city was made part of the Polish [[Territorial changes of Polish Voivodeships on April 1, 1938|Greater Pomerania]].

===World War II===
{{Main|German retribution against people of Bydgoszcz}}
[[File:Public execution of Polish hostages in Bydgoszcz 1939.jpg|thumb|left|Public execution of Polish civilians caught by the Germans in a street roundup on 9 September 1939.]]
During the [[invasion of Poland]], at the beginning of [[World War II]], on September 1, 1939, Germany carried out air raids on the city. The Polish [[15th Infantry Division (Poland)|15th Infantry Division]], which was stationed in Bydgoszcz, fought off German attacks on September 2, but on September 3 was forced to retreat. During the withdrawal of Poles, as part of the diversion planned by Germany, local Germans opened fire on Polish soldiers and civilians. Polish soldiers and civilians were forced into a defensive battle in which several hundred people were killed on both sides. The event, referred to as the ''[[Bloody Sunday (1939)|Bloody Sunday]]'' by the [[Propaganda in Nazi Germany|propaganda of Nazi Germany]], which exaggerated the number of victims to 5,000 "defenceless" Germans, was used as an excuse to carry out dozens of [[Executions in the Valley of Death|mass executions of Polish residents]] in the Old Market Square and in the [[Valley of Death (Bydgoszcz)|Valley of Death]].<ref name=TB/><ref name=VB/> Between September 3–10, 1939, the Germans executed 192 Poles in the city.{{sfn|Wardzyńska|2009|p=110}}

On September 5, while the [[Wehrmacht]] entered the city, German-Polish skirmishes still took place in the Szwederowo district, and the [[Occupation of Poland (1939–1945)|German occupation]] of the city began. The German ''[[Einsatzgruppen|Einsatzgruppe IV]]'', ''[[Einsatzkommando|Einsatzkommando 16]]'' and [[Schutzstaffel|SS]]-Totenkopf-Standarte "Brandenburg" entered the city to commit [[Nazi crimes against the Polish nation|atrocities against the Polish population]], and afterwards some of its members co-formed the local German police.{{sfn|Wardzyńska|2009|pp=55, 61–62}} Many of the murders were carried out as part of the ''[[Intelligenzaktion]]'', aimed at exterminating the Polish elites and preventing the establishment of a [[Polish resistance movement in World War II|Polish resistance movement]],{{sfn|Wardzyńska|2009|p=71}} which emerged nevertheless. On September 24, the local German ''[[Kreisleiter]]'' called local Polish city officials to a supposed formal meeting in the city hall, from where they were taken to a nearby forest and exterminated.{{sfn|Wardzyńska|2009|p=102}} The ''Kreisleiter'' also ordered the execution of their family members to "avoid creating martyrs".{{sfn|Wardzyńska|2009|p=102}} By decision from September 5, 1939, one of the first three German special courts in occupied Poland was established in Bydgoszcz.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Grabowski|first=Waldemar|year=2009|title=Polacy na ziemiach II RP włączonych do III Rzeszy|magazine=Biuletyn Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej|language=pl|publisher=IPN|issue=8–9 (103–104)|page=62|issn=1641-9561}}</ref>

The Germans established several camps and prisons for Poles.{{sfn|Wardzyńska|2009|p=110}} As of September 30, 1939, over 3,000 individuals were imprisoned there, and in October and November, the Germans carried out further mass arrests of over 7,200 people.{{sfn|Wardzyńska|2009|pp=157–158}} Many of those people were then murdered.{{sfn|Wardzyńska|2009|p=158}} Poles from Bydgoszcz were massacred at various locations in the city, at the Valley of Death and in the nearby village of [[Tryszczyn]].{{sfn|Wardzyńska|2009|p=158}} The victims were both men and women, including activists, school principals, teachers, priests, local officials, merchants, lawyers, and also boy and girl scouts, gymnasium students and children as young as 12.{{sfn|Wardzyńska|2009|pp=158–160}} The executions were presented as punishment for supposedly "murdering Germans" and "destroying peace", and were used by Nazi propaganda to show the world that it was alleged "Polish terror" that forced [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] to start the war.{{sfn|Wardzyńska|2009|p=158}} On the [[National Independence Day (Poland)|Polish National Independence Day]], November 11, 1939, the Germans symbolically publicly executed Leon Barciszewski, the mayor of Bydgoszcz.{{sfn|Wardzyńska|2009|p=160}} On November 17, 1939, the commander of the local [[Sicherheitsdienst|SD]]-[[Einsatzkommando|EK]] unit declared there was no more Polish [[intelligentsia]] capable of resistance in the city.{{sfn|Wardzyńska|2009|p=160}}

{{multiple image
| width = 200
| align = right
| direction = vertical
| image1 = Pologne Bydgoszcz 321x329px- Synagoga 1920 detruit.jpg
| image2 = Judenfrei Bydgoszcz synagoga.jpg
| footer = The local synagogue was destroyed during the German occupation. The inscription reads in German: "This city is free of Jews".
}}

The city was annexed to the newly formed province of [[Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia]] as the [[seat (legal entity)|seat]] of the district or county (''kreis'') of Bromberg. However, the annexation was not recognised in international law. Extermination of the inhabitants continued throughout the war, and in total, around 10,000 inhabitants, mostly [[Polish people|Poles]], but also [[History of the Jews in Poland|Polish Jews]], were killed.<ref name=TB/>{{Better source needed|date=June 2024}} Some Polish inhabitants were also murdered in the village of [[Jastrzębie, Świecie County|Jastrzębie]] in January 1940, and local teachers were also among Polish teachers murdered in both [[Mauthausen concentration camp|Mauthausen]] and [[Dachau concentration camp|Dachau]] concentration camps.{{sfn|Wardzyńska|2009|pp=180–182}} The history of [[History of the Jews in Poland|Jews]] in Bydgoszcz ended with the [[German invasion of Poland]] and the [[Holocaust]]. The city's Jewish citizens, who constituted a small community in the city (about two percent of the prewar population)<ref name="EP">{{cite web|url=http://encyklopedia.pwn.pl/10867_1.html |title=Encyklopedia PWN |publisher=Encyklopedia.pwn.pl |access-date=2009-05-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050324124849/http://encyklopedia.pwn.pl/10867_1.html |archive-date=March 24, 2005 }}</ref> and many of whom spoke German, were sent to [[extermination camps]] or murdered in the town itself. The city renamed ''Bromberg'' was the site of [[Bromberg-Ost]], a women's subcamp of the [[Stutthof concentration camp]]. A deportation camp was situated in Smukała village, now part of Bydgoszcz. On February 4, 1941, the first mass transport of 524 Poles came to the [[Potulice concentration camp]] from Bydgoszcz.<ref>{{cite book|last=Molesztak|first=Aldona|editor-last=Kostkiewicz|editor-first=Janina|year=2020|title=Zbrodnia bez kary... Eksterminacja i cierpienie polskich dzieci pod okupacją niemiecką (1939–1945)|language=pl|location=[[Kraków]]|publisher=[[Jagiellonian University|Uniwersytet Jagielloński]], [[Biblioteka Jagiellońska]]|page=193|chapter=Doświadczenia obozowe dzieci w niemieckim obozie przesiedleńczym i pracy w Potulicach i Smukale - wspomnienia więźniarek}}</ref> The local train station was one of the locations, where Polish children aged 12 and over were sent from the Potulice concentration camp to slave labor.<ref name=ap>{{cite magazine|last=Paczoska|first=Alicja|year=2003|title=Dzieci Potulic|magazine=Biuletyn Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej|language=pl|publisher=IPN|issue=12–1 (35–36)|page=61|issn=1641-9561}}</ref> The children reloaded freight trains.<ref name=ap/>

During the [[Occupation of Poland (1939–1945)|occupation]], the Germans destroyed some of the city's historic buildings to erect new structures in the [[Nazi architecture|Nazi style]].<ref name=VB/> The Germans built a huge secret dynamite factory (''[[Bromberg Dynamit Nobel AG Factory|DAG Fabrik Bromberg]]'') hidden in a forest in which they used the [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|slave labor]] of several hundred forced laborers,<ref name=VB/> including [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] [[prisoners of war]] from the [[Stalag XX-A]] POW camp in Toruń.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Bukowska|first=Hanna|year=2013|title=Obóz jeniecki Stalag XXA w Toruniu 1939-1945|magazine=Rocznik Toruński|publisher=Towarzystwo Miłośników Torunia, [[The Nicolaus Copernicus University Press|Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika]]|language=pl|volume=40|page=107|issn=0557-2177}}</ref> In 1943, local Poles managed to save some [[Kidnapping of children by Nazi Germany|kidnapped Polish children]] from the [[Zamość]] region, by buying them from the Germans at the local train station.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kozaczyńska|first=Beata|editor-last=Kostkiewicz|editor-first=Janina|year=2020|title=Zbrodnia bez kary... Eksterminacja i cierpienie polskich dzieci pod okupacją niemiecką (1939–1945)|language=pl|location=Kraków|publisher=Uniwersytet Jagielloński, Biblioteka Jagiellońska|page=123|chapter=Gdy zabrakło łez... Tragizm losu polskich dzieci wysiedlonych z Zamojszczyzny (1942-1943)}}</ref>

The Polish resistance was active in Bydgoszcz. Activities included distribution of underground Polish press, sabotage actions, stealing German ammunition to aid Polish partisans, espionage of German activity{{sfn|Chrzanowski|2022|pp=30, 40–41, 47–48, 57, 62}} and providing shelter for British POWs who escaped from the Stalag XX-A POW camp.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Chrzanowski|first=Bogdan|title=Organizacja sieci przerzutów drogą morską z Polski do Szwecji w latach okupacji hitlerowskiej (1939–1945)|journal=Stutthof. Zeszyty Muzeum|language=pl|volume=5|pages=30, 33–34|issn=0137-5377}}</ref> The [[Gestapo]] cracked down on the Polish resistance several times.{{sfn|Chrzanowski|2022|p=39}}

In spring 1945, Bydgoszcz was occupied by the advancing [[Red Army]]. Those German residents who had survived were [[Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950)|expelled]] in accordance with the [[Potsdam Agreement]] and the city was returned to Poland, although with a Soviet-installed communist regime, which stayed in power until the 1980s. The Polish resistance remained active in Bydgoszcz.{{sfn|Chrzanowski|2022|p=74}}

===Post-war period===
[[File:Stary Rynek w Bydgoszczy edit.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Contemporary rear view of the [[Old Market Square, Bydgoszcz|Old Market Square]] with [[Mill Island, Bydgoszcz|Mill Island]], [[Opera Nova Bydgoszcz|Opera Nova]], and [[Nordic Haven]] in the background.]]
In the same year 1945, the city was made the seat of the [[Pomeranian Voivodship]], the northern part of which was soon separated to form [[Gdańsk Voivodeship (1945–1975)|Gdańsk Voivodship]]. The remaining part of the Pomeranian Voivodship was renamed [[Bydgoszcz Voivodeship]] in 1950. In 1951 and 1969, [[Bydgoszcz University of Science and Technology]] and [[Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz]] were founded respectively.

In 1973, the former town of [[Fordon (Bydgoszcz district)|Fordon]], located on the left bank of the Vistula, was included in the city limits<ref name="EP"/> and became the easternmost district of Bydgoszcz. In March 1981, [[Solidarity (Polish trade union)|Solidarity]]'s activists [[Bydgoszcz events|were violently suppressed in Bydgoszcz]].

With the [[Polish local government reforms]] of 1999, Bydgoszcz became the seat of the governor of a province entitled [[Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship]]. In 2005, [[Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz|Casimir the Great University]] was opened in Bydgoszcz.

Currently, Bydgoszcz is the biggest center of [[NATO]] headquarters in Poland, the most known being the [[Joint Force Training Centre]]. In May 2023, debris of a Russian [[Kh-55]] [[Air-to-surface missile|air-sol missile]] was found in the forest of the near village [[Zamość, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship|Zamość]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-05-10 |title=Military object found in Polish forest was Russian missile - media |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/military-object-found-polish-forest-was-russian-missile-media-2023-05-10/ |access-date=2023-05-31}}</ref>