Editing Kościerzyna (section)

===World War II===
[[File:Kościerzyna, tablica pamiątkowa 03.jpg|thumb|left|Monument to local Poles who died in the fights for freedom and independence during [[World War II]]]]
After the [[invasion of Poland]], which started [[World War II]], between 1939 and 1945, it was [[Occupation of Poland (1939–1945)|occupied]] by [[Nazi Germany]]. [[Polish people|Poles]] were subjected to persecution, murders, deportations to [[Nazi concentration camps]], and [[Expulsion of Poles by Nazi Germany|expulsions]] (see ''[[Nazi crimes against the Polish nation]]'').<ref name=kos/>

In the first weeks of the occupation, in September 1939, the Germans arrested and imprisoned numerous [[Polish people|Poles]] from the town and the surrounding area. About 600 Poles were murdered in the nearby forest, and some were deported to concentration camps.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wardzyńska|first=Maria|year=2009|title=Był rok 1939. Operacja niemieckiej policji bezpieczeństwa w Polsce. Intelligenzaktion|language=pl|location=Warszawa|publisher=[[Institute of National Remembrance|IPN]]|page=109}}</ref>

Between November 6 and 22, 1939, the Germans expelled 2,000 Poles, who were first deported to the temporary concentration camp in [[Wysin]], and then to the [[General Government]] in the more-eastern part of German-occupied Poland.<ref name=mw>{{cite book|last=Wardzyńska|first=Maria|year=2017|title=Wysiedlenia ludności polskiej z okupowanych ziem polskich włączonych do III Rzeszy w latach 1939-1945|language=pl|location=Warszawa|publisher=[[Institute of National Remembrance|IPN]]|page=49|isbn=978-83-8098-174-4}}</ref> The expulsions continued until March 1944.<ref name=mw/> Among the expellees was Tomasz Rogala, who returned to Kościerzyna after the war, and in the following decades was commemorated with a monument.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://koscierski.info/artykul/koscierzyna-rogala/790503|title=Kościerzyna. Rogala przy nowym skwerze|website=Koscierski.info|date=20 July 2012 |access-date=9 May 2020|language=pl}}</ref> Poles who refused to sign the ''[[Volksliste]]'' were arrested and tortured by the ''[[Gestapo]]'', some were tortured to death, or murdered, while their families were deported to concentration camps.<ref>Wardzyńska (2017), p. 113</ref>

Despite this, the Poles managed to organize an underground resistance movement, including the [[Pomeranian Griffin]] secret military organization.<ref name=kos/> In January 1945, a German-perpetrated [[The March (1945)|death march]] of [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] prisoners-of-war from the [[Stalag XX-B]] [[German prisoner-of-war camps in World War II|POW camp]] passed through the town.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kaszuba|first=Sylwia|editor-last=Grudziecka|editor-first=Beata|title=Stalag XX B: historia nieopowiedziana|language=pl|location=Malbork|publisher=Muzeum Miasta Malborka|pages=102, 109|chapter=Marsz 1945|isbn=978-83-950992-2-9}}</ref> After [[World War II]] the town was restored to Poland.
[[File:709534Kościerzyna kościół Trójcy.JPG|thumb|Holy Trinity church]]