Editing Sosnowiec (section)

===World War II===
[[File:Public execution of Poles, Sosnowiec city, German-occupied Poland, 1939.jpg|thumb|left|Public execution of Poles in 1939 by the Germans during World War II]]
After the 1939 [[Invasion of Poland]], which started [[World War II]], the city was [[Occupation of Poland (1939–1945)|occupied]] by [[Nazi Germany]] and renamed ''Sosnowitz''. On September 4, 1939, German troops murdered 10 Poles, including 15-year-old boy Henryk Słomka, in Sosnowiec in revenge for Polish defense.<ref name=mw>{{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=135}}</ref> Around the same time, the Germans murdered nine Poles in nearby [[Klimontów, Sosnowiec|Klimontów]] (present-day district of Sosnowiec).<ref name=mw/> The ''[[Einsatzgruppen|Einsatzgruppe zbV]]'' entered the city on September 12, 1939.<ref>Wardzyńska, p. 59</ref> The German police carried out mass searches of Polish houses.<ref>Wardzyńska, p. 119</ref> Initially under [[Military Administration in Poland|military administration]] set up as part of the [[General Government]], Sosnowiec was [[Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany|annexed by Germany]] and incorporated into the [[Province of Silesia]] on 20 November 1939. In March 1940, the Germans established a transit camp (''Gefangenensammellager'') for arrested Poles in Sosnowiec.<ref>Wardzyńska, p. 139</ref> Inhabitants of Sosnowiec were also among Poles murdered in [[Celiny, Tarnowskie Góry County|Celiny]] in June 1940.<ref>Wardzyńska, p. 142</ref> The Germans operated three labour subcamps of the [[Stalag VIII-B|Stalag VIII-B/344]] [[German prisoner-of-war camps in World War II|prisoner-of-war camp]] in the city, and two more in the present-day district of Klimontów.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lamsdorf.com/working-parties.html|title=Working Parties|website=Lamsdorf: Stalag VIIIB 344 Prisoner of War Camp 1940 - 1945|access-date=7 November 2020}}</ref> The [[Polish resistance movement in World War II|Polish underground resistance movement]] was active in the city.{{Citation needed|date=November 2021}}

[[File:Sosnowiec Ghetto liquidation.jpg|thumb|alt=|Liquidation of the [[Sosnowiec Ghetto]] in 1943 by the Germans during World War&nbsp;II]]
In June 1943 thousands of Jews were deported from [[Sosnowiec Ghetto]] to the [[Auschwitz concentration camp]]. The ghetto was liquidated two months later and almost all remaining Jews (around 15,000) were also deported to Auschwitz. Previously there had been considerable underground activity among them. The Germans established and operated two subcamps of the Auschwitz concentration camp in the city. In the first subcamp they held about 100 Polish [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|forced labourers]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://auschwitz.org/en/history/auschwitz-sub-camps/sosnowitz-i/|title=Sosnowitz (I)|website=Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau|access-date=7 November 2020}}</ref> and in the second, larger, they held hundreds of forced labourers, initially mostly Jews.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://auschwitz.org/en/history/auschwitz-sub-camps/sosnowitz-ii/|title=Sosnowitz (II)|website=Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau|access-date=7 November 2020}}</ref> In 1944, the Germans sent [[Kidnapping of children by Nazi Germany|kidnapped Polish children]] from Sosnowiec to the [[Potulice concentration camp]].<ref>{{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=63|issn=1641-9561}}</ref>

The [[Vistula–Oder Offensive]] of the [[Red Army]] in January 1945 brought about the liberation of the city.{{Citation needed|date=November 2021}}