Editing Tczew (section)

=== World War II ===
[[File:A bridge broken by sappers September 1939.jpg|left|thumb|The Vistula bridge demolished by sappers of the Polish Army in September 1939 after the [[Wehrmacht]] invasion]]
According to the city's website, Tczew was the location of the start of [[World War II]] when German bombers attacked Polish [[sapper]] installations to prevent the bridges from being blown up at 04:34 on 1 September 1939 (the shelling of [[Westerplatte]] commenced at 04:45). The Germans sent two trains with soldiers to capture the bridges, disguised as freight trains, but due to Polish railroaders' intervention at [[Szymankowo]], they came late, losing the element of surprise, and the bridges were blown up after 6 am that day.<ref>{{cite magazine|author=Andrzej Ziółkowski|title=1 września 1939 r. Fiasko Planu "Dirschau"|trans-title=1 September 1939. A fail of "Dirschau" plan|magazine=Do Broni!|issue=special 2/2009|publisher=ZP Grupa|issn=1732-9450|language=pl|pages=62–70}}</ref>

During the [[Occupation of Poland (1939–1945)|German occupation of Poland]] (1939–45) Tczew, as ''Dirschau'', was annexed into the newly formed province of [[Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia]] of [[Nazi Germany]]. The [[Polish people|Polish]] population was subjected to mass arrests, repressions, [[Expulsion of Poles by Nazi Germany|expulsions]] and murder. The ''[[SS Heimwehr Danzig|SS-Heimwehr-Sturmbann Götze]]'' entered the town in September 1939 to carry out actions against Poles, including mass arrests with the help of local Germans organized in the ''[[Selbstschutz]]'', who denounced local Polish activists.<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]]|pages=106–107}}</ref> The Germans imprisoned hundreds of Poles in camps established in a former factory (present-day museum), in a craft school and in military barracks.<ref>Wardzyńska (2009), p. 109</ref> In November 1939, Germans carried out executions of numerous Poles from Tczew, including local teachers, officials (including pre-war mayor Karol Hempel,) craftsmen, a policeman, and even a seventeen-year-old student.<ref>Wardzyńska (2009), p. 150</ref> Catholic priests from [[Pelplin]], who were not murdered in Pelplin, were imprisoned in the Tczew barracks and then murdered in the [[Szpęgawski Forest]] (see also ''[[Nazi persecution of the Catholic Church in Poland]]'').<ref>Wardzyńska (2009), p. 155-156</ref> In January 1940, the [[SS]] and [[Selbstschutz]] carried out two public executions of 33 Polish residents, including railway employees, officials, craftsmen and merchants, at the market square.<ref>Wardzyńska (2009), p. 157</ref> Also Poles from [[Starogard County|Starogard]] and [[Tuchola County|Tuchola]] counties, who refused to sign the [[Volksliste]], were imprisoned in Tczew and then murdered in a nearby forest.<ref>{{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=113|isbn=978-83-8098-174-4}}</ref> From 1939 to 1941, the ''[[Einsatzgruppen|Einsatzgruppe]]'' operated a penal [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|forced labour]] camp in the town.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=100000822|title=Einsatzgruppen-Straflager Dirschau|website=Bundesarchiv.de|access-date=7 September 2021|language=de}}</ref>
[[File:Tczew 043.jpg|thumb|Monument to Poles murdered in Tczew by the Germans during World War II]]
In 1941, the Germans created a transition camp for Poles expelled from the region in a local factory (present-day museum).<ref name=mw>Wardzyńska (2017), p. 88</ref><ref name=nmm>{{cite web|url=https://en.nmm.pl/the-vistula-river-museum/history-of-the-building-7|title=History of the building - Vistula River Museum|website=National Maritime Museum in Gdańsk|access-date=25 July 2020}}</ref> People were held there for several weeks, and then expelled to the [[General Government]].<ref name=mw/> Hundreds of Polish inhabitants of Tczew were expelled in 1940 and 1941.<ref>Wardzyńska (2017), p. 71, 105, 107</ref> Some inhabitants were also deported to [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|forced labour]] to Germany.<ref name=gs/> 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=[[Jagiellonian University|Uniwersytet Jagielloński]], [[Biblioteka Jagiellońska]]|page=123|chapter=Gdy zabrakło łez... Tragizm losu polskich dzieci wysiedlonych z Zamojszczyzny (1942-1943)}}</ref>

After World War II the town, was one of the most damaged cities of Gdańsk Pomerania. Virtually none of its remaining factories were capable of production. There had been considerable loss of population down to around 18-20 thousand people. Shortly before the end of World War II it was occupied by the [[Soviet Army]]. After the end of war the town became part of [[People's Republic of Poland]] and renamed Tczew again. German residents were dispossessed and expelled; Polish residents took the first effort of reconstruction, and revitalization.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.tcz.pl/index.php?p=5,30,0,historia-miasta&item=&title= |title=Historia miasta Tczewa |access-date=15 April 2020}}</ref>