Editing Gliwice (section)

===20th century===
According to the [[1911 Encyclopædia Britannica]], Gleiwitz's population in 1905 was 61,324. By 1911, it had two [[Protestantism|Protestant]] and four [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] churches, a [[synagogue]], a mining school, a [[convent]], a [[hospital]], two [[orphanage]]s, and a [[barracks]]. Gleiwitz was the center of the [[mining]] industry of [[Upper Silesia]].{{citation needed|date=December 2024}} It possessed a royal [[foundry]], with which were connected machine factories and boiler works.{{citation needed|date=December 2024}}
[[File:Ballestremsche Verwaltung Gleiwitz.jpg|thumb|left|The present Administrative Court building in the 1920s]]
After the end of [[World War I]], clashes between [[Polish people|Poles]] and [[Germans]] occurred during the [[Silesian Uprisings|Polish insurrections]] in Silesia. Some ethnically Polish inhabitants of Upper Silesia wanted to incorporate the city into the [[Second Polish Republic]], which just regained independence. On 1 May 1919, a Polish rally was held in Gliwice.<ref name="ips">{{cite web|url=https://www.ipsb.nina.gov.pl/a/biografia/wincenty-styczynski|title=Wincenty Styczyński|website=Internetowy Polski Słownik Biograficzny|access-date=15 March 2020|language=pl|archive-date=1 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801030911/https://www.ipsb.nina.gov.pl/a/biografia/wincenty-styczynski|url-status=live}}</ref> Seeking a peaceful solution to the conflict, the [[League of Nations]] held a [[1921 Upper Silesia plebiscite|plebiscite]] on 20 March 1921 to determine which country the city should belong to. In Gleiwitz, 32,029 votes (78.7% of given votes) were for remaining in Germany, Poland received 8,558 (21.0%) votes, and 113 (0.3%) votes were declared invalid. The total voter turnout was listed as 97.0%. This prompted another insurrection by Poles. The League of Nations determined that three Silesian cities: Gleiwitz (Gliwice), [[Zabrze|Hindenburg (Zabrze)]] and [[Bytom|Beuthen (Bytom)]] would remain in Germany, and the eastern part of [[Upper Silesia]] with its main city of [[Katowice|Katowice (Kattowitz)]] would join restored Poland. After delimiting the border in Upper Silesia in 1921, Gliwice found itself in Germany, but near the border with [[Second Polish Republic|Poland]] &ndash; nearby [[Knurów]] was already in Poland.{{citation needed|date=December 2024}}

During the [[interbellum]] the city witnessed not only [[Anti-Polish sentiment|anti-Polish]], but also [[Francophobia|anti-French]] incidents and violence by the Germans. In 1920, local Polish doctor and city [[councillor]] {{interlanguage link|Wincenty Styczyński|pl}}, protested against the German refusal to treat [[French people|French]] soldiers stationed in the city.<ref name="ips"/> In January 1922, he himself treated French soldiers shot in the city.<ref name="ips" /> On 9 April 1922, 17 Frenchmen died in an explosion during the liquidation of a German militia weapons warehouse in the present-day [[Sośnica, Gliwice|Sośnica]] district.<ref name="ips"/> Styczyński, who defended the rights of local Poles and protested against German acts of violence against Poles, was himself murdered by a German radical/militant on 18 April 1922.<ref name="ips" /> Nevertheless, various Polish organizations and enterprises still operated in the city in the interbellum, including a local branch of the [[Union of Poles in Germany]], Polish banks and a [[scout troop]].{{sfn|Cygański|1984|pp=24, 31, 33}}

On 9 June 1933, Gliwice was the site of the first conference of the Nazi anti-Polish organization [[Bund Deutscher Osten]] in Upper Silesia.{{sfn|Rosenbaum|Węcki|2010|p=49}} In a secret ''[[Sicherheitsdienst]]'' report from 1934, Gliwice was named one of the main centers of the Polish movement in western Upper Silesia.{{sfn|Rosenbaum|Węcki|2010|p=60}} Polish activists were increasingly persecuted starting in 1937.{{sfn|Cygański|1984|p=24}}

[[File:Radiostacja Gliwice - przemasban101.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Gliwice Radio Tower]]]]
The [[Gleiwitz incident]] was a false-flag attack on a radio station in Gleiwitz on 31 August 1939, staged by the German secret police, which served as a pretext, devised by [[Reinhard Heydrich]] under orders from Hitler, for [[Nazi Germany]] to [[Invasion of Poland|invade Poland]], and which marked the start of the [[Second World War]]. Shortly after the outbreak of the war, on 4 September 1939, the ''[[Einsatzgruppen|Einsatzgruppe I]]'' entered the city to commit [[Nazi crimes against the Polish nation|atrocities against Poles]].<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=58}}</ref> After the invasion of Poland, the assets of local Polish banks were confiscated by Germany.{{sfn|Cygański|1984|p=33}} The Germans formed a ''[[Kampfgruppe]]'' unit in the city.<ref>Wardzyńska, pg. 127</ref> It was also the [[cremation]] site of many of around 750 Poles murdered in Katowice in September 1939.<ref>Wardzyńska, pg. 130</ref>

In early 1940, the advanced [[shaped charge]] explosive developed for the attack on [[Fort Ében-Émael]] as part of the ''[[Blitzkrieg]]'' attack on the [[Maginot Line]] on May 10, 1940 were tested at places in Gleiwitz to ensure secrecy.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lucas|first=James|year=2022|title=Storming Eagles |language=En|location=London|publisher=Canelo|page=23|isbn=978-1-80032-985-0}}</ref>

During the war, the Germans operated a ''Dulag'' transit camp for Polish prisoners of war,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Megargee|first1=Geoffrey P.|last2=Overmans|first2=Rüdiger|last3=Vogt|first3=Wolfgang|year=2022|title=The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV|publisher=Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum|page=526|isbn=978-0-253-06089-1}}</ref> and a Nazi prison in the city,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=1535|title=Gefängnis Gleiwitz|website=Bundesarchiv.de|access-date=1 November 2020|language=de}}</ref> and established numerous [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|forced labour]] camps,<ref name="dzieje" /> including a ''[[Polenlager]]'' camp solely for Poles,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=1538|title=Polenlager Gleiwitz-Petersdorf|website=Bundesarchiv.de|accessdate=25 July 2021|language=de|archive-date=7 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211007202654/https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=1538|url-status=live}}</ref> a camp solely for [[Jews]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=1536|title=Zwangsarbeitslager für Juden Gleiwitz-Steigern|website=Bundesarchiv.de|accessdate=25 July 2021|language=de|archive-date=25 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725075925/https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=1536|url-status=live}}</ref> a penal "education" camp,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=1537|title=Straf- bzw. Arbeitserziehungslager Gleiwitz-Laband|website=Bundesarchiv.de|accessdate=25 July 2021|language=de|archive-date=25 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725075922/https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=1537|url-status=live}}</ref> a subcamp of the prison in [[Strzelce Opolskie]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=100000414|title=Außenkommando des Zuchthauses und der Haftanstalt Groß Strehlitz in Laband beim Preßwerk Laband|website=Bundesarchiv.de|accessdate=25 July 2021|language=de|archive-date=25 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725075920/https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=100000414|url-status=live}}</ref> and six subcamps of the [[Stalag VIII-B|Stalag VIII-B/344]] [[German prisoner-of-war camps in World War II|prisoner of war camp]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lamsdorf.com/working-parties.html|title=Working Parties|website=Stalag VIIIB 344 Lamsdorf|access-date=1 March 2020|archive-date=29 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029103834/https://www.lamsdorf.com/working-parties.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> In October 1943, the Germans brought a large transport of [[Italian Military Internees|Italian POWs]] to a forced labour camp in today's Łabędy district.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Marcinkiewicz|first=Stefan Michał|year=2024|title=Stalag I B Kommando Prostken (I B/PR). Włoscy żołnierze w obozie jenieckim w Boguszach/Prostkach (1943–1945)|magazine=Przegląd Historyczno-Wojskowy|volume=25|issue=3|language=pl|page=148}}</ref> From July 1944 to January 1945, Gliwice was the location of four subcamps of the [[Auschwitz concentration camp]].<ref>[http://www.edwardvictor.com/Holocaust/Gleiwitz.htm Infosite] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512052442/http://www.edwardvictor.com/Holocaust/Gleiwitz.htm |date=12 May 2011 }}; retrieved 24 April 2011.</ref> In the largest subcamp, whose prisoners were mainly Poles, [[Jews]] and [[Russians]], nearly 100 either died of hunger, mistreatment and exhaustion or were murdered.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://auschwitz.org/en/history/auschwitz-sub-camps/gleiwitz-i/|title=Gleiwitz I|website=Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau|access-date=1 November 2020|archive-date=27 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027190958/http://auschwitz.org/en/history/auschwitz-sub-camps/gleiwitz-i/|url-status=live}}</ref> During the evacuation of another subcamp, the Germans burned alive or shot 55 prisoners who were unable to walk.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://auschwitz.org/en/history/auschwitz-sub-camps/gleiwitz-iv/|title=Gleiwitz IV|website=Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau|access-date=1 November 2020|archive-date=1 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101092026/http://auschwitz.org/en/history/auschwitz-sub-camps/gleiwitz-iv/|url-status=live}}</ref> There are two mass graves of the victims of the early 1945 [[Death marches during the Holocaust|death march]] from Auschwitz in the city, both commemorated with monuments.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://auschwitz.org/historia/ewakuacja/szlakiem-marszow-smierci|title=Szlakiem Marszów Śmierci|website=Miejsce Pamięci i Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenau|access-date=1 November 2020|language=pl|archive-date=5 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201105113939/http://auschwitz.org/historia/ewakuacja/szlakiem-marszow-smierci|url-status=live}}</ref>

During the final stages of the war, 124 inhabitants committed suicide fearing the advancing [[Red Army]].<ref name=ah>{{cite journal|last=Hanich|first=Andrzej|year=2012|title=Losy ludności na Śląsku Opolskim w czasie działań wojennych i po wejściu Armii Czerwonej w 1945 roku|journal=Studia Śląskie|volume=LXXI|location=Opole|language=pl|page=216|issn=0039-3355}}</ref> On 24 January 1945, Gliwice was occupied by the Red Army. Soviet troops then murdered over 1,000 civilians, mostly women, children and elders.<ref name=ah/> In February 1945, the Soviets carried out deportations of local men to Soviet mines.<ref name=ig/> Under borders changes dictated by the Soviet Union at the [[Potsdam Conference]], Gliwice fell inside Poland's new borders after Germany's defeat in the war. It was incorporated into Poland's [[Silesian Voivodeship]] on 18 March 1945, after almost 300 years of being outside of Polish rule.

In 1956, Gliwice was the site of a manifestation of solidarity with the [[Hungarian Revolution of 1956]], and local Poles raised funds and donated blood for the Hungarian insurgents (see also ''[[Hungary–Poland relations]]'').<ref>{{cite web|url=https://gliwice.gosc.pl/gal/pokaz/1811855.Tablica-pamiatkowa-na-gliwickim-rynku/|title=Tablica pamiątkowa na gliwickim rynku|date=12 December 2013|access-date=29 November 2023|language=pl|archive-date=14 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220814191510/https://gliwice.gosc.pl/gal/pokaz/1811855.Tablica-pamiatkowa-na-gliwickim-rynku|url-status=live}}</ref>