Poniatowa

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Coordinates: 51°11′N 22°04′E Poniatowa is a town in southeastern Poland, in Opole Lubelskie County, in Lublin Voivodship, with 10,500 inhabitants (2006).

[edit] History

The town of Poniatowa was founded in the late 1930s, to house workers of a new telecommunications equipment factory, construction of which began in 1937. The factory was to be a part of the Central Industrial Region, and was to supply equipment to the Polish army.

The name Poniatowa comes from the name of a village which has existed near its site for the previous 700 years. The first buildings of the town were put up in 1939, just before the outbreak of World War II and the German conquest of Poland. During the German occupation of Poland in World War II, the factory was used to support the Nazi war effort.

In the latter half of 1941, the Germans established a camp for Soviet POWs on the factory grounds. By mid-1942, about 20,000 Soviet prisoners had perished there. In October 1942, in place of the liquidated POW camp, a new labor camp for Jews was established.

In April 1943, about 15,000 Jews were transported to the camp from the Warsaw Ghetto, following its liquidation after the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The camp claimed about 18,000 Jewish victims before it ceased functioning in 1944. Almost all of the remaining inmates (around 15,000) were executed on November 4, 1943, as part of the Nazis' Aktion Erntefest. The Germans left Poniatowa in July, 1944 fleeing the approaching Soviet Red Army.

After the war, in 1949, the industrial development of Poniatowa began again, with a reconstituted factory established in the town. As a result of the period of intensive growth after 1952, the town received its city charter in 1962. In its heyday, during the Communist regime, the factory employed about 5000 workers, about half of the town's population. It produced components for refrigerators and other household appliances. After the free market reforms in 1989 the factory experienced economic difficulties, and in 1998 finally entered into bankruptcy. Presently attempts are being made to attract new investors to take advantage of the factory's excellent infrastructure.