Kurow

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Kurów is a village in South-Eastern Poland, located between Pu?awy and Lublin, on the Kurówka River. It is capital of a separate gmina within the Lublin Voivodship and has roughly 2800 inhabitants (as of 1998).

Related Topics:
Poland - Pu?awy - Lublin - Kurówka - Gmina - Lublin Voivodship - 1998

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Between 1431 and 1442 the village was granted with city rights based on the Magdeburg Law. As a private town, it served as a centre of foodstuffs trade for the surrounding area. Several fur and leather production manufactories were also located there. In 16th century it was one of the centres of Calvinism, as many of the Polish Brethren settled there. Gradually, until 1660, most of the inhabitants converted to Arianism.

Related Topics:
1431 - 1442 - Magdeburg Law - Fur - Leather - 16th century - Calvinism - Polish Brethren - 1660 - Arianism

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1670 the town was struck by a plague and lost the city charter, but regained it soon afterwards. Since then it shared the history of the whole region. After the Partitions of Poland, in 1795, it was annexed by Austria. In 1809 it became part of the Duchy of Warsaw, only to become part of the Kingdom of Poland in 1815. During the November Uprising, in February of 1831, a minor Battle of Kurów took place there, with Polish forces under general Józef Dwernicki defeating the Russian units. After the January Uprising, in 1870 the town finally lost the city charter, never to regain it. Since 1918 it is again part of Poland.

Related Topics:
1670 - Plague - Partitions of Poland - 1795 - Austria - 1809 - Duchy of Warsaw - Kingdom of Poland - 1815 - November Uprising - 1831 - Battle of Kurów - Józef Dwernicki - January Uprising - 1870 - 1918

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

During the Polish Defensive War, at the outbreak of World War II, on September 9, 1939, the town was heavily bombed by German Luftwaffe. Among the targets destroyed was a civilian hospital (marked with red crosses), where many victims perished. During the War, Germany set up two slave labour camps in the town. In 1942 also a minor ghetto was established there, but the majority of Poles imprisoned there managed to escape and joined the Home Army units operating in the forests nearby.

Related Topics:
Polish Defensive War - World War II - September 9 - 1939 - Luftwaffe - Slave labour - Camps - 1942 - Ghetto - Home Army

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Among the notable tourist attractions is a renaissance church (refurbished in 1692) with a grave of the Zb?ski family and sculptures by Santi Gucci (1587). It is also known as the birthplace of general Wojciech Jaruzelski. It is also proable that the emmigrants from Kurów gave name to a settlement of Kurow in New Zealand.

Related Topics:
Renaissance - 1692 - Santi Gucci - 1587 - Wojciech Jaruzelski - Kurow - New Zealand

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~