- Michniów
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Michniów — Village — Mass grave of Michniów massacre victims
MichniówCoordinates: 51°0′29″N 20°50′38″E / 51.00806°N 20.84389°E Country 
PolandVoivodeship Świętokrzyskie County Skarżysko Gmina Suchedniów Population 440 Michniów [ˈmixɲuf] is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Suchedniów, within Skarżysko County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in south-central Poland. It lies approximately 5 kilometres (3 mi) south of Suchedniów, 14 km (9 mi) south-west of Skarżysko-Kamienna, and 22 km (14 mi) north-east of the regional capital Kielce.[1]
The village has a population of 440.
Michniów massacre
During World War II, region of Michniów was occupied by the Germans from September 1939 until January 1945. Under the occupation, it was one of centres of the Polish underground partisan movement. On 12 and 13 July 1943, a population of Michniów was massacred by the German Police units (of the 17th and the 22nd Police Regiments[2]), commanded by Hauptmann Geruf Mayer[3], for helping the partisans. After the first massacre on 12 July, when 98 men were burned alive in barns, the partisans headed by Jan Piwnik "Ponury", made a retaliatory assault on a train from Kraków to Warsaw at night[3]. On the next day, the Germans returned to continue the massacre. During two days, at least 203 inhabitants were killed - 103 males, 53 women and 47 children. Further 11 persons - the only ones suspected by the Germans for underground activities - were sent to Auschwitz concentration camp, where 6 died.[2] The village was next completely burned.
After the war, Michniów was settled again. The village became one of most known symbols of the German atrocities in Poland, although there were several greater massacres. From early 1980s, a museum and mausoleum of all Poland's massacred villages was built in Michniów.[2]
References
- ^ "Central Statistical Office (GUS) - TERYT (National Register of Territorial Land Apportionment Journal)" (in Polish). 2008-06-01. http://www.stat.gov.pl/broker/access/prefile/listPreFiles.jspa.
- ^ a b c (Polish) Michnów at Muzeum Wsi Kieleckiej
- ^ a b Bogdan Hildebrandt (in Polish), Partyzantka na Kielecczyźnie 1939-1945, Wydawnictwo MON, Warsaw 1970, p. 173-174
- (Polish) Michnów at Muzeum Wsi Kieleckiej (Kielce Region Countryside Museum) page [retrieved 19-7-2010]
Town and seat 
Villages Categories:- Villages in Skarżysko County
- Skarżysko County geography stubs
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