History of Łódź
Then they began to be called Nadrzeczna, later Podrzeczna, and finally Drewnowska, apparently, the latter name was given to the influential Drewnowicz family from Łódź.
During the reign of King Stanisław Poniatowski, the bishop of Włocławek gave the inhabitants of Łódź the last privilege, i.e. he abolished his eternal duties and established rent in money as the only form of benefits for the owner.
It was characterized by a network of narrow streets, leaving slightly obliquely from the Market Square and enclosing buildings in small, irregular blocks.
The whole town development was limited to housing these squares and the initial sections of eight streets, some of which crossed the road to nearby cities and took their names from them.
In the 1815 treaty, it was planned to renew the dilapidated town and with the 1816 decree, issued by the Czar, a number of German immigrants received territory deeds for them to clear the land and to build factories and housing.
The new settlement had been assumed to be separate, though officially still a part of an existing city, therefore it was necessary to keep it as well integrated as possible, which was best done by the new Piotrków route, connecting the areas on both sides of the river by the shortest line.
[10] In 1899 Józef Piłsudski, the future Polish leader during World War I and the interwar period, and his wife Maria Piłsudska settled in Łódź.
Polish Air Force and anti-aircraft artillery, which were insufficient in quantity and strength, were not able to effectively counteract the brutal attacks of the enemy.
Matters of security and public order passed into the hands of the Citizens' Militia, which had been operating as an organization to fight usury and sabotage since 27 August and was now subordinated to the committee.
The Nazi authorities, which gave Łódź the status of a separate city, divided it into four administrative districts, and seven more were created in suburban areas.
[27] Thousands of Poles were massacred there in late 1939 and early 1940, including teachers, activists, local officials, journalists, lawyers, parliamentarians, etc.
[27] In addition, eleven Polish boy scouts from Łódź were murdered by the occupiers in the Okręglik forest near Zgierz in March 1940.
[33] In the latter, Poles were subjected to racial selection before deportation to forced labour in Germany, and Polish children were taken from their parents and sent to Germanisation camps.
[34] In 1942–1945, the German Sicherheitspolizei operated a concentration camp for kidnapped Polish children of two to 16 years of age from various parts of occupied Poland.
[35] The children were subjected to starvation, exhausting labour, beating even up to death and diseases,[30] and the camp was nicknamed "little Auschwitz" due to its conditions.
On the first day of the war, the Commune Board headed by the chairman of Mincberg went to the headquarters of the Voivodship Office, where, in the hands of Chief Stanisław Wrona, he made a declaration "on readiness to cooperate with state and social factors on behalf of the entire Jewish community".
[36] The next day Henryk Mostowski, the Staroste of the town, informed the community about the attachment order over its premises at 18 Pomorska Street.
On the direction of the community board, assistance was organized for the wounded refugees of the German air attacks, and on September 8 the corpse of dr. Jakub Schlosser was brought for burial.
The first anti-Jewish ordinances appeared on September 14, 1939, when the provisions of the head of the civil management came into force, issued by Harry von Craushaar, SS-Brigadeführer at the 8th Army on the closure of bank accounts, deposits and safes belonging to Jews, and about banning them from storing cash of over a thousand marks, which initiated the elimination of Jews from economic life in the city.
This was done by soldiers, members of Selbstschutz recruited from local volksdeutsch as well as police officers who robbed shops and premises of Polish and Jewish organizations.
A number of police prohibitions were also introduced to make it impossible for the free movement of Jews, including being on the city streets at certain times and using any means of transport.
On December 11 Governor of Warta Country Arthur Greiser changed this ordinance to the obligation to wear a Star of David on the right side of the chest and on the back.
Two days after Łódź was captured by the Red Army an operational group came to town with Ignacy Loga-Sowiński as the representative of the Provisional Government.
[39] The chairman of the Council was the president of Łódź Kazimierz Mijal, his deputy Jan Stefan Haneman (PPS), and the members of the presidium: Lucjan Głowacki, Artur Kopacz (SD) and Eugeniusz Stawiński.
Ruda Pabianicka, Radogoszcz and Chojny and some communes: Rąbień, Brus, Widzew, Gospodarz, Wiskitno, Nowosolna, Dobra and Łagiewniki.
City Hall (Polish: Rada Narodowa miasta Łodzi) was moved to the now expanded Juliusz Heinzel Palace in 104 Piotrkowska Street while the Izrael Poznański Palace was the seat of the Presidium of the Voivodeship National Council of Lodz (Polish: Prezydium Wojewódzkiej Rady Narodowej w Łodzi.
Most central offices were temporarily relocated to Łódź, mainly due to the lack of damage in the city, unlike the massive destruction of Warsaw.
They started with Bałuty district, not accidentally, as the poorest people of Łódź always lived there, so the choice was excellent from an ideological point of view.
In addition, this was the location of Łódź Ghetto during the Holocaust and some buildings were demolished by the Germans, especially in the southern part, close to Polnocna Street, a fact which made it easier for constructing big housing estate.
New Center of Łódź district (Polish: Nowe Centrum Łodzi) and Special Art Zone in the revitalized historic EC1 heat and power plant.
