Inowrocław is an industrial town located about 40 kilometres (25 miles) southeast of Bydgoszcz known for its saltwater baths and salt mines.

The town is the 5th largest agglomeration in its voivodeship, and is a major railway junction, where the west–east line (Poznań–Toruń) crosses the Polish Coal Trunk-Line from Chorzów to Gdynia.

[6] A strong garrison was located in the city during the Polish-Teutonic War (1409–1411), and it was the main base of King Władysław II Jagiełło after his victory in the Battle of Grunwald.

[6] Inowrocław was occupied and plundered by Swedish troops during the Deluge in the 1650s,[6] and was annexed to the Kingdom of Prussia in February 1772 during the First Partition of Poland and added to the Netze District.

Following the Franco-Prussian Treaty in July 1807, Inowrocław was transferred to the newly created Duchy of Warsaw, which was a client state of the French Empire.

Following the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Inowrocław (as first Inowraclaw and later Inowrazlaw) was transferred back to Prussia as part of the Grand Duchy of Posen.

After the end of World War I, in November 1918, Poland regained independence and Polish insurgents re-captured the city in January 1919.

High unemployment resulting from trade embargoes led to violent confrontations between workers and the police in 1926 and hunger strikes killed 20 in 1930.

This district was briefly assigned to Great Pomerania during the reform of Polish regional administration just before World War II.

[8][9] In a large massacre, on the night of October 22–23, 1939, the Germans murdered 56 Poles in the prison, including numerous teachers.

[8] Families of the victims were expelled, alike local Polish activists and craftsmen, whose workshops were handed over to German colonists in accordance to the Nazi Lebensraum policy.

[11] Multiple local members of the Home Army, a major Polish resistance organization, were imprisoned and murdered by the Germans in the prison camp in Żabikowo in 1944–1945.

The last German air raid occurred on April 4, 1945, when a single aircraft dropped four fragmentation bombs and fired on travelers waiting at the Inowrocław train platform.

[15] However, there was a disparity between the young and old Jewish generations as many older Jews were interested in staying true to their traditions and did not want to be Germanized.