[citation needed] In the 13th century the site of the present castle was occupied by a stronghold on an artificial island with wood and earth defences and by a village called Szydłowiec.

[citation needed] The period of wars 1648–1717 and numerous epidemics and fires brought about a decline of Szydłowiec, which persisted for centuries, its state being yet aggravated after the partitions of Poland.

[citation needed] Following the joint German-Soviet invasion of Poland, which started World War II in September 1939, the town was occupied by Germany until 1945.

The occupiers carried out deportations of Jews to forced labour, and eventually the local Jewish community was destroyed by the Germans in the Holocaust.

[2] There are known cases of local Poles who were arrested and sent to concentration camps by the Germans for producing and giving false identity cards to Jews to save them from the Holocaust.