Wołomin

Panorama of Wołomin

Coat of arms

Wołomin

Coordinates: 52°21′N 21°14′E / 52.350°N 21.233°E

Country

Poland

Established

15th century

Town rights

1919

Government

• Mayor

Elzbieta Radwan

Area

• Total

17.32 km² (6.69 sq mi)

Population (2006)

• Total

36,711

• Density

2,100/km² (5,500/sq mi)

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

• Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

Postal code

05-200

Area code(s)

+48 022

Car plates

WWL

Website

http://www.wolomin.org

Wołomin [vɔˈwɔmin] is the main town of Wołomin County situated in the Masovian Voivodship. Wołomin is situated approximately 20 km (12 mi) east of Warsaw, the capital of Poland, near the railway to Białystok. It has approximately 36,000 inhabitants and covers an area of 14 km² (5 sq mi).

Wołomin was first mentioned in chronicles from the 15th century. It remained a small village in central Masovia without much significance. Since 19th century, and especially after the foundation of the railway in 1862, Wołomin became a summer holiday destination for Warsaw citizens. The Wołomin glassworks were founded in the beginning of the 20th century.

Wołomin was declared a town in 1919 after the return of Poland's sovereignty. In 1920 the Polish counter-attack in the Battle of Warsaw was conducted near Wołomin. In the interbellum Wołomin retained its status as a multinational town. There was a big Jewish and Russian minority. Polish writer Zofia Nałkowska had a house in Wołomin, which became an inspiration for her 1925 book House over meadows (Polish: Dom nad łąkami).

During World War II, the Jews of Wołomin were forced into a ghetto set up by Nazi German administration on 15 November 1940, along the railway line between the streets of Kobyłka, Wspólna, Wiejska, Glinka and Cementowa. The ghetto inmates numbered about 2,700 people including Jews expelled from other locations. The Judenrat was established in the building at 17 Nałkowskiego Street. Deportations aboard Holocaust trains to Treblinka extermination camp began on 19 August 1942. The ghetto was liquidated on 6 October 1942. A few hundred people (416-620 according to different sources) were shot in the ghetto, including many elderly and sick people. Their bodies were buried in a mass grave near the J. Korsaka Road. Some Jews were deported to the Warsaw Ghetto as slave labour and exterminated during the Grossaktion Warsaw.

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Wikipedia