Tomaszów Mazowiecki (, or Tomashuv) is a city in central Poland with 60,529 inhabitants (2021). The fourth most populous city in the Łódź Voivodeship and the second with free public transport. It's the seat of Tomaszów County. In Tomaszów Mazowiecki there is the first (and the only) all-year speed skating track in Poland - Ice Arena Tomaszów Mazowiecki, which has been hosting the World Championships. In autumn, the city hosts the international Love Polish Jazz festival, organized by the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
Location
Tomaszów is situated in the Łódź Voivodeship (since 1999); previously, it was part of Piotrków Voivodeship (1975–1998). Tomaszów occupies an area of as of 2002. The town is situated on the banks of three rivers, the Pilica, Wolbórka, and Czarna Bielina, and is near the Sulejow Reservoir and the edge of the Puszcza Spalska wilderness area.
History
Tomaszów Mazowiecki was formed in 1788 in the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland by owner these lands – Tomasz Ostrowski based on local supply of the iron ore. Ostrowski invited the first miners and metallurgists from the Old-Polish Industrial Region. The settlement fell into the Prussian Partition in 1793 during the Second Partition of Poland. In 1807 it was regained by Poles and included within the short-lived Duchy of Warsaw, and since 1815 it was located in the Russian Partition. The metal industry was expanded around 1820. Tomaszów received city rights in 1830 during the Polish November Uprising against the Russian Empire. The first weavers came to Tomaszów from Zgorzelec. The first Lutheran church was established in 1823. In 1825, Antoni Ostrowski transferred from the village of Tobiasze to Tomaszów a Catholic parish with the church of St. Wenceslas – Duke of Bohemia, which was located at Wieczność St., in the area of the first Catholic cemetery (nowadays Słowackiego St). In 1831 Qahal was founded. During the January Uprising, on July 12 and September 1, 1863, clashes between Polish insurgents and Russian soldiers took place. From 1867, it was administratively located in the Piotrków Governorate.
During World War I, Tomaszów was occupied by Germany, which policies led to poverty and hunger among the population. During the war, local Poles organized secret resistance in the town, including the Polish Military Organisation. After the war, on November 11, 1918, Poland regained independence, and the Poles disarmed German troops, who afterwards left the town. In mid-November 1918, the town's first Polish military unit was organized. Within interwar Poland, the Polish Army was stationed in the town, and it administratively belonged to the Łódź Voivodeship. By 1931 the Jewish population of the city grew to 11,310 inhabitants, or about 30% of the general population of Tomaszów.
World War II
On September 1, 1939, the first day of the German-Soviet invasion of Poland that started World War II, the Germans air raided the town twice, killing seven people. Further air raids were carried out in the following days, forcing many inhabitants to flee. The Germans bombed houses, factories and fire engines. On September 6, the Battle of Tomaszów Mazowiecki was fought between Poland and Germany. On September 7, the Germans entered the town and the Einsatzgruppe III arrived to commit various atrocities against the populace. The Germans then looted the town, burned houses, and committed some murders of its inhabitants. On September 26, the Germans founded a local branch of the Arbeitsamt, which sent local Poles to forced labour. The Great Synagogue was burned to the ground as first on 16 October 1939; the remaining two synagogues were destroyed on 714 November.