Kolbuszowa k is a small town

Town

A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...

 in south-eastern Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

, with 9,190 inhabitants (02.06.2009).
Situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodship (since 1999), it is the capital of Kolbuszowa County

Kolbuszowa County

Kolbuszowa County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Subcarpathian Voivodeship, south-eastern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat and only town is Kolbuszowa, which...

.

History

The name of the town comes from the land owner Kolbusz. It appeared for the first time in 1503 in place where Poręby Wielkie used to exist.

The town was probably founded before 1683, when it was mentioned in a trade regulating document of Józef Karol Lubomirski

Józef Karol Lubomirski

Prince Józef Karol Lubomirski was a Polish noble.He was owner of Dubno, Wiśnicz, Tarnów and Zesław, Koniuszy of the Crown since 1683, Court Marshals of the Crown since 1692, Grand Marshal of the Crown in 1702, Starost of Sandomierz and Zator....

. Kolbuszowa was on an important trade route Sandomierz

Sandomierz

Sandomierz is a city in south-eastern Poland with 25,714 inhabitants . Situated in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship , previously in Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship . It is the capital of Sandomierz County . Sandomierz is known for its Old Town, a major tourist attraction...

-Przemyśl

Przemysl

Przemyśl is a city in south-eastern Poland with 66,756 inhabitants, as of June 2009. In 1999, it became part of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship; it was previously the capital of Przemyśl Voivodeship....

.

As the owners of the area were the Leliwa Tarnowski, Kolbuszowa belonged to the Sandomierz County

Sandomierz County

Sandomierz County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, south-central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat and largest town is Sandomierz,...

. With regards to the Roman Catholic Church Kolbuszowa was under the Kraków

Kraków

Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...

 diocese but in 1786 it was moved under the jurisdiction of the Tarnów

Tarnów

Tarnów is a city in southeastern Poland with 115,341 inhabitants as of June 2009. The city has been situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999, but from 1975 to 1998 it was the capital of the Tarnów Voivodeship. It is a major rail junction, located on the strategic east-west connection...

 diocese.

During the partitions of Poland

Partitions of Poland

The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...

 the town was in the Rzeszów district of the Austrian partition and in 1867 it became the seat of its own county (powiat

Powiat

A powiat is the second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland, equivalent to a county, district or prefecture in other countries. The term powiat is most often translated into English as "county", although other terms are also sometimes used...

).

Before World War II, half of Kolbuszowa's population was Jewish. During the war, German troops burned down part of the town and about half of the Jewish population perished. In September 1941 Germans established a ghetto and interned 2500 people. In September 1942 the ghetto was emptied and its entire population was moved to a ghetto in Rzeszów

Rzeszów

Rzeszów is a city in southeastern Poland with a population of 179,455 in 2010. It is located on both sides of the Wisłok River, in the heartland of the Sandomierska Valley...

.

On September 9, 1939 a 2 day battle between the Polish Army (121st light tank company) and the German 2nd Panzer Division took place here. During the war units of Polish Armia Krajowa

Armia Krajowa

The Armia Krajowa , or Home Army, was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II German-occupied Poland. It was formed in February 1942 from the Związek Walki Zbrojnej . Over the next two years, it absorbed most other Polish underground forces...

 (AK) and BCh (Polish Peasants' Battalions) operating in this area discovered testing sites for the German V-1 and V-2 rocket

V-2 rocket

The V-2 rocket , technical name Aggregat-4 , was a ballistic missile that was developed at the beginning of the Second World War in Germany, specifically targeted at London and later Antwerp. The liquid-propellant rocket was the world's first long-range combat-ballistic missile and first known...

s in the nearby towns of Blizna

Blizna

Blizna is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Ostrów, within Ropczyce-Sędziszów County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in south-eastern Poland. It lies approximately north of Ostrów, north of Ropczyce, and north-west of the regional capital Rzeszów...

/Pustkow

Pustków, Subcarpathian Voivodeship

Pustków is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Dębica, within Dębica County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in south-eastern Poland. It lies approximately north-east of Dębica and west of the regional capital Rzeszów.-References:...

. The Red Army entered Kolubuszowa in July 1944 and local Polish AK units (as part of Operation Tempest

Operation Tempest

Operation Tempest was a series of uprisings conducted during World War II by the Polish Home Army , the dominant force in the Polish resistance....

) attacked retreating German units; several dozen partisans died in the operation.

After World War II, Kolbuszowa was rebuilt. New school districts were created, as well as a library and Museum of Culture.

In 1964 a new rail link was established: Rzeszów

Rzeszów

Rzeszów is a city in southeastern Poland with a population of 179,455 in 2010. It is located on both sides of the Wisłok River, in the heartland of the Sandomierska Valley...

 – Głogów Małopolski – Kolbuszowa. In 1971 it was extended to Nowa Dęba

Nowa Deba

Nowa Dęba is a town in Tarnobrzeg County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, Poland, with a population of 11,310, as of 2 June 2009.-Twin towns — Sister cities:Nowa Dęba is twinned with:-External links:**...

 and Tarnobrzeg

Tarnobrzeg

Tarnobrzeg is a city in south-eastern Poland, on the east bank of the river Vistula, with 49,419 inhabitants, as of December 31, 2009. Situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship since 1999, it had previously been the capital of Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship...

. This connected Kolbuszowa to all the major cities in Poland including the capital, Warsaw. It was a culmination of decades of preparations which started when this part of Poland was under the control of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Notable people

Jan Bytnar

Jan Bytnar

Jan Roman Bytnar was a Polish Scoutmaster , Polish Scouting resistance activist and Second Lieutenant of the Armia Krajowa during the Second World War...

, Scoutmaster, Polish Scouting resistance activist and Second Lieutenant of Armia Krajowa

Marian Krzaklewski

Marian Krzaklewski

Marian Krzaklewski is a Polish politician. A member of Solidarity since the 1980s, he was one of the most known and influential Polish politicians in the late 1990s, when he created the Solidarity Electoral Action...

, Polish politician, was born in Kolbuszowa.

Twin towns — Sister cities

Kolbuszowa is twinned with:

Ploërmel Ploërmel Ploërmel is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France.-Character of the town:It is a growing and developing community with a thriving economy and a lively atmosphere. The town is modern rather than romantically mediaeval, but it is clean and attractive and offers a...  in France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...  Apensen Apensen Apensen is a municipality northwest of Hamburg . Apensen has a population of circa 3,000, the area of 20.74 km² and belongs to the district Stade, Lower Saxony.It belonged to the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen...  in Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...  Cobh Cobh Cobh is a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Ireland. Cobh is on the south side of Great Island in Cork Harbour. Facing the town are Spike Island and Haulbowline Island... , County Cork County Cork County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county... , Ireland Ireland Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...