Kórnik

[edit] 19th-century print of the castle by Napoleon Orda Until 1961 Kórnik was separate from Bnin, situated just 1 km apart. Both towns were founded in the Middle Ages (Bnin gained town rights in 1395, and Kórnik in 1426), but Bnin lost its town rights in 1934, and in 1961 it became part of Kórnik. The enlarged town also includes the former settlement of Prowent, birthplace of the Nobel Prize-winning poet Wisława Szymborska. Mieszko I of Poland founded an early Polish stronghold in present-day Bnin in the 10th century. Kórnik was first mentioned in documents in the 12th century, while the town of Bnin started to develop in the 13th century, and a castellany was located in Bnin since 1232. After granting town rights, both Kórnik and Bnin were private towns of Polish nobility, administratively located in the Pyzdry County in the Kalisz Voivodeship in the Greater Poland Province. Kórnik was initially owned by the Górka family until 1592. The Łodzia coat of arms of the Górka family is the coat of arms of Kórnik since. Afterwards the town was held by the Czarnkowski, Grudziński and Działyński families. On 11 November 1918, an infantry company, which later became part of the Polish 69th Infantry Regiment, was founded in Kórnik. On 27 December, the company left Kórnik to aid Polish insurgents in Poznań. World War II[edit] Public execution of Polish civilians carried out by the Einsatzgruppe VI on 20 October 1939 After the German-Soviet invasion of Poland, which started World War II in September 1939, the town was occupied and annexed by Nazi Germany from 1939 to 1945 as part of Landkreis Schrimm, Reichsgau Wartheland. It was renamed Burgstadt in attempt to erase traces of Polish origin. Already on 27 September 1939 the Germans confiscated and robbed the rich museum and library of the Kórnik Castle. On 20 October 1939, the German Einsatzgruppe VI carried out a public execution of 16 Poles at the Market Square as part of Operation Tannenberg. Among the victims was pre-war mayor Teofil Wolniewicz. Inhabitants of Kórnik were also among 15 Poles murdered on the same day in a public execution in nearby Mosina. The purpose of the executions was to pacify and terrorize Poles. Nevertheless, the Polish resistance movement was still organized in the town. Polish underground press was printed in Kórnik. Local teachers were also among Polish teachers murdered in the Mauthausen concentration camp. Deputy mayor Jan Hanelt was murdered by the Russians in Kharkiv in the Katyn massacre in 1940.