Szczerców

51°20′N 19°7′E / 51.333°N 19.117°E / 51.333; 19.117Country PolandVoivodeshipŁódźCountyBełchatówGminaSzczercówArea • Total129 km² (50 sq mi)Population • Total3,300 • Density26/km² (66/sq mi)Time zoneUTC+1 (CET) • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)Postal CodeArea Code(+48) 44Vehicle registrationEBEWebsitewww.szczercow.org

Szczerców [ˈʂt͡ʂɛrt͡suf] is a village in Bełchatów County, Łódź Voivodeship, in central Poland.^[1] It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Szczerców. It lies approximately 18 kilometres (11 mi) west of Bełchatów and 56 km (35 mi) south-west of the regional capital Łódź. It is located in the Sieradz Land.

History

Szczerców was a royal town of the Kingdom of Poland, administratively located in the Sieradz County in the Sieradz Voivodeship in the Greater Poland Province.^[2]

The town had a history of Jewish migration and settlement, with 35 percent of the population claiming Jewish ancestry at the start of World War II.^[3] Shortly after Hitler's forces invaded Poland in 1939, German troops arrived in the town at September 3, 1939. Polish and German troops fought bitterly between September 4 and 5, resulting in the near destruction of the town. The synagogue was burned, and its ruins dismantled after the war, while the majority of Jewish residents took shelter in nearby towns Zelów and Bełchatów.^[4]

Among the soldiers to perish in the fighting at Szczerców was Prince Oskar of Prussia (1915–39),^[5] a lieutenant with Nazi German Infantry Regiment 51 and a grandson of deposed Kaiser Wilhelm II, through his son Prince Oskar (1888-1958).

References