Lublin (PL)
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Lublin is the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland.Although Lublin was not spared from severe destruction during World War II, its picturesque and historical Old Town has been preserved.
After the 1939 German and Soviet invasion of Poland, the city found itself in the General Government territory controlled by Nazi Germany. The population became a target of severe Nazi persecutions focusing on Polish Jews. An attempt to "Germanise" the city led to an influx of the ethnic Volksdeutsche, increasing the number of German minority from 10–15% in 1939 to 20–25%. Near Lublin, the so-called 'reservation' for the Jews was built based on the idea of racial segregation known as the "Nisko or Lublin Plan". Cracow Gate in the Old Town is among the city's most recognisable landmarks.
The Jewish population was forced into the newly established Lublin Ghetto near Podzamcze. The city served as headquarters for Operation Reinhardt, the main German effort to exterminate all Jews in occupied Poland. The majority of the ghetto inmates, about 26,000 people, were deported to the Bełżec extermination camp between 17 March and 11 April 1942. The remainder were moved to facilities around the Majdanek concentration camp established at the outskirts of the city. Almost all of Lublin's Jews were murdered during the Holocaust in Poland.
After the war, some survivors emerged from hiding with the Christian rescuers or returned from the Soviet Union, and re-established a small Jewish community in the city, but their numbers were insignificant. Most left Poland for Israel and the West.
On 24 July 1944, the city was taken by the Soviet Army and became the temporary headquarters of the Soviet-controlled communist Polish Committee of National Liberation established by Joseph Stalin, which was to serve as the basis for a puppet government. The capital of new Poland was moved to Warsaw in January 1945 after the Soviet westward offensive.
In the postwar years, Lublin continued to grow, tripling its population and greatly expanding its area. A considerable scientific and research base was established around the newly founded Maria Curie-Sklodowska University. A large automotive factory, Fabryka Samochodów Ciężarowych, was built in the city.
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