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Revision as of 16:54, 13 July 2002 by Tirid Tirid (talk | contribs) (Weren't the Poles the victims of WWII?)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Warmia (Varmia,German, Ermland or Ermeland) is a region between Pomerania and Masuria in northern Poland, together with Masuria it forms the Warminsko-Mazurskie region. It was formerly a part of Prussia.
Warmia was one of the four dioceses into which Prussia was divided in (1242) by the papal legate William of Modena. The other dioceses, all four under the archbishop of Riga, were Culmer Land, Pomesania and Samland. Warmia later became an exempt bishopric. One of its most notable bishops was Enea Silvio Piccolomini (long time secretary to emperor Frederick III) and later Pope Pius II.
Warmia's most famous citizens were the family members of Lucas Watzenrode or Watzelrode, who was Prince-Bishop of Warmia and who became legal guardian, raised and educated his nephews Nicolaus and Andreas Copernicus following their father's death.
In 1755 the imperial mapmaker of Elbing,Johann Friedrich Endersch completed work on a beautiful map of Ermland or Warmia. It details all surrounding towns.
Located in a region marked by the frequently changing boundaries between Prussia and Poland, Warmia passed with much of western Prussia from the rule of the Teutonic Order to Polish sovereignty under the Second Treaty of Thorn in 1466. In 1772, this Prussian land was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia at the time of the first under Frederick the Great, who named the eastern part of Prussia, East Prussia (Ostpreussen). East Prussia, now a province of the State of Prussia, in 1871 led the unificating of the German Reich, after the destruction of the Holy Roman Empire by Napoleon. Ermland was overrun by Soviet troops and annexed to Poland in 1945.
The end of Second World War saw the killing of many polish settlers (deported from Polish lands overtaken by Soviet Union) from the hands of the Wehrwolf - military German organization oriented at fighting and killing Polish civilians, largely supported by original German population, especially clergy, which resulted in expulsion of a large number of the East Prussian population, by Polish and Soviet troops. Wehrwolf was active in every region of the Polish "Recovered Lands", earning for itself a very bad fame, by never attacking any military targets.
After the break-up of the Soviet Union, a monument memorializing the dead was erected in September 2001. This memorial inscripted in Polish and German language, is located near Olsztyn (Ger. Allenstein). The dedication was attended by Polish army honor guard, the wife of the prime minister of Poland, Jerzy Buzek, church officials and the murdered priests' family members, and former residents, now living in Germany, who had been expelled (Heimatvertriebene during and shortly after the War.
External Links
- Memorial website, listing names of the dead: ]
- External link to Endersch's map: ]