600 Years of Płońsk's Reliability

Płońsk, a city in northern Mazovia on the Płonka River, 60 km.s from Warsaw on an area of 11.4 sq. km.s and home to 23 thousand inhabitants. Since January 1999, it has held the status of a county seat, but its history goes back to the 15th century.
 Płońsk's past reaches back 600 years to the 14th century and the town from which it originated. The first historical mention refers to a place known today as Góra Kawałkowskiego, the remains of a 7th century settlement.  Around 1400, the town received a town charter based on the Chełmińskie law, given to it by the

 

Mazovian prince Siemowit IV.  The original town layout has been preserved to this day (a market square surrounded by tenement houses from the 19th and early 20th centuries).  The oldest historical site in the city is a church and former Carmelite convent from the 16th century.  Local industry (brickworks, a brewery, and factories producing mead, oil and vinegar) developed most intensively in the second half of the 19th century.
 The town's history is closely connected to the names of several famous people.  Here, for example, dr. Jan Walery Jędrzejwicz founded a meteorological station and observatory. The well-known researcher, anthropologist and physician dr. Leon Rutkowski also lived and worked in Płońsk.  In addition, Henryk Sienkiewicz spent a year of his life here, and Płońsk was the birthplace of David Ben Gurion, the first prime minister of Israel, who grew up there.
 The outbreak of World War II dealt a

hard blohard blow to Poles and to the Jewish population of Płońsk, which had settled in the town in the 15th century.  In 1940, the nazi occupiers created a Jewish ghetto in the town, which lasted until 1942. The nearly 1200 members of the Jewish community were successively sent to Auschwitz until the community had been practically wiped out.   In post-war Płońsk the memory of these events and the people who had once lived in the town did not die.

This is evident from the numerous sights of national memory, monuments and memorial plaques one can see on the town's streets.  On one of them, dedicated to those maimed and murdered by the Gestapo, NKWD, and Polish Security Service (UB) from 1939 to 1956, the citizens of Płońsk have written  "If we forget about you, then God, forget about us."
 Since 1997, Płońsk has held the international title of  "Messenger of Peace."  Moreover, modern-day Płońsk is a prospering town, though its adjustment to the requirements of market conditions has not been without trouble.
 Its advantageous geographical location (along a fork on the internationalWarsaw-Gdańsk and Warsaw-Bydgoszcz-Szeczcin routes) has encouraged foreign investors.  Among the large industrial facilities prospering in the

town are Danone Ciastka Sp. z o.o., Mill in Płońsk, the Elander printing house, Farby Maestra Polska, the production facilities for Braas roof coverings, PBO and RI Inżynieria.
 Płońsk currently offers the highest standards in education, the best evidence of which is its Comprehensive School No.1 im. H. Sienkiewicza, which is under the patronage of UNESCO, as well as the range of sports facilities available, including an indoor swimming pool, a sports stadium, and a sports arena, places where events of national and often international importance are held. The town's prominent place on the cultural map of Poland is guaranteed by events like the "Kupalnocka" International Folklore Gathering, Płońsk Days, and the Płońsk Local Media Workshop.
 The year 2000 will be a particularly interesting year for the town due to the celebration of its 600 years of existence.  Preparations for the jubilee event are for the town leaders above all a period of strenuous work and large-scale initiatives whose primary goal is the continued growth of the city, as well as its  beautification.