Country Poland County Gliwice Time zone CET (UTC+1) Population 19,104 (2008) | Voivodeship Silesian First mentioned 1256 Area 31.89 km² Local time Sunday 10:49 PM | |
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Gmina Pyskowice (urban gmina) Weather 3°C, Wind SE at 10 km/h, 98% Humidity | ||
Pyskowice [pɨskɔˈvʲit͡sɛ] (German: Peiskretscham) is a town in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. Borders on the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - metropolis with the population of 2 millions. Located in the Silesian Highlands.
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Map of Pyskowice, Poland
It is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship since its formation in 1999, previously it was in Katowice Voivodeship. Pyskowice is one of the towns of the 2,7 million conurbation - Katowice urban area and within a greater Silesian metropolitan area populated by about 5,294,000 people. The population of the town is 19,104 (2008).
During the Second World War Pyskowice, then known as Peiskretcham, was one of the many sites where Canadian and British prisoners of war, nominally attached to Stalag VIIIB/344 Lamsdorf (Lambinowice) had to work for their German captors. There were more than 600 such working parties belonging to Stlag VIIIB/344 in this region. In January 1945, as the Soviet armies resumed their offensive and advanced into Germany, the prisoners based in Pyskowice were marched westward in the so-called Long March or Death March. Some died from the bitter cold and exhaustion.Eventually the survivors were liberated by American troops in April or May 1945.
Twin towns
Pyskowice is twinned with: