Tomaszów Mazowiecki


Tomaszów Mazowiecki is a large town in central Poland with 61,960 inhabitants. It is situated in the Łódź Voivodeship ; previously, it was part of Piotrków Voivodeship. Tomaszów occupies an area of as of 2002.
The town is situated on the banks of three rivers, the Pilica, Wolbórka, and Czarna Bielina, and is near the Sulejow Reservoir and the edge of the Puszcza Spalska wilderness area.

History

Tomaszów Mazowiecki was formed in 1788 in the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland by owner these lands – Tomasz Ostrowski based on local supply of the iron ore. Ostrowski invited the first miners and metallurgists from Staropolski Okręg Przemysłowy – old-polish Industrial region. The settlement fell into the Prussian Partition in 1793 during the Partitions of Poland, and since 1815 in the Russian Partition. The metal industry was expanded around 1820. Tomaszów received city rights in 1830 during the November Uprising against the Russian Empire in Congress Poland. The first weavers came to Tomaszów from Zgorzelec. The first Lutheran church was established in 1823. In 1825, Antoni Ostrowski transferred from the village of Tobiasze to Tomaszów a Catholic parish with the church of St. Wenceslas – Duke of Bohemia, which was located at Wieczność St., in the area of the first Catholic cemetery. In 1831 Qahal was founded. By 1931 the Jewish population of the city grew to 11,310 inhabitants, or about 30% of the general population of Tomaszów.

World War II

During the Nazi-Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939, the city was overrun by Nazi Germany. The Great Synagogue was burned to the ground as first on 16 October 1939; the remaining two synagogues were destroyed on 714 November. The Ghetto for the imprisonment of 16,500 Polish Jews was created in December 1940, and closed off from the outside in December 1941. Hunger was rampant, followed by the typhus epidemic. In December 1942, 15,000 Jews were deported aboard Holocaust trains to Treblinka extermination camp. Some 200 Jews from Tomaszów are known to have survived World War II.

Geography

According to 2006 data, Tomaszów has an area of ; about 45 percent of the land is put to agricultural use, 13% is forested, and the city itself covers about 4.03% of the area.
In the valley of the Pilica river in the south-eastern part of the town there is a unique natural karst spring of water containing calcium salts, that is an object of protection in Niebieskie Źródła Nature Reserve in Sulejów Landscape Park. The origin of the name of the reserve Niebieskie Źródła, that means Blue Springs, comes from the fact that red waves are absorbed by water and only blue and green are reflected from the bottom of the spring, giving that atypical colour. The reserve in situated near the end of Saint Anthony Street that begins in the centre of Tomaszów Mazowiecki, in proximity to the central Kościuszko Square.

Economy

Tomaszów Mazowiecki incorporates the Łódź Special Economic Zone, which is one of the 14 special economic zones in Poland. The city is home to a variety of industries: ceramics, construction, chemicals, plastics producers, electrical machinery manufacturers, upholstery, food, logistics and service.

Materials Industry

The major minerals companies in the area are Ceramika Paradyż a manufacturer of ceramic tiles and Sacmi which specialises in ceramic tile production machines. The Wagran factory, is a producer of granite sinks

Construction Sector

Within the construction sector Balex Metal produces high quality steel construction components. Ezbud-Budownictwo focuses on the construction of residential and service premises, sales and management of constructed properties and also produces ready-mixed concrete and other building materials. The company has been engaged in the construction of several housing estates in Tomaszów and Łódź from 1989 onwards and since 2019 has been the main sponsor of Tomaszów’s largest football club - "Lechia 1923".

Chemical Industry

Major chemical companies in Tomaszów include Sicher Bautechnik which is a producer of construction chemicals, EcoHydroCarbon which specializes in polymer waste processing and Toma a plastics processing company that also operates a private clinic at its plant for employees to use.

Equipment Manufacturers

The region has several specialist equipment manufacturers that include Markom, a producer of welding and transport equipment, and Glass Product, which manufactures automatic fertilization and raw material transport systems.

Carpets and upholstery industry

The Japanese car manufacturer Toyota has a base in Tomaszów, specializing in the production of upholstery for its range of premium vehicles. Weltom, a producer or carpets and rugs, also has a base in the city. The company was founded by Eleonora and Jan Roland. Their son, Edward Roland, began the business in 1848 from a small workshop consisting of a spinning mill and a weaving mill operated by three people. The workshop was located on Kaliska Street. In 1905, the company had expanded to employ a hundred and thirty weavers. The company quickly made a name for itself and became known throughout the Russian Empire. After World War II, the company was nationalized and renamed the "Weltom". In the 1990s, the plant underwent a transformation into a joint-stock company. Today, in addition to carpets, the company produces upholstery and coconut wipers. The entire western district of the city has been named after the company's founders.

Food Industry

Within Tomaszów's food and beverage sector PepsiCo produces the famous Cheetos crisps, Chipita produces croissants and Roldrob produces poultry products for customers such as KFC. Additionally, Las Vegas is a producer of energy drinks where the group also own the "Bulwary" shopping center in the city.

Logistics and Services Sector

Other companies in the region specializing in logistics and services are FM Logistic, serving Carrefour and Makro Cash and Carry, and Syntom, a recycling company.

Education

There are seven high schools in Tomaszów Mazowiecki as well as branches of notable universities including:
In the city there is first in Poland year-round ice skating rink that serves for speed skating, figure skating, ice hockey, short track and roller skating. It is located near Pilica River.
During the occupation of Poland in World War II, several strategic bunkers were built by Nazi Germany near Tomaszów Mazowiecki. The construction of the two large air-raid shelters was started in early 1940.
The so-called Konewka Bunkers were a complex of various concrete structures hidden in the woods, including an enormous long bunker capable of protecting an entire trainset from the possible air raid. The shelters in Konewka and in Jelen, built of reinforced concrete, served as unloading stations for military cargo. Similar train bunker for Adolf Hitler – known as Anlage Süd – was built in Stępina, 260 km distance southeast of Tomaszów.

Sulejowski Reservoir

The Sulejow Lake is a large reservoir built from 1969–1973 in order to help meet the demand for fresh drinking water in the city of Łódź and the city of Tomaszów Mazowiecki. The reservoir is situated on the territory of three gminas: Tomaszów, Piotrków and Wolbórz. It is popular place for water sports, including windsurfing, canoeing and sailing.

Transport

Since 1929 in the city exist bus public transport. Now, this is 773 routes during weekdays and 375 at the weekend. Since 2018, public transport in the city is free of charge.
Several national and regional routes cross each other in the city:

Twin towns — Sister cities

Tomaszów Mazowiecki is twinned with: