Akta gminy Radoszyce (Sygn. 532)

Radoszyce is a village in Końskie County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in south-central Poland (historic province of Lesser Poland). It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Radoszyce. It lies approximately 19 kilometers (12 mi) south-west of Końskie and 33 km (21 mi) north-west of the regional capital Kielce. The village has a population of 3,400. Radoszyce was a town from around 1370 to 1869. In 1827, the population of Radoszyce was 1,425, with 252 houses. By 1858, the population grew to 1,934, but together with other locations in northern Lesser Poland Radoszyce lost its town charter after the January Uprising (1869). In 1905, the population of the village was 5,379, with a significant Jewish minority. In the Second Polish Republic, Radoszyce belonged to Kielce Voivodeship, and remained a poor village, whose residents supported themselves by trade, agriculture and services.
In the late autumn of 1939, after German Invasion of Poland, the unit of Major Henryk Dobrzański operated in the area of Radoszyce. Local Home Army units were commanded by Jan Stoiński (who was later replaced by Jan Pacak). In the late 1941 and early 1942, Jews of Radoszyce were murdered by Germans in the Holocaust. Since the village was a major center of Polish resistance, German occupiers decided to take their revenge on its population. On September 3-4, 1944, Radoszyce was surrounded by the Wehrmacht. All residents were ordered to gather in the market square, and Germans began the massacre. They managed to kill 19 residents, when local Home Army units attacked the Wehrmacht, forcing it to retreat. After the battle, however, the village was completely destroyed. On September 29, 1944, near the village of Gruszka, one of the largest battles of Polish resistance took place.