#125 Poland

Augustów is a town in north-eastern Poland with 29,600 inhabitants. It lies on the Netta River and the Augustów Canal.

The town was first mentioned in 1496 and was granted city rights by king Sigismund II in 1557. World War II brought destruction of about 70% of the town and death or departure of most of its residents, amongst them a community of several thousand Jews who were imprisoned in the ghetto situated between the canal and the river. The Germans executed practically all of them before they left. In 1945 the Soviets conducted the nearby Augustów chase 1945 - a special operation against former Armia Krajowa anticommunist fighters.

In 1970 Augustów officially became a health-cure resort, and in 1973 adjoining local villages were made a part of it. (source)

Thank you Joanna!