Local history
Information about the town – Polska / pomorskie
An old fishermen’s settlement existed here as early as the 13th century. It was known under two names: Puyczk and Puzk. The settlement was captured by the Teutonic Knights in 1309, who then granted it a town charter in 1348.
Puck was regained by Poland in 1454. Yet, the town began to develop from as late as 1567 when King Sigismund II Augustus I (Zygmunt August) located a privateer fleet base in the local harbor. Puck became a base for the royal fleet in 1634.
In 1772, the town fell under Prussian rule. First Jews started to settle in Puck after 1800. In 1857, the Jewish community built a synagogue in the town.
Puck developed during the interwar period thanks to the building of a naval port and an airport. 218 Jews lived in Puck and Wejherowo in 1931. Jews began to leave Puck and emigrate after 1933.
In Septemeber 1939, during WWII, heavy fights between Polish and German troops took place near the town. Forced labor camps were located in Puck from 1941on.
Germans evacuated the Stutthof concentration camp and all its subcamps at the end of January and the beginning of February 1945. Puck was supposed to be one of the destinations. Approximately 25,000 of people died as a result of the death march.
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