take part in football tournaments. Every year, various football teams from Germany, Hungary and elsewhere travelled to Poznań to play Warta. In September 1934, for example, FC Milan (today's AC Milan) travelled to Poznań to play against Warta (Warta lost 1–3). World War II (1939–1945) At the start of World War II in 1939, the football season was interrupted and was never completed. The club was forced to suspend its operations. Poles were not permitted to participate in organised sports events during the German occupation, but some Warta football players clandestinely took part in an unofficial Poznań football championship in 1940 and 1941, with games played on football pitches on the outskirts of town. During the war, the German occupiers destroyed many documents and club mementos. Some former Warta sportsmen and board members were murdered in German concentration camps. For example, former Warta footballers Marian Einbacher and Adam Knioła were murdered in the Auschwitz concentration camp, while former Warta club chairman Stanisław Broniarz was murdered in the Gross-Rosen concentration camp. Postwar period (1945–1990) A formal general meeting was held on 18 March 1945 and the club's operations were revived. Already in the first post-war season of the Polish football league in 1946, Warta finished the season in second place, losing in the final against Polonia Warsaw (for two years after the war, the Polish championship was contested like a cup competition). A year later in 1947, Warta played outstanding football under the direction of the Hungarian coach Károly Fogl. In the semi-final of the Polish championship competition, Warta won against AKS Chorzów 4–1 and 2–0. In the final, Warta beat Wisła Kraków 2–0 away in Kraków. Interest in the final match in Poznań was enormous and the stadium attendance was higher than nominal capacity (over 20 000 spectators). The exciting match finished with Warta's victory 5–2 and Warta won its second – and so far, last – championship title in its history. However, the Stalinism era ended the series of Warta's successes, as regional Communist leadership favoured the local rival Lech Poznań. In 1949, Warta was de facto forced to change its name to Związkowiec Poznań, which resulted in the disappearance of the historical name Warta. In 1950, Warta was forced to merge with the sports club HCP, which belonged to the Hipolit Cegielski Poznań works – a leading industrial company in Poznań. The HCP team played under the name