rail connections with Kraków and Lwów, and in the First World War, the town was seized by the Russians in September 1914. The Austrians managed to push them out in May 1915, and the retreating Russians set the town on fire. In the 1930s, Sędziszów Małopolski became one of centers of the Central Industrial Region, and in 1937, a new factory Zakłady Przemysłowe Sędziszów Małopolski was opened. On September 8, 1939, the town was captured by the Wehrmacht. The Germans opened here a ghetto, in which in mid-1942 there were 1,500 local Jews. In July 1942, the Germans murdered 280 Jews at the ghetto, and the remaining population was transported to Belzec extermination camp, where they perished. Sędziszów Małopolski was an important center of the Home Army, whose units participated in Operation Tempest. The town was captured by the Soviets on August 4, 1944. Points of interest rectangular-shaped town hall, built in the 17th century, and remodelled in the 19th century, late Baroque parish church (1694–1699), which replaced the earlier wooden church, burned by the soldiers of George II Rakoczi, church and monastery (1739–1741), ruins of the 18th century army barracks for the private army of Mikolaj Potocki, cemetery chapel (1844), Jewish cemetery, destroyed by the Germans in 1942 - 43, with a monument dedicated to the people murdered on July 24, 1942. When Peenemünde was bombed in Aug 1943, the Germans relocated the V-2 rocket test facility in the forests just a few kilometres northwest of Sędziszów Małopolski near Blizna. The first A-4 version test flight from Blizna took place on Nov 5 1943. The Germans had easy transportation on the railroad to Dębica, Ropczyce and Sędziszów Małopolski. At the peak of operations in 1944 as many as 10 rocket firing per day were conducted from Blizna. The last launch was in July 1944. The area was too far for the British to conduct reconnaissance flights, so it was't until the Russians advanced to take the base away from the German SS Commander in August 1944 that the rockets were investigated. The huge underground bunkers and facility are still visible today. The polish underground spied on the facility and informed the British and Americans of the new v-2 location. One V-2 failed falling into the bug river and was recovered by the Polish resistance before the Germans arrived. The parts were smuggled to England. References External links Official town