1941 to 1943. There was a high death rate in the camp due to hunger, diseases, tortures and executions. Despite such circumstances, Poles still managed to organize an underground resistance movement. On December 17, 1942, the Germans hanged five local leaders of Home Army at the main square. Shortly after the Soviet Army seized the city on January 18, 1945, the NKVD began mass arrests and deportations of Polish patriots. The town then was restored to Poland, although with a Soviet-installed communist regime, which remained in power until the Fall of Communism in the 1980s. Recent times In the years 1945–1951, numerous armed units of the anti-communist underground operated near Przasnysz. In the 1960s, the rapid development of the city began, slowed as a result of the administrative reform of 1975. In 1966, a branch of Zakład Aparatury Gospodarcza im. Georgi Dimitrov, where lightning arrestors were produced. For the needs of this plant, a school complex was established to house a vocational school and technical college. Since January 1, 1999, Przasnysz is the seat of the county in the Masovian Voivodeship. Sports The local football club is MKS Przasnysz. It competes in the lower leagues. Notable people Helga Adler (born 1943), German academic and politician (SED/PDS) Stanisław Chełchowski (1866–1907), Polish naturalist and ethnographist Moisei Freidenberg (1858-1920) - Russian inventor and journalist Aleksander Kakowski (1862-1938) Archbishop of Warsaw Stanisław Kostka (1550-1568) - patron of children in the Catholic Church Bernard Kryszkiewicz (1915-1945) - Passionist priest Abraham Lichtstein - Av Beis Din (head of the rabbinical court) of Przasnysz Józef Stanisław Ostoja-Kotkowski (1922-1994) - artist Józef Sawa-Caliński (died 1771) - one of the leaders of the Bar Confederation Coat of arms The coat of arms of Przasnysz depicts a defensive wall made of red brick on a silver (white) shield, with three such towers of equal height. Each tower is covered with a conical red roof. Each tower has an entrance gate and one soaring hole above it, both black. Heraldic shield border black. The heraldic image dates from the 16th century. References External links Infoprzasnysz.com - local news from Przasnysz and district ePrzasnysz.pl - Your Virtual City, local news from Przasnysz and district Jewish Community in Przasnysz on Virtual Shtetl Przasnysz city government webpage Przasnysz commune government webpage Przasnysz on the map, via www.pilot.pl webpage about the book "Misjonarze i Barbarzyńcy. Opowieści o codziennym życiu przasnyskiego ogólniaka w latach 1923-2005" Statut