During the pogrom of 9/10 November 1938 the freestanding structure of Schneidemühl 's 100-year-old synagogue became a prime target for the Nazis who set fire to it . The 300-year-old Jewish community of Schneidemühl was destroyed when on 21 March 1940 , on the order of Gauleiter Schwede-Coburg , the last remaining Jews of Schneidemühl , together with more than 500 Jews of the surrounding area within an radius of Schneidemühl , were arrested and held prisoner in various locations in Schneidemühl . A large number of them were subsequently taken to the labor camp Radinkendorf and the Glowno prisoner camp outside of Poznań and held there in detention under inhuman conditions . Over the following two years they were taken to various labour camps , hospices , hospitals in Pomerania , Bielefeld and Berlin . Those who had not committed suicide or had perished during that period were deported to concentration camps , the last in 1943 . During World War II a camp for civil prisoners-of-war named " Albatros " was established . The city became part of the '' Pommernstellung '' a line of fortifications . In 1945 the town was declared a '' Festung '' by Adolf Hitler . It was captured by the joint Polish and Red Army forces after two weeks of heavy fighting on 14 February 1945 . 75 % of the city were destroyed and almost 90 % of the historic city centre were in ruins
pogrom of 9/10 November 1938
Kristallnacht
Piła