View source for Usedom

==History==
[[File:BurgwallNeppermin02.jpg|thumb|left|Remains of an [[Early Middle Ages|early medieval]] [[Gord (archaeology)|Slavic stronghold]] in Neppermin, [[Benz (Usedom)|Benz]]]]
Settled since the [[Stone Age]], the area was probably inhabited by [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] [[Rugians]], before the [[Polabian Slavs]] moved in during the fifth, sixth, and seventh centuries. Around the island, [[Wends|Wendish]]/[[Scandinavian history|Scandinavian]] trade centres such as [[Vineta]]/[[Jomsborg]] and Menzlin were established. In the 1110s, the town of [[Usedom (town)|Uznam]] was destroyed by the [[Denmark|Danes]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Kratz|first=Gustav|year=1865|title=Die Städte der Provinz Pommern. Abriss ihrer Geschichte, zumeist nach Urkunden|language=de|location=Berlin|page=534}}</ref> In the 1120s, the island along with Western Pomerania came under Polish suzerainty under [[Bolesław III Wrymouth]], and became part of a newly formed vassal state of Poland, the [[Duchy of Pomerania]]. The Polish ruler initiated [[Christianization of Pomerania|Christianization]], entrusting this task to [[Otto of Bamberg]],<ref>D. J. Medley, ''The church and the empire'', Kessinger Publishing, 2004, p. 152</ref> and in 1128 the Slavic [[Dukes of Pomerania|Pomeranian Duke]] [[Wartislaw I]] was converted to [[Christianity]] through the efforts of Otto. In 1155 the [[Premonstratensian]]s established a monastery in Grobe, generally known as [[Usedom Abbey]], which in 1309 was moved to the village of [[Pudagla]]. In the meantime, a [[Cistercian]] nunnery was founded in [[Krummin]] and soon almost the whole island was in the possession of one or the other of the ecclesiastical orders. In the 1170s, the island was ravaged by King [[Valdemar I of Denmark]].<ref>Kratz, p. 535</ref> During the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]], ownership passed to the [[Dukes of Pomerania|Slavic dukes of Pomerania]], who took over the island.

During the [[Thirty Years' War]], on June 26, 1630, the [[Swedish Army]] under King [[Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden|Gustavus Adolphus]] landed in the village of [[Peenemünde]], located on the [[Peenestrom]] strait. In 1637 the last duke of Pomerania [[Bogislaw XIV, Duke of Pomerania|Bogislaw XIV]] died, the [[House of Griffin]] became extinct and the duchy ceased to exist. Usedom was annexed by [[Swedish Empire|Sweden]] after the war for almost a century, until in 1720 it was sold for 2 million [[thaler]]s to Prussian King [[Frederick William I of Prussia|Frederick William I]]. In 1740 [[Frederick the Great]] of Prussia developed a seaport in [[Świnoujście]] (then ''Swinemünde''). With the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] the island became part of the [[German Empire]] in 1871.

The small village of Peenemünde came to prominence again during [[World War II]]. The [[Luftwaffe]] tested [[missile]]s and [[rocket]]s, including the [[V-1 flying bomb|V-1]] and [[V-2 rocket|V-2]] nearby. Germany used thousands of [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|slave laborers]] on Usedom during World War II.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://militera.lib.ru/memo/russian/devyataev_mp/10.html |title=Наш "хейнкель"|access-date=2023-05-12 |publisher=ВОЕННАЯ ЛИТЕРАТУРА（Мемуары） |language=ru |author=Девятаев М. П. Полет}}</ref> During the war, a subcamp of the [[Sachsenhausen concentration camp]] was located in the town of Usedom.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bundesrecht.juris.de/begdv_6/anlage_6.html|title=Anlage zu § 1. Verzeichnis der Konzentrationslager und ihrer Außenkommandos gemäß § 42 Abs. 2 BEG|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090423004151/http://bundesrecht.juris.de/begdv_6/anlage_6.html|language=de|access-date=1 October 2023|archive-date=23 April 2009}}</ref> In the final stages of the war, in 1945, German-perpetrated [[The March (1945)|death marches]] of [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] prisoners-of-war from the [[Stalag XX-B]] and [[Stalag Luft IV]] [[German prisoner-of-war camps in World War II|POW camps]] passed through the island.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kaszuba|first=Sylwia|editor-last=Grudziecka|editor-first=Beata|title=Stalag XX B: historia nieopowiedziana|language=pl|location=Malbork|publisher=Muzeum Miasta Malborka|page=108|chapter=Marsz 1945|date=2021 |isbn=978-83-950992-2-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://bialogard.info/7,4412,stalag-luft-iv-marsz-smierci|title=Stalag Luft IV. Marsz Śmierci|website=Miasto Białogard|access-date=1 October 2023|language=pl}}</ref>

In 1945 the eastern part of the island, together with the city and port of Swinemünde (now [[Świnoujście]]), was assigned to [[Poland]] under border changes promulgated at the [[Potsdam Conference]], and the surviving German inhabitants of the town were expelled to the west. The territory was repopulated with Poles, most of whom had been [[Polish population transfers (1944–46)|expelled]] by the Soviets from what had been [[Kresy|eastern Poland]].