During the German occupation of Poland (World War II), in 1940 and 1943–1944, the Germans carried out expulsions of Poles, whose farms were then handed over to Germans as part of the "Lebensraum" policy. Three Polish families were enslaved as forced labour to serve Germans in Cekcyn and another nearby village. In 1942 the Germans renamed the village to "Seehaupten" to erase traces of Polish origin. After the war the historic name "Cekcyn" was restored.