During the invasion of Poland, which marked the beginning of World War II, Tuchola was captured by the Germans on September 2, 1939. Along with the rest of the region, was occupied by Nazi Germany. The Einsatzkommando 16 entered the town to commit various crimes against Poles. From mid-September 1939, Germans carried out mass arrests of Poles from the town and county, who were initially imprisoned in the local courthouse, and after its overcrowding, they were deported to a temporary camp established in the nearby village of Radzim. Some Poles were executed in Radzim, but more were murdered in Rudzki Most (present-day district of Tuchola), where Germans carried out large massacres of Poles in October and November 1939, killing several hundreds people. Among Poles massacred in Rudzki Most were teachers, school principals, merchants, craftsmen and local officials from Tuchola, including mayor Stanisław Saganowski, as well as farmers, priests, foresters, postmen, railwaymen, merchants, craftsmen and policemen from nearby villages. After the German defeat, the town reverted to Poland.