Shortly after the German invasion of Poland, which started World War II in September 1939, a unit of the German "Einsatzgruppe I" was stationed in Szopienice. It was responsible for many crimes against Poles committed in the nearby cities of Będzin, Dąbrowa Górnicza and Sosnowiec. During the subsequent German occupation, the occupiers also established and operated the E734 forced labour subcamp of the &lt;a href="Stalag%20VIII-B"&gt;Stalag VIII-B/344&lt;/a&gt; prisoner-of-war camp in Szopienice. The occupation ended in 1945.