Klebark Wielki
Klebark Wielki (; ) is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Purda, within Olsztyn County, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. It lies approximately north-west of Purda and south-east of the regional capital Olsztyn. It is located in Warmia. The village has a population of 501. Klebark Wielki's landmark is the Holy Cross church. There's also an Armenian khachkar commemorating the Armenian genocide. History. The village of Klebark dates back to the 14th century and was initially populated with Baltic Prussians and by Poles since the late 14th century. The first Catholic church was  built in the early 15th century. The village was devastated by the Teutonic Knights during the Thirteen Years' War in 1455. From 1464 it was part of the Polish Crown. After the destruction and depopulation of the village during the last Polish–Teutonic War (1519–1521), Nicolaus Copernicus, who resided in nearby Olsztyn, led a repopulation campaign, attracting Polish settlers from other places. Then the village was organized in two parts: Klebark Wielki and Klebark Mały. The division of the village was sanctioned by the Warmian chapter in 1587 and it has been preserved to this day. Again destroyed and depopulated  during the Swedish invasion of Poland in 1656, the village was soon again repopulated with Polish settlers. After the Partitions of Poland it fell to Prussia. The village was a strong center of Polish resistance to attempts at Germanisation, forced by the Prussian and later German administration. In 1863, local priest Juliusz Grzymała hid Polish insurgents in the parish, from 1872 the parish brought Polish newspapers to the village. In 1881 a Polish library was created, which was to be a counterweight to the official German school. Near the end of World War II, in January 1945 Soviet soldiers tortured  and murdered the local Polish parish priest Paweł Chmielewski. After the war Klebark Wielki was reintegrated with Poland. External links.