The village lies in the historical region of
Upper Silesia. In the
Middle Ages, the area was part of the territory of the
Vistulans tribe, one of the
Polish tribes. It became part of the emerging
Polish state in the 10th century. As a result of the fragmentation of Poland, it was part of the Polish
Seniorate Province and
Duchy of Racibórz. Later on, the village passed under
Bohemian (Czech) suzerainty, and in the 15th century, it became part of the newly formed
Duchy of Pszczyna. During the political upheaval caused by
Matthias Corvinus the duchy was overtaken in 1480 by
Casimir II, Duke of Cieszyn from the
Piast dynasty, who sold it in 1517 to the Hungarian
magnates of the
Thurzó family, forming the
Pless state country. In the accompanying sales document issued on 21 February 1517, the village was mentioned as
Jankowicze. Along with the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1526 it became part of the
Habsburg monarchy. In the
War of the Austrian Succession most of Silesia was conquered by the
Kingdom of Prussia, including the village, and in 1871 it became part of the
German Empire. After
World War I in the
Upper Silesia plebiscite, 467 out of 505 inhabitants voted in favour of rejoining Poland, which just regained independence, compared to 38 for Germany. It later became a part of
Silesian Voivodeship,
Second Polish Republic. On September 3, 1939, during the German
invasion of Poland which started
World War II, the German
Freikorps committed a massacre of 13
Poles in the village, including a family of six with four children aged 8 to 14 (see
Nazi crimes against the Polish nation). The village was then
occupied and annexed by
Nazi Germany. After the war, in 1945, it was restored to Poland. ==Transport==