The earliest mention of Moys dates back to 1309. Similarly to Zgorzelec/Görlitz, the settlement changed its affiliation many times, being under the rule of Polish dukes from the
Piast dynasty, kings of
Bohemia,
Hungary, electors of
Saxony and kings of Poland. Afterwards, at the 1815
Congress of Vienna,
Lusatia was divided, and its northeastern part including Görlitz and Moys was awarded to the
Kingdom of Prussia, which since 1871 became part of the
German Empire. The city council of
Görlitz, then a prosperous city and member of the
Lusatian League, had acquired Moys in 1380 from Duke
John of Görlitz. The city council had to give up Moys in 1547 as a punishment imposed by Bohemian King
Ferdinand I; but none of his
feudal lords expressed interest in purchasing Moys, and so in 1549 it was granted back to the city of Görlitz. After the
Thirty Years' War brought the city into financial straits, the city council had to sell Moys in 1655 for 11,270
thalers. It wasn't until 1 July 1929 that Moys was incorporated back into the city. It was the location of the historic
battle of Moys on 7 September 1757, during the
Seven Years' War. The
Berlin–Wrocław railway, which ran past Moys and opened on 1 September 1847, sped up the development of the suburb. The second line,
Silesian Mountain Railway, opened in 1865 and connected Görlitz to Hirschberg (nowadays
Jelenia Góra), with the railway junction constructed just north of Moys. This junction was then upgraded to a passenger station (
Moys bei Görlitz) which opened in 1876. The urbanisation of Moys was recognised on 18 May 1900 by connecting it to the Görlitz tram network. By the time Moys was incorporated into the city of Görlitz in 1929, it had 2,752 inhabitants and covered 784 ha. POW camp During
World War II, in late 1939, Germany located the large
Stalag VIII-A prisoner-of-war camp in the district. Initially
Polish prisoners of war were held in the camp. In the first months of the camp's existence, Polish POWs, as forced laborers, built the camp barracks. Later on, also POWs of various other nationalities were held in the camp, including the
French,
Belgians,
Russians,
Jews,
Britons,
Canadians,
Australians,
New Zealanders,
South Africans,
Italians,
Yugoslavs,
Slovaks,
Americans. Most POWs were evacuated by the Germans in February 1945 in a
death march, during which POWs who either were unable to walk or tried to escape were murdered. Following
Nazi Germany's defeat in
World War II, Ujazd along with Zgorzelec became part of Poland. In the following decades, the Polish military was stationed in Ujazd. ==Sights==