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Oświęcim, Lesser Poland Voivodeship (pronounced [ɔɕˈfjɛɲt͡ɕim] (
listen)) (German: Auschwitz, Yiddish Oshpitsin אָשפּיצין, Romany: Aushvitsa, Osvyenchim, Czech: Osvětim, Slovak: Osvienčim, Russian: Освенцим) is a town in southern Poland, situated 50 kilometres (31 mi) west of Kraków, near the confluence of the rivers Vistula (Wisła) and Soła. The town of Oświęcim is the location of the former Nazi German Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration and Extermination Camp (1940-1945), now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a state museum.[1]
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History
The city was first mentioned in 1117. In 1179, it was detached from the senior Province of Kraków by Casimir the Just, and attached to the Duchy of Opole for his younger brother Mieszek. The town was destroyed in 1241 during the Tatar invasions. Around 1272 the newly rebuilt Oświęcim received municipal rights modeled on those of Lwówek Śląski (a Polish variation of the Magdeburg Law). Throughout much of history, Germans and Poles lived here together peacefully. From 1315 Oświęcim was the capital of independent duchy. In 1327, John I, Duke of Oświęcim joined with a western part of Galicia (Central Europe), the Duchy of Oświęcim, and Duchy of Zator a vassal state attached to the Kingdom of Bohemia. Later, the area went again to the dukes of Te and Grossglogau. In the 14th century the population declined. The portion of ethnic Germans in Oświęcim shrank and in 1457 the Polish king Casimir IV bought the rights to Oświęcim which was attached afterwards to the Cracow Voivodeship. Jews, invited by Polish kings to settle in the region, had already become the majority of the population in the 15th century. Oświęcim also became one of the centres of Protestant culture in Poland.[2]
The town was destroyed again by Swedish troops in 1655. When the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was partitioned and dissolved in the late 18th century, Oświęcim became part of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria (an Austro-Hungarian province) in 1772 and was located close to the borders of Russia and Prussia. "Duke of Auschwitz" (German: Herzog von Auschwitz) was one of the minor titles held by the Habsburg Emperors (see Francis II).
In the 1866 war between Austria and the Prussian-led North German Confederation, a cavalry skirmish was fought at Oświęcim, in which an Austrian force defeated a Prussian incursion.[3][4] After World War I the town returned to Poland. On the eve of World War II there were about 8,000 Jews in the city, over half the population.[5]
World War II
Unlike the parts of the Second Polish Republic that were administered by Nazi Germany's Government General, Oświęcim immediately became a Polish area annexed by Nazi Germany in October 1939 with a Nazi party mayor.[specify]
Outside of the town in Oświęcim County were four military facilities:[6] the IG Farben Buna-Werke at Dwory[6] and the three concentration camp locations Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II (Birkenau), and Auschwitz III (Monowitz). In 1940, using forced labor, Nazi authorities built the Auschwitz concentration camp[specify] and a new subdivision to house the guards and staff. Between 1940 and 1945 approximately 1.1 million people, mostly Jews, were killed by the Nazis in the Auschwitz-Birkenau gas chambers.[7]
Post-war
Post-war, new housing complexes were developed with large buildings of rectangular and concrete constructions. The chemical industry became the main employer of Oświęcim and in later years, a service industry and trade were added. The concentration camp became a museum and memorial sites. Currently, about 1 million visitors tour Auschwitz-Birkenau labor/death camps every year. This tourism is an important source of revenue for local businesses in the village. The town became part of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship in 1998 after previously being in the Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship since 1975.
In the mid-1990s, the chemical works (renamed Dwory S.A.) began to downsize and lay off its workers. During the communist era, they employed about 10,000 people. Following their restructuring and financial problems after 1989, employment at the plant shrank to only 1,500 people.
Layout of town
Oświęcim's old town is located east of the Soła, with the Main Market Square (Rynek Główny) at its centre. The railway station is across the river, in the north west of the town, with the main museum in the west of the town. The Birkenau part of the museum is in the village of Brzezinka, to the west of the railway station. The chemical works are located in the east of the town.
Transport
Road
Oświęcim lies on national road 44, at its intersection with road 933 and is at the northern extremity of road 948.
Local bus services within the town and the surrounding area are operated by PKS Oświęcim. The main bus station is in ulica Chemików in the east of town.
Rail
The PKP railway station is located on ulica Powstańców Śląskich in the west of the town. Train services are available to Kraków, Katowice and Czechowice-Dziedzice. International destinations include Vienna and Prague.
Sports
The ice hockey team of Oświęcim was repeatedly Polish champions, and many Polish figure skaters are from Oświęcim, including the pair Dorota Zagórska and Mariusz Siudek, Sabina Wojtala, Anna Jurkiewicz and others.
Twinned cities
Since 1993, Oświęcim has been twinned with the city of Kerpen in Germany.[2] Also, the town enjoys a relationship with Siena, in northern Italy.
Notable people
- Aaron Miller (cantor), rebbe, father of chazzan Benzion Miller
- Victor Zarnowitz (1919-2009) American economist
- Szymon Kluger (1925-2000), Last Jew of Oświęcim
Members of Parliament (Sejm) elected from this constituency: Janusz Chwierut (PO), Paweł Graś(PO), Paweł Kowal (PiS), Marek Jerzy Łatas (PiS), Leszek Murzyn (LPR), Marek Polak (PiS), Stanisław Rydzoń (SLD-UP), Beata Szydło (PiS).
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References
- ^ Auschwitz. Name as inscribed on World Heritage List.
- ^ a b Elzbieta Skalinska-Dindorf, historian, State Archive in Oświęcim, The History of the City of Oswiecim. CHRONICLE
- ^ Prussian General Staff, The Campaign of 1866 in Germany, 1907, page 97.
- ^ Balck, William, trans by Walter KruegerTactics, Volume II: Cavalry, Field, and Heavy Artilliery in Field Warfare., ; U.S. Cavalry association, 1914,page 5
- ^ ספר אושפיצין (Sefer Oshpitzin--Oświęcim Memorial Book, Hebrew, published in Israel by the Oświęcim Descendant and Survivor Association)
- ^ a b "tbd". longstreet.typepad.com. http://longstreet.typepad.com/thesciencebookstore/2008/09/page/2/. Retrieved tbd.
- ^ Piper, Franciszek; review of Meyer, Fritjof. "Die Zahl der Opfer von Auschwitz. Neue Erkentnisse durch neue Archivfunde", Osteuropa, 52, Jg., 5/2002, pp. 631-641.
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