Oświęcim

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Oświęcim
Coat of arms of Oświęcim
Oświęcim (Poland)
Oświęcim
Oświęcim
Basic data
State : Poland
Voivodeship : Lesser Poland
Powiat : Oświęcim
Area : 30.30  km²
Geographic location : 50 ° 2 ′  N , 19 ° 14 ′  E Coordinates: 50 ° 2 ′ 0 ″  N , 19 ° 14 ′ 0 ″  E
Residents : 38,120
(Jun. 30, 2019)
Postal code : 32-600 to 32-610
Telephone code : (+48) 33
License plate : KOS
Economy and Transport
Street : Tychy - Zator
Next international airport : Krakow-Balice
Gmina
Gminatype: Borough
Surface: 30.30 km²
Residents: 38,120
(Jun. 30, 2019)
Population density : 1258 inhabitants / km²
Community number  ( GUS ): 1213011
Administration (as of 2013)
Acting Mayor : Janusz Chwierut
Address: ul.Zaborska 2
32-600 Oświęcim
Website : www.um.oswiecim.pl



Oświęcim ( [ɔˈɕfʲɛɲtɕim] pronunciation ? / I ), German Auschwitz , is a Polish city located on the Soła River in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship in the southern part of the country, around 50 kilometers west of the voivodeship capital Krakow . Audio file / audio sample  

The city gained fame as the location for the German concentration camp Auschwitz (also Auschwitz or KL Auschwitz or Auschwitz for short) from 1940 to 1945 during the time of National Socialism and the occupation of Poland; The museum site that commemorates this is named Auschwitz-Birkenau as a UNESCO World Heritage Site - German National Socialist concentration and extermination camp .

history

Duchy of Opole, Auschwitz

A castle wall (gród) was probably built under Bolesław I at the intersection of some trade routes. In the early period of Polish particularism , the place was detached from the Cracow senior province (Lesser Poland) and added to the Upper Silesian Duchy of Ratibor . This event was mentioned for the first time by Wincenty Kadłubek in his chronicle in 1177, but without mentioning the place names Oświęcim or Bytom . These can be found for the first time in the Wielkopolska Chronicle . The previous border between Silesia and Lesser Poland was largely retained between the corresponding dioceses, despite the different political border. Oświęcim as well as Bytom remained in the Krakow diocese for a long time . In 1217 the name Ospenchin and an Auschwitz castellan Phalislaus were first mentioned in a document. The place was later mentioned as Osvencin (1280), Hospencin (1283), Osswetem (1290), Uspencin (1297), Oswentim (1302), Wswencim (1304), Oswiecim (1314), Oswencin (1327). The name was often derived from Old Polish święty , which means something like "saint" and should indicate the early Christianization . It is more likely, however, that the name comes from the first owner, in Old Polish swęty means strong or strong. In 1272 the place had city ​​rights under Magdeburg law .

At the end of the 13th century, Germans first settled in the city and the surrounding area; south of the city the long-standing Bielitz-Biala language island was formed . The German name Auschwitz appeared in the 14th century. als Gehitzen (1312), later Auswieczin (1372), Auswinczyn (1351), Awswiczin (1372), Uswiczin (1400). In the late 14th century, the apparently second and superfluous suffix -in was reduced: Auswicz (1386, 1394), Awswicz (1433, 1439), Awszwicz (1478). After the first agricultural crisis in the Middle Ages , the German settlement movement came to a standstill in the mid-14th century, but according to Kurt Lück , Auschwitz was mostly inhabited by Germans in the 15th century. However, the criteria in his work, published in 1934, were very broad and tendentious, and even on the basis of small assumptions, he regarded a region as German.

The city at the confluence of the Vistula and Soła rivers soon became a trading center , was the seat of the court and from 1315/1317 the seat of the Duchy of Auschwitz . Political affiliation changed over the centuries. The Duchy of Auschwitz (later, like the Duchy of Zator , which was established in 1445, formed the western part of Galicia ), Duke Johann von Auschwitz gave it a vassal relationship to the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1327 . In 1348 it was incorporated into the Holy Roman Empire and German became the official language. The 15th century was also very restless, especially after the outbreak of the Hussite Wars . The Polish-Silesian border area suffered the greatest destruction at the end of the wars. The activity of the robber barons increased , which could lead to rural exodus . Józef Putek tried to prove that the German-born inhabitants, especially the knighthood, the clergy and the urban patriciate, were expelled or even murdered at that time. In the second half of the 15th century, Czech became the official language, occasionally even after 1564.

Waned interest of the Germans at the place and in 1457 bought the Polish king Casimir IV. For 50,000 silver marks the local rights, fully incorporated in 1564 and as a county Silesia the Province Krakow , from 1569, the Polish-Lithuanian nobility Republic was affiliated. Polish became the official language there, while Latin was still used as such in the rest of Poland.

In 1537 the city had about 1000 inhabitants, the number of which fell well below 1000 at the end of the 16th century. Kęty was the bigger city at the time.

Jewish residents have been recorded since the first half of the 16th century. Their settlement was forbidden in 1563, but five Jews lived there the following year. Their settlement increased significantly in the late 16th century, when a kehillah , a first synagogue and a Jewish school were most likely built . In the years 1747–1749 there were over 2000 Jews in Auschwitz.

In 1655 the city was devastated by Swedish troops and had completely lost its former importance until the Polish partitions at the end of the 18th century.

Austrian Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria until 1918

Auschwitz came to Austria in 1772 - German became the official language again - and was soon on the border with Prussia and Russia . The city was called Auschwitz and was part of the new Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria of the Habsburg Empire (from 1804). The Austrian Emperor Franz II confirmed all previous privileges in 1793 and extended them to up to 12 annual fairs over the course of a year. In addition, he gave the city the title of a municipality and a new coat of arms. From 1773 it belonged to the Biala district in Wieliczka district and from 1775 to the Zator district. In 1782 the area of ​​the district district Zator became an independent district, but with the seat in Myślenice (from 1819 in Wadowice ).

After the Congress of Vienna , the area remained part of the Crown Land of Galicia and Lodomeria in the Austrian Empire . Until 1918 the Emperor of Austria carried the title " Duke of Auschwitz " among many others .

Between 1855 and 1910, the Auschwitz judicial district belonged to the Biała District , after which it became an independent district ( Oświęcim District ).

During the Austro-Prussian War , the Prussians attacked Auschwitz on June 27, 1866, but it was repulsed. From 1867 the city belonged to the new Austro-Hungarian dual monarchy .

In Auschwitz there was also an office for people willing to emigrate to America (see also: Report on an emigration office in Auschwitz ).

As early as 1916, the city built a barrack camp for migrant workers, the Saxons , which was used as a concentration camp from 1940 .

1918 to 1939

On November 3, 1918, the Cracow Polish Liquidation Commission convened a district committee, a nucleus of the Polish civil administration, in Oświęcim. After the First World War , the town and district became part of the Second Polish Republic . According to the Großer Brockhaus from 1929 , there were 3,000 of the 12,200 Polish inhabitants in Auschwitz in 1921 with a Jewish religion. On April 1, 1932, the district of Oświęcim was dissolved, with a part came back to the district of Wadowice , the rest was assigned to the district of Biała .

Second World War

From September 3rd to 4th, 1939, one of the last border battles of the Kraków army took place about five kilometers from the city. In September and October 1939 the town and district were occupied by the German Wehrmacht and incorporated into the German Reich. This annexation was in contrast to most of the conquered Polish territories, which were combined as a separate administrative unit, the Generalgouvernement . On November 30, 1940, the city of Oświęcim, which was now called Auschwitz, became the administrative center of the new administrative district of the same name . This consisted of the city of Auschwitz and the surrounding communities Babitz, Birkenau (Brzezinka) , Broschkowitz, Dwory, Klutschnikowitz, Monowitz , Poremba-Wielka, Stara-Stawy, Wlocienitz and Zaborz-Ost. Auschwitz was the seat of the German official commissioner . Auschwitz was formed in the western part of the new district Bielsko part of the new administrative district of Katowice in the province of Silesia , from 18 January 1941 - after the division of Silesia - the province of Upper Silesia .

With the introduction of the German municipal code of 1935, the so-called leader principle applied in Auschwitz from April 1, 1943 at the municipal level. The city no longer belonged to an administrative district, but was subordinate to a German mayor until the end of the German occupation in 1945 . Within Himmler's SS organization, plans were developed to make the place the center of a "model town of eastern settlement". The concentration camps were a part of the plan.

Before the outbreak of World War II, around 12,000 people lived in Oświęcim, including around 7,000 Jews. The various harassments under the German occupation led to the impoverishment of large parts of the population. The Jews were particularly affected. All valuables were taken from them and economic activities were prohibited. Teachers, employees, artists and other members of the Jewish intelligentsia were fired. All men had to do forced labor several days a week, initially from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and later until 5 p.m.

From September 1940 onwards, men who were fit for work were deported to other parts of the country for forced labor. In the spring of 1941, the remaining Jews began to be systematically deported to the General Government , particularly in camps in Sosnowiec , Będzin and Chrzanów . After these assembly camps were "closed" in 1942, most of Oświęcim's Jewish residents were murdered in the Auschwitz concentration camp.

concentration camp

Auschwitz, incorporated into the Reich , became the site of the largest complex of concentration camps in Germany and the occupied territories. These included three large main and many sub-camps:

post war period

Marketplace
State Rittmeister Witold Pilecki University, Collegium Primum
Former synagogue in Chrzanow
Lomdei Misznajot Synagogue

The Powiat Oświęcimski was re-established in 1948. Between 1975 and 1999 the city belonged to the Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship .

The Buna works , built up by the prisoners of Auschwitz concentration camp by IG Farben , were taken over by the Polish state on September 1, 1945 and became the town's largest employer as Chemical Works Oświęcim (today: Synthos SA ). The one-sided economic focus on this large company caused economic problems for the city after 1990. Since then, the areas of trade and services have been expanded.

In September 1945 around 190 Jews were living in Oświęcim again, but almost all of them emigrated in the two following years. The only Jewish returnees who stayed longer, Szymon Kluger, died in 2000 and was buried in the local Jewish cemetery. There is currently no resident Jewish population here. The city's only surviving synagogue was reconstructed after the building was nationalized in 1977 and used as a carpet store. The building of the Chevra Lomdei Mishnayot Synagogue, which only opened in 1928, was used as a weapons and ammunition store during the war. As a result, at least the building has survived and was not burned down by the occupiers, unlike the Great Synagogue on September 20, 1939. On September 12, 2000, the small synagogue was finally reopened as a synagogue.

The State Rittmeister-Witold-Pilecki-Hochschule Oświęcim in Małopolska (Polish: Małopolska Uczelnia Państwowa imienia rotmistrza Witolda Pileckiego w Oświęcimiu ) , founded on July 1, 2005, is located in the former SS staff camp buildings near the Ausch I concentration camp memorial.

Volunteers from the International Youth Meeting Center offer a historical walk through the city.

City structure

The city of Oświęcim is divided into the following districts:

  • Błonie,
  • Domki Szeregowe,
  • Dwory-Kruki, first mentioned in 1404 as Dowry , incorporated in 1954,
  • Monowice ( Monowitz ), first mentioned in a document in 1417, incorporated in 1954,
  • Pod Borem,
  • Północ ( north ),
  • Południe ( south ),
  • Stare Miasto (old town),
  • Stare Stawy ( Stara Stawy , German old ponds ),
  • Wschód ( east ),
  • Zachód ( west ),
  • Zasole.

Museums

Oświęcim's best-known museum is the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum on the site of the former concentration camp. It has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO .

In the city center there is also the Jewish Center ( Centrum Żydowskie w Oświęcimiu , English: Auschwitz Jewish Center ), which opened in 2000 and illuminates the rich Jewish life of the city before the invasion of the Wehrmacht.

There is also a city museum in Oświęcim, which provides information about the history of the city and the early life of its inhabitants in a modest way.

Sports

The Unia Oświęcim ice hockey team has won multiple Polish championships. The swimmer Paweł Korzeniowski from Oświęcim came fourth in the 200 m butterfly at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens .

The rally driver Magdalena Zacharko from Oświęcim was Poland champion several times as co- driver of Piotr Adamus in the rally groups: 1st Peugeot Cup 3-time national champion (2002, 2003, 2004) Vice-champion (2000, 2001) 2nd S1600 2-time champion (2005, 2006)

Twin cities

sons and daughters of the town

Honorary citizen

Oświęcim rural municipality

The city of Oświęcim is the seat of the rural community (gmina wiejska) Oświęcim , but does not belong to it.

See also

literature

  • Hans Citroen, Barbara Starzyńska: Auschwitz-Oświęcim. A photographic examination of Auschwitz during the war and the Oświęcim of today, Post Editions, Rotterdam 2011, ISBN 978-94-6083-054-9 (for the German-language edition).
  • Lucyna Filip: Jews in Oswiecim 1918–1941 (original title “Zydzi w Oswiêcimiu 1918–1941” - 2003), Scientia publishing house, 2005, ISBN 978-83-911188-1-8 (numerous old photographs).
  • Sybille Steinbacher : Auschwitz. History and post-history. 2nd edition, Beck, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-406-50833-2 .
  • Sybille Steinbacher: “Model City” Auschwitz. Germanization Policy and the Murder of Jews in Eastern Upper Silesia. (published by the Institute for Contemporary History , Munich), Saur, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-598-24031-7 (= representations and sources on the history of Auschwitz , Volume 2, also a dissertation at the University of Bochum 1998).
  • Julian Zinkow: Oświęcim i okolice. Przewodnik monograficzny . Wydawnictwo "PLATAN", Oświęcim 1994, ISBN 83-7094-002-1 , p. 287-288 (Polish).

Web links

Commons : Oświęcim  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikivoyage: Oświęcim  - travel guide

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b population. Size and Structure by Territorial Division. As of June 30, 2019. Główny Urząd Statystyczny (GUS) (PDF files; 0.99 MiB), accessed December 24, 2019 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e Rafał Malik: Oświęcim. Characterystyka układu lokacyjnego miasta oraz jego rozwój przestrzenny w okresie średniowiecza . Kraków 1994.
  3. ↑ a b J. Zinkow, 1994, p. 43
  4. ^ Bogusław Kwiecień: Powrót do przeszłości do 1177 r., Czyli jak rodziły się podwaliny Oświęcimia. May 11, 2017. Retrieved November 16, 2019 (Polish).
  5. ↑ Łukas Galusek (ed.): Oświęcim i ziemia Oświęcimska . Kraków 2004, ISBN 83-8967618-4 , p. 28 (Polish, oswiecim.pl [PDF]).
  6. ↑ Kazimierz Rymut (Red.) ,: Szkice onomastyczne i historycznojęzykowe (=  Prace Instytutu Języka Polskiego 118 ). 2003, ISBN 83-8762371-7 , ISSN  0208-4074 , Auschwitz - Oświęcim, p. 216-217 (Polish, online ).
  7. ↑ German settlement of Malopolska and Rotreussens in the 15th century . Edited u. drawn by Kurt Lück, 1934.
  8. ↑ Wojciech Blajer, Uwagi o stanie badań nad enklawami średniowiecznego osadnictwa niemieckiego między Wisłoką i Sanem [remarks on the status of research on the enclaves of medieval German settlement between Wisłoka and Sanzes ], [in: 2007 ] Późne Kar, Karzeszcze 64-65.
  9. ^ Krzysztof Rafał Prokop: Księstwa oświęcimskie i zatorskie wobec Korony Polskiej w latach 1438-1513. Dzieje polityczne . PAU , Kraków 2002, ISBN 83-8885731-2 , p. 80-81 (Polish).
  10. ^ Idzi Panic: Śląsk Cieszyński w średniowieczu (do 1528) . Starostwo Powiatowe w Cieszynie, Cieszyn 2010, ISBN 978-83-926929-3-5 , p. 155 (Polish).
  11. ↑ Józef Putek: O zbójnickich zamkach, heretyckich zborach, i oświęcimskiej Jerozolimie: szkice z dziejów pogranicza Śląsko-Polskiego . Drukarnia Przemysłowa, 1938, p. 44-47 .
  12. ^ Henryk Rutkowski (editor), Krzysztof Chłapkowski: Województwo krakowskie w drugiej połowie XVI wieku; Cz. 2, Komentarz, indeksy . Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences, 2008, p. 71-75 (Polish, online ).
  13. ↑ Marian Surdacki: Stosunki wyznaniowe w diecezji krakowskiej w połowie XVIII wieku na podstawie wizytacj i tabel biskupa AS Załuskiego . 1983, p. 115, 128, 132 (Polish, online ).
  14. ^ Sybille Steinbacher : "Model City" Auschwitz. Germanization Policy and the Murder of Jews in Eastern Upper Silesia . Saur, Munich 2000. ISBN 3-598-24031-7 .
  15. ↑ Lucyna Filip: Jews in Oswiecim 1918–1942. Scientia Publishing House, Oświęcim 2005, p. 46.
  16. ↑ Lucyna Filip: Jews in Oswiecim 1918–1942. Verlag Scientia, Oswiecim 2005, pp. 165ff.
  17. ↑ History of Chemical Works Oświęcim (Synthos SA) ( Memento of the original from March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. - (Synthos SA: 50 ° 2 ′ 13 ″  N , 19 ° 16 ′ 31 ″  E ) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / synthosgroup.com
  18. ^ In the shadow of Auschwitz in FAZ of February 20, 2017, page 12
  19. ↑ "The Campus" website of the Rittmeister-Witold-Pilecki University ( memento of the original from June 8, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.uczelnia.pwsz-oswiecim.edu.pl
  20. ↑ Historical walk with volunteers from the youth meeting center
  21. ↑ J. Zinkow, 1994, pp. 287-288
  22. ↑ J. Zinkow, 1994, p. 74

Remarks

  1. ↑ According to Jan Długosz , this happened in 1179.
  2. ↑ The city on the Soła became the seat of a deanery from the 14th century .
  3. ↑ Among neighboring villages only Poreba kept the German name next to the Polish one.
  4. ↑ But already Uspencin (1297) sounds strange .