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O艣wi臋cim

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O艣wi臋cim (Auschwitz, Yiddish Oshpitsin 讗指砖职讈驻执旨讬爪执讬谉, Romany: Aushvitsa, Osvyenchim, Czech: Osv臎tim, Slovak: Osvien膷im, Russian: 袨褋胁械薪褑懈屑) is a town in southern Poland with about 43,000 inhabitants (2001), situated some west of Krak贸w in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999, previously in Bielsko-Bia艂a Voivodeship (1975-1998).

The German name Auschwitz is still used when referring to the Auschwitz concentration camp built there by Nazi Germany during World War II.

History

The city was first mentioned in 1117. In 1179, it was detached from the senior Province of Krak贸w and attached to the Duchy of Opole. O艣wi臋cim was organized under German law (more precisely Lw贸wek Rights, which was a flavor of Magdeburg Law) in 1270. Throughout history, Germans and Poles lived here together peacefully. From 1315 O艣wi臋cim was a capital of independent duchy. In 1327, John I, Duke of O艣wi臋cim formed with a western part of Galicia (Central Europe), the Duchy of O艣wi臋cim, and Duchy of Zator a vassal state attached to the Kingdom of Bohemia. Later the area went again to the dukes from Te and Grossglogau. In the 14th century many people moved away. The interest of the Germans in Auschwitz shrank and in 1457 the Polish king Casimir IV bought the rights to O艣wi臋cim which was attached afterwards 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. O艣wi臋cim also became one of the centres of Protestant culture in Poland.

The town was destroyed by Swedish troops in 1655. When Poland was divided in the late 18th century, O艣wi臋cim 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. After World War I the town returned to Poland with that country's reemergence as an independent nation. Throughout the modern era until the Holocaust, the town had been predominantly Jewish. On the eve of World War II there were about 8,000 Jews in the city.

During the German Nazi occupation of Poland, a new subdivision was built using slave labour to house the guards and staff moved to O艣wi臋cim to run the Auschwitz concentration labor camp (Arbeitslager) and death camp. The prisoners of Auschwitz were used to build and operate the large Buna-Werke chemical works of I.G. Farben, which produced many different chemicals needed for Germany's war effort.

Following World War II, the town recovered, and new housing complexes were developed in a typical communist style. The buildings were large, rectangular, and concrete constructions, but satisfying the desperate dwelling needs of many new town's inhabitants. Until 1989, the town thrived from the large chemical works, but in the mid-1990s, the 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.

Concentration camp

Poland was occupied by Hitler Germany in World War II, and in 1940 the Nazis built the Auschwitz concentration camp by converting the Polish military barracks. Later, they also built the vast Auschwitz II (Birkenau) camp in the nearby village of Brzezinka.

It has been estimated that between 1940 and 1945 1.1 million people, mostly Jews, were killed by the Nazis in the Auschwitz-Birkenau camps. (See also the articles on Auschwitz concentration camp, List of subcamps of Auschwitz, Holocaust and extermination camp for a detailed account.)

After the war, the Polish government took possession of the large Buna-Werke chemical works owned by IG Farben, which had previously used Auschwitz prisoners as a slave labor. The chemical industry became the main employer of O艣wi臋cim. In the later years, also 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.

Politics

O艣wi臋cim-Wadowice constituency

Members of Parliament (Sejm) elected from this constituency

  • Chwierut Janusz, PO
  • Gra艣 Pawe艂, PO
  • Kowal Pawe艂, PiS
  • 艁atas Marek Jerzy, PiS
  • Murzyn Leszek, LPR
  • Polak Marek, PiS
  • Rydzo艅 Stanis艂aw, SLD-UP
  • Szyd艂o Beata, PiS

People

Sports

Twinned cities

Since 1993, O艣wi臋cim has been twinned with the city of Kerpen in Germany.

See also

References




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Last updated on Sunday March 09, 2008 at 06:35:14 PDT (GMT -0700)
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