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Debica
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Debica [] is a town in southeastern Poland with 46,693 inhabitants, as of 30.06.2008. It is the capital of Debica County. Since 1999 it has been situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship; it had previously been in the Tarnów Voivodeship (1975–1998).
History
Beginnings
The town was founded in 1358 by the Polish king Casimir III the Great (Kazimierz Wielki).
Discussion
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Encyclopedia
Debica [] is a town in southeastern Poland with 46,693 inhabitants, as of 30.06.2008. It is the capital of Debica County. Since 1999 it has been situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship; it had previously been in the Tarnów Voivodeship (1975–1998).
Area
According to the 2006 data, Debica's area is 33.81 square kilometers. 42% is arable land, forested areas make 19%. Debica is the seat of the county, and the town covers 4.34% of the county's area.
History
Beginnings
The town was founded in 1358 by the Polish king Casimir III the Great (Kazimierz Wielki). For many years Debica was a small and unimportant place, located in the Pilzno County, Sandomierz Voivodeship, province of Malopolska. Lacking fortifications that would defend it, Debica was vulnerable to various invasions of the Tatars, Swedes, or Hungarians, who burnt or ransacked the town every few years. As a result of these events, there are few historical monuments in Debica. One of these is the Saint Jadwiga church, originally from the 14th century, but completely rebuilt in late 19th century.
Under Austrian rule
In 1772, following the second partition of Poland, Debica found itself in the Habsburg Empire, in newly created province of Galicia . New Austrian authorities decided that it should no longer be regarded as a town, but rather a village and renamed it Dembitz. This decision marked the decline of the town.
The bad times came to an end in the second half of the 19th century, when Austrian government decided to build a main West-East railroad line, connecting two major urban centers of Galicja - Kraków and Lwów. A railroad station was built in Debica, and at the end of the 19th century, another, Northbound line was constructed, joining Debica and the town of Sandomierz, which was located on the Austrian-Russian boundary. The town became a rail junction, which was a huge boost for its citizens.
In 1900 a high school was opened, and in 1908 students from this school founded one of the oldest sports clubs in Poland, Wisloka (whose name comes from the River Wisloka, which flows by the town).
Just before World War I, Debica was again incorporated as a town. The war was a disaster for the town, as it was almost completely destroyed. During several campaigns Debica was occupied by Russian, Austrian, Hungarian and German troops, which fought in this area for many months. The Russians wanted to get through the Carpathian Range towards Slovakia, Bohemia and Hungary, the Central Powers managed to stop them at the beginning of 1915. These events had a great impact on the town and hampered its development for many years.
In Independent Poland
In 1918, after Poland regained independence, Debica was included in the newly created Kraków Voivodeship (see: Kraków Voivodeship (1919-1939)), in the powiat (county) of Ropczyce. The economical situation of the town did not change - there was no industry, very few jobs available and surrounding villages were strongly overpopulated. This started to change in 1936, when Polish government announced creation of Centralny Okreg Przemyslowy (Central Industrial Area). It was a huge public works project, aimed at fighting unemployment in this overpopulated part of Poland, as well as creating heavy industry, concentrated on production of armament.
Debica started to develop very fast—so fast, that in 1937 the county's capital was moved here from Ropczyce. Among several factories built in the town then, the most important was "Stomil" (now it is called Tire Company "Debica" and it belongs to the Goodyear). Other factories were: Wytwórnia Urzadzen Chlodniczych WUCh and Zaklady Tworzyw Sztucznych "Pustków", built from scratch, together with workers' settlement, in a forest some 15 kilometers northeast of Debica.
Sometime in 1938 or 1939 works on another rail connection from Debica to Jaslo, via Pilzno were started. Unfortunately, the Second World War stopped this construction, and after the war it was not continued.
World War II
German occupation of Debica started on September 8, 1939. The Germans created a ghetto for town's numerous Jewish population (est. 1561), eventually killing most of them either on the spot or in Auschwitz. In the forested hills south of the town, strong underground forces operated, with numerous units of Armia Krajowa (Home Army). It was too dangerous for AK's officers to stay in Debica, thus the headquarters of a local underground district (known as "Deser") were located at a nearby village of Gumniska, located in the hilly area south of the town. Resistance fighters were very active here, often attacking the main Kraków-Lwów rail line, used by German troops. In early 1944, units of local Armia Krajowa district unsuccessfully tried to blow up a train with Hans Frank, which was passing through the village station at Czarna, some 15 km west of Debica. As a reprisal, on February 2, 1944, the Germans murdered 50 Poles by rail track in Debica (also see Otto Schimek).
Communist Poland
After the war, in new, Communist Poland, Debica again became seat of a county, but the town was moved from Kraków to Rzeszów Voivodeship. War destruction again stopped town's development, but recovery this time was fast and based on prewar factories. In 1975, after administrative reform, counties in Poland ceased to exist and were replaced by numerous and small Voivodeships. Debica again was moved - this time from Rzeszów to the newly created Tarnów Voivodeship.
In the late 1970s Debica gained importance as a center of food and agriculture production. This was due to creation of Kombinat Rolno-Spozywczy "Igloopol", which, under an influential Communist dignitary Edward Brzostowski, developed very fast and in an impressive way. Igloopol built a huge factory and a completely new district of Debica, with numerous condominiums, located on the northern side of rail line. The company achieved its peak in the late 1980s. After collapse of Communist regime, it was divided into several smaller firms, controlled by former Communist activists.
Debica is now located in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship. The town bore the brunt of change of the political system. Unemployment rate is high, local government has been unable to tackle this problem. Hundreds of young people have decided to leave, mainly to USA, Great Britain and Germany.
Sports
There are two major sports clubs in Debica. Klub Sportowy (Sports Club) Wisloka, founded in 1908, is one of the oldest sports organizations in the country. Wisloka is famous for its wrestlers, who have won numerous medals in the Olympic Games, World and European Championships. Other fields in which Wisloka's athletes achieved significant achievements are: soccer, boxing, cycling and karate. The club was sponsored by Tire Company Debica and it had its heyday in the 1970s.
Other team, Ludowy Klub Sportowy Igloopol, was founded in 1978 and is the brainchild of a prominent activist of Polish communist party, Edward Brzostowski. Igloopol enjoyed strong support from the local government. Brzostowski was for some time Minister of Agriculture and director of Polski Zwiazek Pilki Noznej (Polish Football Association), so his favorite team prospered in soccer as well as in boxing, achieving significant successess. Igloopol's best years, late 1980s, are closely associated with peak of its sponsor.
Lately, both teams played in regional, Subcarpathian 4th Division, hoping to win promotion. Finally, Wisloka achieved this goal and in the season 2006/2007 plays in the fourth group of Polish 3rd Division.
Economy
Since the mid-1930s, Debica, in spite of its size, has been an important industrial centre of Poland. There are several companies located in the town and its proximity:
- Firma Oponiarska Debica S.A. (Tire Company Debica), previous name - Stomil Debica,
- Wytwornia Urzadzen Chlodniczych WUCh (Freezer Appliances Producer WUCh),
- Food companies such as Zaklady Miesne (Meatworks), Igloomeat and Animex Poludnie,
- chemical industry (paint producers such as Polifarb Debica and Sniezka Brzeznica),
- marble producer Jabo Marmi and brickyard Iglobud,
- bicycle maker Arkus,
- Sportatut - producer of sports nutritionals.
Famous personalities connected with Debica
Debica is the birthplace of 20th century composer Krzysztof Penderecki.
Other celebrities are:
- Tadeusz Lomnicki, one of the most popular Polish actors, who attended Debica's high school,
- Greco-Roman wrestlers, twins Kazimierz Lipien and Józef Lipien, who while representing Wisloka in the 1970s, won numerous medals in various international tournaments, including the Olympic Games,
- Leszek Pisz, a midfield soccer player, who started his career in Wisloka. He played in Igloopol, Legia Warszawa, several Greek teams and in Polish National Team.
- Mateusz Borek, famous in Poland sports comentator.
- Wladyslaw Strumski, Polish writer.
Education
- Wyzsza Szkola Informatyki i Zarzadzania in Rzeszów, branch in Debica
- Akademia Ekonomiczna in Kraków, branch in Debica
Transport
Debica is located on the main west-east European highway E40, which goes from Belgium, across Germany and Poland, to Ukraine. However, the E40 is not regarded as a highway in Debica area — it is in Western standards, just a regular, one-lane main road. However, unlike in many Polish towns and cities, the E40 traffic does not enter the center of Debica. In mid-1980s a by-pass road was built on southern outskirts of the town. Other Polish cities located by the E40 highway are Wroclaw, Opole, Katowice, Kraków, Tarnów, Rzeszów and Przemysl. Debica is also connected with Mielec and Tarnobrzeg thanks to the local road number 985.
In the future, the A4 highway will run just the to the north of the city. There will be two exits from the highway for Debica. It is expected to be completed by 2013.
Twin towns
Puurs
See also
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