Olkusz is a town in south
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
with 37,696 inhabitants (2004).
Situated in the
Lesser Poland VoivodeshipLesser Poland Voivodeship is a voivodeship, or province, in southern Poland...
(since 1999), previously in
Katowice VoivodeshipKatowice Voivodeship was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland in the years 1975–1998, superseded by the Silesian Voivodeship...
(1975-1998), it is the capital of
Olkusz CountyOlkusz County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, southern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat and largest town is Olkusz, which lies ...
.
Surroundings
The city is on the Baba river, with a major road reaching it from
WarsawWarsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River roughly from both the Baltic Sea coast and the Carpathian Mountains. Its population as of 2009 was estimated at 1,709,781, and the Warsaw metropolitan area at approximately 2,785,000...
and
KrakowKraków , in English also spelled Krakow or Cracow and pronounced
, is one of the largest and oldest cities in Poland and a popular tourist destination. Its historic centre was inscribed on the list of World Heritage Sites as the first of its kind...
, making it the central city of the vicinity. Tourists who wish to visit the nature and historical sites, start from here. Also, Olkusz is located on the main railroad line, which connects
Upper SilesiaUpper Silesia is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia; Lower Silesia is to the northwest. Since the 9th century, Upper Silesia has been part of Greater Moravia, Bohemia, Poland, Holy Roman Empire, Austria, Prussia, and later of unified German Reich...
and Zaglebie with
KielceKielce is a city in south eastern Poland with 202,609 inhabitants . It is also the capital city of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship since 1999, previously in Kielce Voivodeship...
.
According to the city website, a fable is mentioned that the city was formed by ancient Phoenicians who traveled here and found lead ore. The origin of the name is the Phoenician El-Khuds meaning to chisel.
A first written historical document from the year 1299 refers to the city of Olkusz, located in the
Lesser PolandLesser Poland is one of the historical regions of Poland. It forms the southeastern corner of the country, and should not be confused with the modern Lesser Poland Voivodeship, which covers only a small, southern part of Lesser Poland...
province of the Kingdom of Poland. The city was initially ruled by citizens of German descent, and the inhabitants were mostly wealthy, due to the lead mines. Silver was discovered too. Various wars crossed the path of this city, which was at its lowest at the end of the 17th century (see: The Deluge).
Antoni KocjanAntoni Kocjan , was a renowned Polish glider constructor and a contributor to the intelligence services of the Polish Home Army during World War II....
, a national Polish war hero, pilot and engineer was born here.
Jewish Holocaust
One of the most famous images of the holocaust is of Rabbi Moshe Hagerman the
Dayan - Jewish municipal chief judge, dressed in his Talit and Teffilin and being abused by
GermanNazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...
soldiers. This image was later identified by people who survived the war and the incident, as an image from the 'Bloody Wednesday of Olkusz', taken on July 31, 1940.
The plight of the Jews during this year until deported, can be read online in various sites.
Most of the 4097 Jews listed by the Germans, were eventually deported to the
Auschwitz concentration campAuschwitz-Birkenau was the largest of Nazi Germany's concentration camps and extermination camps, operational during World War II.The camp took its German name from the hosting town of Oświęcim. Following the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, Oświęcim was annexed by Nazi Germany and...
and perished there in the Holocaust. About 250 Jews of Olkusz and its surroundings, survived the war.
Religions
- Roman Catholicism ( 4 The Church),
- Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a restorationist, millenarian Christian denomination. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism; they report convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual Memorial attendance of over 17 million...
(Kingdom HallA Kingdom Hall is a place of worship used by Jehovah's Witnesses. The term was first suggested in 1935 by Joseph Franklin Rutherford, then president of the Watch Tower Society, for a building in Hawaii...
, Sławkowska Street 26).
External links