Zamosc
Zamosc is a town in southeastern
Poland with 66,633 inhabitants , situated in the
Lublin Voivodship , previously capital of
Zamosc Voivodship . About 20 kilometres from the town is the
Roztocze National Park.
The city is located on the
broad gauge railway line linking former
Soviet Union with
Upper Silesian coal and sulphur mines as well as less than 60 kilometres from the border crossings to
Ukraine. On December 14, 1992, the historical city centre was inscribed onto UNESCO World Heritage List.
Encyclopedia
Zamosc is a town in southeastern
Poland with 66,633 inhabitants , situated in the
Lublin Voivodship , previously capital of
Zamosc Voivodship . About 20 kilometres from the town is the
Roztocze National Park.
The city is located on the
broad gauge railway line linking former
Soviet Union with
Upper Silesian coal and sulphur mines as well as less than 60 kilometres from the border crossings to
Ukraine. On December 14, 1992, the historical city centre was inscribed onto UNESCO World Heritage List.
History
Zamosc was founded in the year 1580 by the
Chancellor and
Hetman Jan Zamoyski on the trade route linking western and northern
Europe with the
Black Sea. Modelled on the Italian trading cities and built during the
Baroque period by the architect
Bernardo Morando, a native of
Padua, Zamosc remains a perfect example of a
Renaissance town of the late 16th century which retains its original layout and fortifications and a large number of buildings blending Italian and central European architectural traditions. The Old City quarter of Zamosc has been placed on the
UNESCO list of
World Heritage Sites.
In 1942, Zamosc County, due to its fertile black soil, was chosen for further German colonisation in
General Government as part of Generalplan Ost. German occupiers planned relocation of at least 60,000 ethnic Germans in the area before the end of 1943. Before that, a "test trial" expulsion was performed in November 1941, and the whole operation ended in pacification operation combined with expulsions in June/July 1943 which was code named
Wehrwolf Action I and II. Around 110,000 people from 297 villages were expelled. Around 30,000 victims were children who if racially "clean" were planned for germanisation in German families in Deutsches Reich. Most of the people expelled were sent to slave labour in Germany or concentration camps.
Local people resisted the action with great determination; they escaped into forests, organised self-defence, helped people expelled, bribing kidnapped children out of German hands. Until the middle of 1943 Germans managed to settle 8,000 colonists, the number increased by a couple of thousands in 1944. This settlement was met with fierce armed resistance by Polish underground forces. The current President of Germany
Horst Köhler was born in a family of German colonists in Skierbieszów.
After the
World War II Zamosc started a period of development. In the 1970's and 1980's the population grew rapidly as the city started to gain significant profits from the old trade routes linking Germany with Ukraine and the ports on the
Black Sea.
Education
- Wyzsza Szkola Humanistyczno-Ekonomiczna im. Jana Zamoyskiego
- Wyzsza Szkola Zarzadzania i Administracji
Politics
Biala Podlaska/Chelm/Zamosc constituency
Members of Parliament elected from this constituency
Slawomir Zawislak - Prawo i Sprawiedliwosc
Famous people from Zamosc
See also
External links
