Освенцим: История и современность польского города

the town in Lesser Poland Voivodeship

Oświęcim (; Auschwitz ; ; ) is a town in the Lesser Poland (Małopolska) province of southern Poland, situated southeast of Katowice, near the confluence of the Vistula (Wisła) and Soła rivers. The town is known internationally for being the site of the German Nazi built Auschwitz concentration camp (the camp is also known as KL or KZ Auschwitz Birkenau) during World War II, when Poland was occupied by Nazi Germany.

The name of the town is of Polish/Slavic extraction, possibly derived from the owner of a Slavic gord which existed there in the Middle Ages. Some Medieval spellings of the name are: Oswenin (1217), Osvencin (1280), Hospencin (1283), Osswetem (1290), Uspencin (1297), Oswentim (1302) etc. It has been spelled many different ways and known by many different languages over time, including Czech, German, and Latinised versions. The town was an important center of commerce from the late Middle Ages onward. Fourteenth century German speaking merchants called it Auswintz; by the 15th century, this name had become Auschwitz. From 1772 to 1918 Oświęcim belonged to the Habsburg the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria (from 1804 a crownland of the Austrian Empire and 1867 Austria Hungary), and both Polish and German names were in official use. The town was annexed into Nazi Germany during World War II and the name Auschwitz was used. It became known as Oświęcim after 27 January 1945, when the Wehrmacht was pushed out by the Red Army.

Oświęcim lies at the intersection of National Road 44 and local roads 933 and 948. Oświęcim's old town is east of the Soła, with the Main Market Square (Rynek Główny) at its center. The railway station is across the river in the northwest part of town; the main museum is on the west side. The Auschwitz Birkenau State Museum is in the village of Brzezinka, to the west of the railway station. The chemical works are east of the town. The main bus station of the town lies in the east of the town, and local bus services are operated by PKS Oświęcim. The PKP railway services are available to Kraków, Katowice and Czechowice Dziedzice, and internationally to Vienna and Prague. The nearest airport is away, at Kraków Balice. According to the 2002 data, Oświęcim is 30 km2, of which forests comprise only 1%. The neighbouring boroughs (gmina) are Chelmek, Libiąż, and the gmina of Oświęcim.

Oświęcim has a warm summer humid continental climate characterized by four distinct seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Located in the Oświęcim Basin, the town experiences relatively high precipitation that averages slightly below 1000 mm per year. The precipitation is fairly evenly distributed throughout the year, though the spring and summer seasons tend to receive more. Summers are warm and humid, but frequently cloudy due to the influence of polar maritime air masses; winters are cold and windy, with snow cover. Fog is very common throughout the year. Due to its frequency, fog is considered one of the town's trademarks.

Oświęcim has a rich history, which dates back to the early days of Polish statehood. It is one of the oldest castellan gords in Poland. Following the Fragmentation of Poland in 1138, Duke Casimir II the Just attached the town to the Duchy of Opole in c. 1179 for his younger brother Mieszko I Tanglefoot, Duke of Opole and Racibórz. The town was destroyed in 1241 during the Mongol invasion of Poland. Around 1272 the newly rebuilt Oświęcim was granted a municipal charter modeled on those of Lwówek Śląski (a Polish variation of the Magdeburg Law). The charter was confirmed on 3 September 1291. In 1281, the Land of Oświęcim became part of the newly established Duchy of Cieszyn, and in c. 1315, an independent Duchy of Oświęcim was established. In 1327, John I, Duke of Oświęcim joined his Duchy with the Duchy of Zator and, soon afterwards, his state became a vassal of the Kingdom of Bohemia, where it remained for over a century. In 1445, the Duchy was divided into three separate entities – the Duchies of Oświęcim, Zator and Toszek. In 1457 Polish King Casimir IV Jagiellon bought the rights to Oświęcim. On 25 February 1564, King Sigismund II Augustus issued a bill integrating the former Duchies of Oświęcim and Zator into the Kingdom of Poland. Both lands were attached to the Kraków Voivodeship, forming the Silesian County. Before 1564, Oświęcim was semi independent in Poland and enjoyed an extensive degree of autonomy, similarly to Royal Prussia. The town later became one of the centers of Jewish culture in Poland. Like other towns of Lesser Poland, Oświęcim prospered in the period known as Polish Golden Age. This period came to an abrupt end in 1655, during the catastrophic Swedish invasion of Poland. Oświęcim was burned and afterward, the town declined, and in 1772 (see Partitions of Poland), it was annexed by the Habsburg Empire, as part of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, where it remained until late 1918. After the 1815 Congress of Vienna, the town was close to the borders of both Russian controlled Congress Poland, and the Kingdom of Prussia. In the 1866 war between Austria and the Prussian led North German Confederation, a cavalry skirmish was fought at the town, in which an Austrian force defeated a Prussian incursion. In the second half of the 19th century, Oświęcim became an important rail junction. During the same period, the town burned in several fires, such as the fire of 23 August 1863, when two thirds of Oświęcim burned, including the town hall and two synagogues; a new town hall was built between 1872 and 1875. In another fire in 1881, the parish church, a school, and a hospital burned down. In 1910, Oświęcim became the seat of a starosta, and in 1917–18 a new district, Nowe Miasto, was founded. In 1915, a high school was opened. After World War I, the town became part of the Second Polish Republic's Kraków Voivodeship (Województwo Krakowskie). Until 1932, Oświęcim was the seat of a county, but on 1 April 1932, the County of Oświęcim was divided between the County of Wadowice, and the County of Biała Krakowska.

After the territorial changes of Poland immediately after World War II, new housing complexes in the town were developed with large buildings of rectangular and concrete constructions. The chemical industry became the main employer of the town and in later years, the service industry and trade were added. The many visits to the concentration camp memorial sites have become an important source of income for the town's businesses. After the end of communism, by the mid 1990s, employment at the chemical works (named Firma Chemiczna Dwory SA from 1997 to 2007, Synthos SA since then) had dropped from 10,000 in the communist era to only 1,500 people. In 1952, the County of Oświęcim was re created, and the town until 1975 belonged to Kraków Voivodeship. In 1975–1999, it was part of Bielsko Biała Voivodeship. In 1979, Oświęcim was visited by Pope John Paul II, and on 1 September 1980, a local Solidarity office was created at the chemical plant. On 28 May 2006, the town was visited by Pope Benedict XVI.

Oświęcim is culturally regarded as part of Upper Silesia. To this end, names such as 'Oświęcim Silesia' (Śląsk Oświęcimski) were used by Polish and German geographers, and Silesia was defined as the territory from the mouth of the river Warta to the Oder, up to Oświęcim. Oświęcim is considered to be the eastern frontier of the Silesian language. As the easternmost point of linguistic Silesia, Silesian speech in Oświęcim is influenced by the Lesser Poland dialect and has distinct features such as partial mazuration (mazurzenie) there is only one nasal 'a', which loses its nasality by becoming a non labialised 'o' (rozpocoć – rozpocząć). Linguist Alexander Andrason outlines the linguistic area of Silesian borderland which Oświęcim is a part of, with features that distinguish it from other Silesian dialects as well as the Polish ones for example, 'ą' and 'ę' are merged into /ɔ̃/ in Oświęcim Silesian.

The sports club KS Unia Oświęcim was established in 1946. In 1999, the remaining four departments (ice hockey, swimming, figure skating, and association football) separated into their own clubs: TH Unia Oświęcim (ice hockey), UKŁF Unia Oświęcim (figure skating), UKP Unia Oświęcim (figure skating), Zasole Unia Oświęcim (football), UKH Unia Oświęcim (youth ice hockey), and UKHK Unia Oświęcim (women's ice hockey). In the past, Unia had boxing, table tennis, volleyball, athletics, cycling, gymnastics, chess, motorcycle racing, lawn tennis, skiing, bridge, handball, and basketball departments. The ice hockey team, TH Unia Oświęcim, was crowned Polish champions 8 times, and finished as runners up in 2022. Another sports club with a long tradition is KS Soła Oświęcim, an association football club founded in 1919.