![Sułkowski Castle, Bielsko-Biała 3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Su%C5%82kowski_Castle%2C_Bielsko-Bia%C5%82a_3.jpg)
Bielsko (german: Bielitz, cs, Bílsko) was until 1950 an independent town situated in
Cieszyn Silesia
Cieszyn Silesia, Těšín Silesia or Teschen Silesia ( pl, Śląsk Cieszyński ; cs, Těšínské Slezsko or ; german: Teschener Schlesien or ) is a historical region in south-eastern Silesia, centered on the towns of Cieszyn and Český Tě ...
,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
. In 1951 it was joined with
Biała Krakowska Biała (the feminine form of Polish ''biały'' 'white') may refer to:
Cities and towns in Poland Greater Poland Voivodeship (west-central Poland)
*Biała, Gmina Trzcianka
* Biała, Gmina Wieleń
* Biała, Kalisz County
* Biała, Konin County
Łód ...
to form the new town of
Bielsko-Biała
Bielsko-Biała (; cs, Bílsko-Bělá, german: Bielitz-Biala, szl, Bjylsko-Bjoło) is a city in southern Poland, with a population of approximately 168,319 as of December 2021, making it the 22nd largest city in Poland, and an area of . It is a ...
. Bielsko constitutes the western part of that town.
Bielsko was founded by the
Cieszyn Piast dukes in the late 13th century on the grounds of village later called
Stare Bielsko
Stare Bielsko (German: ''Alt Bielitz'', both literally meaning "Old Bielsko/Bielitz") is an osiedle (district) of Bielsko-Biała, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It is located in the west-north part of the city, in Silesian Foothills. Osiedl ...
(''Old Bielsko''), on the
Biała River. It was first mentioned in a written document in 1312. Originally settled by Germans, it became the largest German-language center (''Deutsche Sprachinsel Bielitz'') in the
Duchy of Teschen
The Duchy of Teschen (german: Herzogtum Teschen), also Duchy of Cieszyn ( pl, Księstwo Cieszyńskie) or Duchy of Těšín ( cs, Těšínské knížectví), was one of the Duchies of Silesia centered on Cieszyn () in Upper Silesia. It was split o ...
, and remained so until the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. In 1572 it gained autonomy as the
Duchy (State) of Bielsko. During the 18th century a rapid development of
textile
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
industry occurred, and at the beginning of the 19th century more than 500
weavers worked in the town. After the 1920 division of
Cieszyn Silesia
Cieszyn Silesia, Těšín Silesia or Teschen Silesia ( pl, Śląsk Cieszyński ; cs, Těšínské Slezsko or ; german: Teschener Schlesien or ) is a historical region in south-eastern Silesia, centered on the towns of Cieszyn and Český Tě ...
between
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
and
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
it became, despite the protests of local Germans, a part of Poland.
According to the
Austrian
Austrian may refer to:
* Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent
** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law
* Austrian German dialect
* Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...
census of 1910 the town had 18,568 inhabitants. The census asked people for their native language: 15,144 (84.3%) were German-speaking, 2,568 (14.3%) were Polish-speaking and 136 (0.7%) were Czech-speaking.
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
were not allowed to declare
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...
, and most of them thus declared German as their native language. The most populous religious groups were
Roman Catholics
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
with 10,378 (55.9%), followed by
Protestants
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
with 4,955 (26.7%) and the
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
with 3,024 (16.3%).
[Ludwig Patryn (ed): ]
Die Ergebnisse der Volkszählung vom 31. Dezember 1910 in Schlesien
', Troppau 1912. The vast majority of the Jews were exterminated by Nazis during World War II, and the German population was expelled by the
Soviets
Soviet people ( rus, сове́тский наро́д, r=sovyétsky naród), or citizens of the USSR ( rus, гра́ждане СССР, grázhdanye SSSR), was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union.
Nationality policy in th ...
after the war under the terms demanded by Stalin at the
Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference (german: Potsdamer Konferenz) was held at Potsdam in the Soviet occupation zone from July 17 to August 2, 1945, to allow the three leading Allies to plan the postwar peace, while avoiding the mistakes of the Paris Pe ...
.
Notable people
* Three well-known
Holocaust survivors
Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and Axis powers, its allies before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no unive ...
from Bielsko are
Kitty Hart-Moxon
Kitty Hart-Moxon, OBE (born 1 December 1926) is a Polish-British Holocaust survivor. She was sent to the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp in 1943 at age 16, where she survived for two years, and was also imprisoned at other camps. Shortly after h ...
,
Roman Frister
Roman Frister (17 January 1928 – 9 February 2015) wrote '' The Cap: The Price of a Life'', an autobiographical account of his life living in Nazi occupied Poland and then Poland under the communists.
Frister spent time in:
*the Cracow detenti ...
and
Gerda Weissmann Klein
Gerda Weissmann Klein (May 8, 1924 – April 3, 2022) was a Polish-born American writer and human rights activist. Her autobiographical account of the Holocaust, ''All but My Life'' (1957), was adapted for the 1995 short film, ''One Survivor Re ...
. All three have written autobiographies and other works about their experiences during the Second World War.
* The ancestors of the British peer
Christopher Tugendhat, Baron Tugendhat
Christopher Samuel Tugendhat, Baron Tugendhat (born 23 February 1937) is a British Conservative Party politician, businessman, company director, journalist and author. He was a Member of Parliament from 1970 to 1977, then a member of the Europ ...
, are also from what was Bielitz.
*
Gustav Gyula Geyer
Gustav Július Geyer (1828–1900) was a Hungarian educator and entomologist.
References
1828 births
1900 deaths
Hungarian educators
Hungarian entomologists
People from Bielsko-Biała
{{Hungary-bio-stub ...
(1828–1900), Hungarian educator and entomologist
See also
*
Bielsko Synagogue
Bielsko Synagogue was a synagogue in Bielsko, Poland. It was built in 1879–1881, designed by Karol Korn. The synagogue was completely destroyed by Nazis on 13 September 1939.
*
Buildings and structures in Bielsko-Biała
Cieszyn Silesia
Form ...
*
Jews in Bielsko-Biała
Jews in Bielsko-Biała (german: Juden in Bielitz-Biala, he, הקהילה היהודית בילסקו ביאלה), is a Jewish society with its headquarters in Bielsko-Biała, Poland. Nowadays, the area of its activity covers Cieszyn Silesia and ...
Footnotes
References
*
External links
*
History of Bielsko
{{Authority control
Bielsko-Biała
Cieszyn Silesia