Hołdunów (german: Anhalt) is a district of

Lędziny Lędziny (; german: Lendzin; szl, Lyńdźiny) is a town in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. It borders the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union – a metropolis with a population of 2 million which is located in the Silesian Highlands. Th ...

, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It was established in 1770 and merged with Lędziny in 1991. At the end of 2014 it had 5,399 inhabitants.

History

The settlement was established in 1770 by about 300

Calvinists Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

fleeing religious persecution from the village of

Kozy Kozy (German: ''Seiffersdorf, Seibersdorf, Kosy (1941–45)''; Wymysorys: ''Zajwyśdiüf'') is a large village with a population of 12,457 (2013) within Bielsko County, located in the historical and geographical south-west region of Less ...

in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth across the border to Upper Silesia in the Kingdom of Prussia. (They were

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

-speakers and were descended from medieval colonists from central Germany.) The refugees, who came at the invitation of the Duke of Pless and under the guard of a detachment of his cavalry, established a village on the fields of

's folwark ''Kiełpowy'', called ''Anhalt'', named after the rulers of nearby

Pless Pleß or Pless may refer to: Places *Pleß, a municipality in the district of Unterallgäu in Bavaria, Germany * Pszczyna (German: Pleß), a town in southern Poland ** Duchy of Pless, a historic territory in Silesia * Pleß (mountain), a mounta ...

( pl, Pszczyna). In 1778 they built a rectory, which housed a small chapel, school and lodging for a priest and a teacher. The village was affected by the discovery of underground coal deposits in 1842, which led to the opening of a coal mine in the following year. In 1902 the Protestant Saint Trinity church was built in the municipality (razed in 1967). It was then inhabited by a majority of German-speakers. At the beginning of the

Second Silesian Uprising The Silesian Uprisings (german: Aufstände in Oberschlesien, Polenaufstände, links=no; pl, Powstania śląskie, links=no) were a series of three uprisings from August 1919 to July 1921 in Upper Silesia, which was part of the Weimar Republic ...

(August 1920), the village was attacked and burned by Polish insurgents. The reason for this is not clear: Polish sources claim that the village was burned after a battle with a pro-German militia organized there, while German sources deny that such a militia existed and claim that the inhabitants did not resist the Polish attackers. The burning of Hołdunów was publicized in the German media as an example of the alleged barbarism of the Polish insurgents. Shortly afterwards,

Wojciech Korfanty Wojciech Korfanty (; born Adalbert Korfanty; 20 April 1873 – 17 August 1939) was a Polish activist, journalist and politician, who served as a member of the German parliaments, the Reichstag and the Prussian Landtag, and later, in the Polish ' ...

, one of the uprising's leaders, came to Hołdunów, apologized for its destruction, and paid for its reconstruction. In the

Upper Silesia plebiscite The Upper Silesia plebiscite was a plebiscite mandated by the Versailles Treaty and carried out on 20 March 1921 to determine ownership of the province of Upper Silesia between Weimar Germany and Poland. The region was ethnically mixed with bot ...

(1921) Germany got 294 votes against 76 for Poland. Nonetheless Hołdunów became a part of Poland. In the interwar period it was one of only four municipalities in the Upper Silesian (thus excluding Cieszyn Silesia) part of

autonomous Silesian Voivodeship In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ...

which had Protestant majority (70.6% in 1933). It was later

annexed Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...

by Nazi Germany at the beginning of World War II, and returned to Poland afterwards. In 1975 Hołdunów together with Lędziny were amalgamated with Tychy. Lędziny regained town rights in 1991 and absorbed Hołdunów. File:Kosciol pw.ChrstusaKrola-Hołdunow-Ledziny.JPG, Catholic church File:Kościół Ewangelicko-Augsburski w Lędzinach.JPG, Lutheran church

References

Neighbourhoods in Silesian Voivodeship Bieruń-Lędziny County {{Silesian-geo-stub