Olkusz ( yi, עלקיש ''Elkish'', german: 1941-45 Ilkenau) is a town in southern
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 ...
with 36,607 inhabitants (2014). Situated in the
Lesser Poland Voivodeship
Lesser Poland Voivodeship or Lesser Poland Province (in pl, województwo małopolskie ), also known as Małopolska, is a voivodeship (province), in southern Poland. It has an area of , and a population of
3,404,863 (2019).
It was created on 1 ...
(since 1999), previously in
Katowice Voivodeship
Katowice Voivodeship () can refer to one of two political entities in Poland:
Katowice Voivodeship (1), initially "Silesian-Dabrowa Voivodeship" ( pl, województwo śląsko-dąbrowskie), was a unit of administrative division and local government ...
(1975–1998), it is the capital of
Olkusz County
Olkusz County ( pl, powiat olkuski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, southern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms pa ...
. Olkusz is known for its abundance of
silver
Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...
, which is
mined and extracted in the vicinity.
Surroundings
The city is on the Baba River, a tributary of the Sztoła, with a major road reaching it from
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
and
Kraków
Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
, making it the central city of the vicinity. Tourists who wish to visit nature and historical sites, start from here. Also, Olkusz is located on the main railroad line, which connects
Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located ...
and
Zaglebie with
Kielce
Kielce (, yi, קעלץ, Keltz) is a city in southern Poland, and the capital of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. In 2021, it had 192,468 inhabitants. The city is in the middle of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (Holy Cross Mountains), on the bank ...
. The
Starczynów Desert is located nearby, and wind-blown sands from the desert troubled the town until the desert was planted with trees in 1949 resulting in the desert becoming overgrown.
History
![Olkusz - rynek](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Olkusz_-_rynek._od_1905_%2870569902%29.jpg)
On the city's website, a myth is cited that the city was founded by ancient Phoenicians (Canaanites) who traveled here and found lead ore. The origin of the name Olkusz is cited as the ancient Phoenician (Canaanite Hebrew) "Elkhuds" meaning "to chisel". However, the Hebrew word for "to chisel" was "lakhrot" and the likelihood of the ancient Phoenicians having reached Poland is very low.
A first written historical document from the year 1299 refers to the city of Olkusz, although it was granted town rights earlier. It was located within the
Seniorate Province
Seniorate Province, also known as the Senioral Province, , was a district principality in the Duchy of Poland that was formed in 1138, following the fragmentation of the state. Its ruler held the title of the High Duke, ruling all duchies wit ...
of the fragmented
Kingdom of Poland
The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to:
Historical political entities
*Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031
*Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exist ...
, and then it was a
royal town of Poland, administratively located in the
Kraków Voivodeship in the
. The inhabitants were mostly wealthy, due to the lead mines. Silver was discovered too. Various wars crossed the path of this town, which was at its lowest at the end of the 17th century (see:
The Deluge
The Genesis flood narrative (chapters 6–9 of the Book of Genesis) is the Hebrew version of the universal flood myth. It tells of God's decision to return the universe to its pre- creation state of watery chaos and remake it through the microc ...
).
In the
Third Partition of Poland
The Third Partition of Poland (1795) was the last in a series of the Partitions of Poland–Lithuania and the land of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth among Prussia, the Habsburg monarchy, and the Russian Empire which effectively ended Polish ...
(1795) the town was annexed by
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
. Following the
Austro-Polish War of 1809 it was regained by Poles and included within the short-lived
Duchy of Warsaw
The Duchy of Warsaw ( pl, Księstwo Warszawskie, french: Duché de Varsovie, german: Herzogtum Warschau), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during ...
, and after the duchy's dissolution in 1815, the town fell to the
Russian Partition
The Russian Partition ( pl, zabór rosyjski), sometimes called Russian Poland, constituted the former territories of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that were annexed by the Russian Empire in the course of late-18th-century Partitions of Po ...
of Poland. Fights of the Polish
January Uprising
The January Uprising ( pl, powstanie styczniowe; lt, 1863 metų sukilimas; ua, Січневе повстання; russian: Польское восстание; ) was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at ...
took place in the area in 1863.
Francesco Nullo
Francesco Nullo (1 March 1826 – 5 May 1863) was an Italian patriot, military officer and merchant, and a close friend and confidant of Giuseppe Garibaldi. He supported independence movements in Italy and Poland. He was a participant in the ...
, hero of the fights for Italian and Polish independence died in the
Battle of Krzykawka nearby, and then was buried at the cemetery in Olkusz.
Poland eventually regained independence and control of the town after
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
in 1918.
![The_Bloody_Wednesday_Olkusz_1940](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/The_Bloody_Wednesday_Olkusz_1940.jpg)
During the joint German-Soviet
invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...
, which started
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 September 1939, the town was invaded by Germany. Already during the invasion, the Germans committed the first executions of local
Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Ce ...
(see also ''
Nazi crimes against the Polish nation
Crimes against the Polish nation committed by Nazi Germany and Axis collaborationist forces during the invasion of Poland, along with auxiliary battalions during the subsequent occupation of Poland in World War II, consisted of the murder of ...
'').
Under
German occupation
German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...
, the town was annexed directly into Germany. Poles from Olkusz were among the victims of a massacre committed in
Celiny in June 1940. On 16 July 1940, in retaliation for the killing of a German policeman, the Germans carried out a massacre of 20 Polish hostages. On 31 July 1940, the Germans gathered all Polish and
Jewish
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 ...
men aged 15 to 55 and subjected them to
torture and murder. The German terror campaign against the local population was aimed at the planned
Germanisation
Germanisation, or Germanization, is the spread of the German language, German people, people and German culture, culture. It was a central idea of German conservative thought in the 19th and the 20th centuries, when conservatism and ethnic nationa ...
of the town and the region. The occupation ended in January 1945, and the town was restored to Poland.
Sports
The town's most notable sports club is KS Olkusz with
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
and
athletics
Athletics may refer to:
Sports
* Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking
** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport
* Athletics (physical culture), competi ...
sections.
Religions
*
Roman Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
4 parishes:
** St Andrew's Basilica
** St Maximilian Maria Kolbe Church
** St Barbara's Church
** Good Shepherd Church
*
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...
*
Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement
*
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...
*
Jewish
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 ...
(40% of the population before the
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
)
International relations
Twin Towns – Sister Cities
*
Bergamo
Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes Como ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
*
Schwalbach am Taunus
Schwalbach am Taunus, a town in the Main-Taunus-Kreis district, in Hesse, Germany, population about 14,000, is a dormitory town to Frankfurt, situated some 11 km east of Schwalbach. There is evidence of human habitation dating back to Neolithi ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
*
Staffordshire Moorlands
Staffordshire Moorlands is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Staffordshire, England. Its council, Staffordshire Moorlands District Council, is based in Leek, Staffordshire, Leek and is located between the city of Stoke-on- ...
,
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
Notable people
*
Paweł Blehm
Paweł Blehm (born 17 April 1980 in Olkusz) is a Polish chess grandmaster (2001).
He took part in the FIDE World Chess Championship 2000, but was knocked out in the first round by Smbat Lputian. He played for Poland in the Chess Olympiad of 200 ...
, Polish chess grandmaster
*
Marcin Bylica
__NOTOC__
Marcin Bylica (c.1433 in Olkusz – 1493 in Buda), also known as Martin Bylica and Marcin z Olkusza, was a Polish astrologer, astronomer, and physician at the court of Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary.
Biography
Son of burgher Jan, ...
a.k.a. Martin Bylica and Marcin z Olkusza, Polish astrologer and astronomer
*
Paweł Czarnota, Polish chess Grandmaster
*
Antoni Kocjan
Antoni Kocjan (12 August 1902 – 13 August 1944) was a renowned Polish glider constructor and a contributor to the intelligence services of the Polish Home Army during World War II.
Early life and education
Antoni was the son of Michal K ...
, Polish war hero and famous glider engineer
*
Henryk Mandelbaum
Henryk Mandelbaum (December 15, 1922 – June 17, 2008) was a Polish Holocaust survivor. He was one of the prisoners in the '' Sonderkommando KL Auschwitz-Birkenau'' in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp who had to work in the crematory. ...
, noted Polish survivor of the Holocaust
*
Tadeusz Rydzyk, Roman Catholic priest and Redemptorist
* Rabbi
Dov Berish Einhorn
Rabbi Dov Berish Einhorn (1877 – 1942) was the Chief Rabbi and Rosh Yeshiva of Amstov (Mstów), Poland.
Biography
Dov Berish Einhorn was born in 1877 in the small town Mstów (Yiddish: Amstov), Poland where his father, Efraim Tzvi served as ...
References
External links
*
Olkusz's Internet forumJewish Community in Olkuszon Virtual Shtetl
*
ttp://www.zchor.org/olkusz/photographs1.htm Images of deportation during the holocaust WWIIThe full story of the famous Olkusz image identification
Olkusz -full screen gallery
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