Rabka-Zdrój (, in Goral dialects: ''Robka'', colloquially: ''Rabka'') is a

spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...

town in

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 ...

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 ...

. It is located between

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 ...

and

Zakopane Zakopane ( Podhale Goral: ''Zokopane'') is a town in the extreme south of Poland, in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998, it was part of Nowy Sącz Voivodeship; since 1999, it has been par ...

in a valley on the northern slopes of the

Gorce Mountains The Gorce Mountains ( pl, Gorce ) are part of the Western Beskids mountain range spreading across southernmost Poland. They are situated in Małopolska Province, at the western tip of the long Carpathian range extending east beyond the Dunajec Ri ...

, where the rivers Poniczanka and Słonka join the river Raba. It has about 13,000 inhabitants. There is a substantial population of

Gorals The Gorals ( pl, Górale; Goral dialect: ''Górole''; sk, Gorali; Cieszyn Silesia dialect, Cieszyn Silesian: ''Gorole''), also known as the Highlanders (in Poland as the Polish Highlanders) are an indigenous ethnographic or ethnic group primar ...

in the town. Rabka was always known for its salt-works, and from 1864 became a popular

spa town A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath in 1668. H ...

. The first treatment centre for children was established a few years later and continues to this day.

Hydrotherapy Hydrotherapy, formerly called hydropathy and also called water cure, is a branch of alternative medicine (particularly naturopathy), occupational therapy, and physiotherapy, that involves the use of water for pain relief and treatment. The term ...

continues to be utilised in local hospital and sanatoriums. The Władysław Orkan Museum established in a former 17th-century larch-wood church, includes a collection of folk sculpture and paintings on glass. It also houses the "Order of the Smile Museum" (which children award to adults) and hosts events such as a winter carnival, the Carpathian Festival of Children's Regional Ensembles and the Mountain Children's Holiday International Festival. Other entertainment and folk events are held in the summer season.

Nazi Police School

During

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 ...

, the Germans established a Nazi police school called the

Sipo-SD Academy The Sipo-SD Academy was an SS training school established by former Einstatzgruppen '' SS-Brigadeführer'' Bruno Streckenbach designed to train students in various torture and execution methods as well as to provide continuing education to the s ...

in the town, to train executioners and torturers. The school and its surroundings were the place of numerous atrocities before it was eventually closed down as the war approached its end and the Germans left. The Commandant of the school was originally SS Hauptsturmfuhrer

Hans Krueger Hans Krueger (also spelled Krüger) (1 July 1909 – 8 February 1988) was a German captain of the Gestapo in occupied Poland during World War II, involved in organizing the string of massacres after the commencement of Operation Barbarossa behind ...

and the deputy and police secretary was SS Untersturmfuhrer Wilhelm Karl Johannes Rosenbaum. The Nazi Police training school was originally situated in

, but was moved to Rabka in July 1940 along with the permanent staff and the Jewish workers. It has been estimated that over thirty Jewish roundups were conducted on the neighborhoods surrounding the school. The rounded up Jews were executed inside the school and in the woods behind the school with particularly pious Jews being treated the worst. To cover up the numerous murders at the school Rosenbaum ordered the Rabka Town Clerk, Cheslav Triboski, to register their deaths as “victims of heart attacks.”

Notable people

Łukasz Jarosz Łukasz Jarosz (born January 12, 1979) is a Polish heavyweight kickboxer. He is former I.S.K.A. World Super Heavyweight champion.Tournament winner. Kickboxing career Jarosz was born on January 12, 1979 in Rabka-Zdrój. He fought Ismail Yesil ...

(born 1979), heavyweight boxer *

Maria Kaczyńska Maria Helena Kaczyńska (; ; 21 August 1942 – 10 April 2010) was the First Lady of Poland from 2005 to 2010 as the wife of President Lech Kaczyński. She and her husband died in the plane crash in the Russian city of Smolensk. Early and per ...

, married to

Lech Kaczyński Lech Aleksander Kaczyński (; 18 June 194910 April 2010) was a Polish politician who served as the city mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 2005, and as President of Poland from 2005 until his death in 2010. Before his tenure as president, he prev ...

(former

President of Poland The president of Poland ( pl, Prezydent RP), officially the president of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Prezydent Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej), is the head of state of Poland. Their rights and obligations are determined in the Constitution of Polan ...

), was educated in Rabka. * Andrzej Bargiel (born 1988), ski mountaineer, backcountry skier, mountain runner and climber *

Jan Ziobro Jan Ziobro (Polish pronunciation: , born 24 June 1991) is a Polish ski jumper, a member of the national team, a participant of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, a bronze medalist at 2015 World Championship in team . Personal life Jan Ziobro was b ...

(born 1991), ski jumper

Gallery

Rabka park.jpg, A park in Rabka-Zdrój Saint_Nick_in_Rabka.jpg, Statue of Saint Nicholas, patron saint of Rabka Rabka wooden house 2.jpg, Historic wood-frame house

References

External links

*
Interactive MapJewish Community in Rabka-Zdrój
on Virtual Shtetl
On-line version
of the book ''Mroczne Sekrety willi "Tereska": 1939-1945'' by Rapta, Tupta, and Moskal (2009 edition).

of the book ''The Rabka Four'' by O'Neil {{DEFAULTSORT:Rabka-Zdroj Cities and towns in Lesser Poland Voivodeship Rabka Zdroj Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Kraków Voivodeship (1919–1939) Spa towns in Poland