Ryki is a
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
in eastern
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 ...
between
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
Lublin
Lublin is the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin is the largest Polish city east of t ...
. It has 9,767 inhabitants (as of 2007). Situated in the
Lublin Voivodeship
The Lublin Voivodeship, also known as the Lublin Province (Polish: ''województwo lubelskie'' ), is a voivodeship (province) of Poland, located in southeastern part of the country. It was created on January 1, 1999, out of the former Lublin, Che ...
(since 1999). It is the
capital
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
of
Ryki County
__NOTOC__
Ryki County ( pl, powiat rycki) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Lublin Voivodeship, eastern Poland. It was established on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed ...
. Ryki belongs to
Lesser Poland
Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name Małopolska ( la, Polonia Minor), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a s ...
, and historically is part of ''Ziemia Stężycka'' (''The Land of
Stężyca'', an ancient
county
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
, the only part of historic
Sandomierz Voivodeship
Sandomierz Voivodeship ( pl, Województwo Sandomierskie, la, Palatinatus Sandomirensis) was a unit of administration and local government in Poland from the 14th century to the partitions of Poland in 1772–1795. It was part of the Lesser Polan ...
which was located on the right bank of the
Vistula
The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland.
The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...
river). The town is located in the northwest corner of Lublin Voivodeship. The distance to the Polish capital is 100 km, the distance to Lublin – 64 km. Its name first appears in documents in 1439 as Riki.
History
The first urban center of this part of Lesser Poland was located in
Sieciechów, whose parish church controlled areas both east and west of the
Vistula
The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland.
The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...
. In the 14th century, Sieciechów’s significance diminished, and in the mid-15th century, the ''County of Stężyca'' was created, as part of
Sandomierz Voivodeship
Sandomierz Voivodeship ( pl, Województwo Sandomierskie, la, Palatinatus Sandomirensis) was a unit of administration and local government in Poland from the 14th century to the partitions of Poland in 1772–1795. It was part of the Lesser Polan ...
. The royal village of Ryki (Riki), which belonged to the County of Stężyca, was first mentioned in 1424. In 1570, Ryki had a wooden church of St. Jacob the Apostle, as well as a parish school. In 1591 a hospital was founded, and the seat of a
starosta
The starosta or starost (Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', german: link=no, Starost, Hauptmann) is a term of Slavic origin denoting a community elder whose role was to administer the assets of a clan or family estates. Th ...
was established here. Ryki received its city charter in 1782 but lost it in 1810.
Until 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 ...
, Ryki remained in Sandomierz Voivodeship. Then, between 1795 and 1809, it briefly belonged to
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...
’s province of
West Galicia
New Galicia or West Galicia ( pl, Nowa Galicja or ''Galicja Zachodnia'', german: Neugalizien or ''Westgalizien'') was an administrative region of the Habsburg monarchy, constituted from the territory annexed in the course of the Third Partition ...
. During the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
, the town became part of the
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 ...
, later
Congress Poland
Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It w ...
, governed by the Russians. It was an important center of Chassidic movement, and in 1908, Jews made 94% of town’s population. On August 2, 1919, Ryki was added to
Garwolin
Garwolin is a town on the Wilga river in eastern Poland, capital of Garwolin County, situated in the southeast part of the Garwolin plateau in Masovian Voivodeship, 62 km southeast of Warsaw, 100 km northwest of Lublin. As of December ...
County, part of
Lublin Voivodeship
The Lublin Voivodeship, also known as the Lublin Province (Polish: ''województwo lubelskie'' ), is a voivodeship (province) of Poland, located in southeastern part of the country. It was created on January 1, 1999, out of the former Lublin, Che ...
. Garwolin County became part of
Warsaw Voivodeship on 1 April 1939.
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 Jewish residents of the town—between 3,000-4,000 Jews—were murdered in 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 ...
, either in
Treblinka extermination camp
Treblinka () was an extermination camp, built and operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II. It was in a forest north-east of Warsaw, south of the village of Treblinka in what is now the Masovian Voivodeship. The camp ...
, or
Sobibor extermination camp
Sobibor (, Polish: ) was an extermination camp built and operated by Nazi Germany as part of Operation Reinhard. It was located in the forest near the village of Żłobek Duży in the General Government region of German-occupied Poland.
As ...
.
Some Jewish children, such as Shloime Judensznajder (now
Solly Irving Solly is a given name, nickname (often of Solomon
Solomon (; , ),, ; ar, سُلَيْمَان, ', , ; el, Σολομών, ; la, Salomon also called Jedidiah (Hebrew language, Hebrew: , Modern Hebrew, Modern: , Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ...
), were rescued by Polish families. Their descendants live currently in Poland, the UK and Israel.
The town and its county was a major center of
Home Army
The Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK; ) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) esta ...
, whose units liberated Ryki on July 26, 1944. After the war, Ryki belonged to
Warsaw Voivodeship, and in 1975, the town was moved again to Lublin Voivodeship. In 2000,
FM- and TV-mast Ryki was built. Ryki again officially became a town in 1957.
Today Ryki is an important road junction. In the neighboring village of Moszczanka, two national roads cross – the 48th (
Kock
Kock is a town in eastern Poland, about north of Lublin and south-east of Warsaw. It lies in Lublin Voivodeship, in Lubartów County. It is the capital of the administrative district Gmina Kock. Historically Kock belongs to the Polish provin ...
–
Tomaszów Mazowiecki
Tomaszów Mazowiecki (, yi, טאָמעשעוו or ''Tomashuv'') is a city in central Poland with 60,529 inhabitants (2021). The fourth most populous city in the Łódź Voivodeship and the second with free public transport. In Tomaszów Mazowi ...
), and the 17th (Lublin – Warsaw). The town has a rail station, and bus connections with several locations.
Famous namesakes
The surname of
Hyman G. Rickover
Hyman G. Rickover (January 27, 1900 – July 8, 1986) was an admiral in the U.S. Navy. He directed the original development of naval nuclear propulsion and controlled its operations for three decades as director of the U.S. Naval Reactors offic ...
, a
US Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...
Admiral
Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...
and considered the
Father of the Nuclear Navy
Hyman G. Rickover (January 27, 1900 – July 8, 1986) was an admiral in the U.S. Navy. He directed the original development of naval nuclear propulsion and controlled its operations for three decades as director of the U.S. Naval Reactors offi ...
, is derived from Ryki. Born in 1900 in
Maków Mazowiecki
Maków Mazowiecki is a town in Poland, in the Masovian Voivodship. It is the powiat capital of Maków County (or Powiat of Maków). Its population is 10,850.
History
The town obtained its town charter in 1421. It was a Polish royal town, admi ...
, the young Rickover emigrated with his
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 ...
family in 1906 to the United States. The Admiral served on active duty for 63 years, longer than any other U.S. military officer.
References
{{Authority control
Cities and towns in Lublin Voivodeship
Ryki County
Sandomierz Voivodeship
Lublin Governorate
Warsaw Voivodeship (1919–1939)
Holocaust locations in Poland