Zelów
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Zelów ( cs, Zelov; german: 1943–45 Sellau) is a town in
Bełchatów County __NOTOC__ Bełchatów County ( pl, powiat bełchatowski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Łódź Voivodeship, central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government ...
,
Łódź Voivodeship Łódź Voivodeship (also known as Lodz Province, or by its Polish name ''Województwo łódzkie'' ) is a province-voivodeship in central Poland. It was created on 1 January 1999 out of the former Łódź Voivodeship (1975–1999) and the Sieradz ...
,
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 7,459 inhabitants (2020).


History

Zelów was probably founded in the 13th century, when it was part of fragmented
Piast The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented List of Polish monarchs, Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I of Poland, Mieszko I (c. 930–992). The Poland during the Piast dynasty, Piasts' royal rule i ...
-ruled
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 was mentioned in documents in 1441. In 1802 the town was purchased by
Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...
colonists from Czernin, Mały Tabor, and Duży Tabor. The official act of purchase dated- 21 December 1802, says, that Józef Świdziński sold the village with all its surrounding grounds, forests, buildings, etc. for a figure of 25,666 Prussian thalers, which was equivalent to 154,000 Polish zlotych. The former owner of the land promised to relocate the peasants living in the territory, however, according to the contract, they had a right to harvest crops of what they planted during fall. First Czech families that came into Zelów in 1803, had soon begun to build houses and communal buildings since the existing ones were not enough to accommodate the group of newcomers. The main building material used by the colonists was wood obtained from the surrounding forests. Each of the family was given around 18 Morgens of farmlands and 18 Morgens of forests. Within the first few years, the colonists had to build roads and bridges for the sake of Trakt Napoleoński. Despite initial difficulties, Zelów was expanding. By 1827 the settlement consisted of 142 houses and 847 settlers(which paralleled the demographics of the surrounding villages). After years of effort, the
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 ...
gave Czech colonists permission for building a church. Most of the building costs were covered by the residents. Construction lasted from 1821 to 1825. The development of the city contributed to a new wave of colonists coming in, which resulted in population growth. This led to the development of the surrounding area, new villages emerged (like Zelówek, Ignaców, Pożdżenice). Since agriculture wasn't profitable enough Zelów residents had to engage in additional activities like weaving, hackwork, production of tablecloths, and other jobs. The weaving industry became a significant part of the town’s history in the years to come. Around 2,000
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 ...
lived in Zelów before the
Second World War 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 ...
. When the Germans invaded Poland in September 1939, they began to rob and terrorize the Jewish population. Some Jews fled the town in 1939, but the Jewish population increased when the Germans resettled hundreds from nearby towns in Zelów. The ghetto population rose to more than 6000 by early 1941. During this early stage of the war, local ethnic Germans were often brutal to the Jews, but some Poles and local Czechs were more sympathetic, even providing some food. Similarly, the German wholesale company Karl Lieb provided food vouchers to the local Jewish population. The Germans imprisoned several Polish women from Zelów in a female prison in
Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canti ...
for helping Jews and their fate remains unknown. A subcamp of the Nazi German prison in
Sieradz Sieradz ( la, Siradia, yi, שעראַדז, שערעדז, שעריץ, german: 1941-45 Schieratz) is a city on the Warta river in central Poland with 40,891 inhabitants (2021). It is the seat of the Sieradz County, situated in the Łódź Voivodes ...
was operated in Zelów, and another subcamp was located in the present-day district of Herbertów. Nevertheless, the Polish resistance movement was active in the town. In what must be a unique occurrence, two Jewish boys played on the
Hitler Youth The Hitler Youth (german: Hitlerjugend , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth organisation of the Nazi Party in Germany. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. ...
football team, a fact that brought an angry protest from one of their opponents. In spring 1942, ten Jews were publicly hanged with the Jewish population forced to watch. In June, some Jews were sent to the
Chełmno extermination camp , known for = , location = Near Chełmno nad Nerem, ''Reichsgau Wartheland'' (German-occupied Poland) , built by = , operated by = , commandant = Herbert Lange, Christian Wirth , original use = , construction = , in operation ...
, where they were immediately gassed. About 100 were sent to the
Łódź Ghetto The Łódź Ghetto or Litzmannstadt Ghetto (after the Nazi German name for Łódź) was a Nazi ghetto established by the German authorities for Polish Jews and Roma following the Invasion of Poland. It was the second-largest ghetto in all of Ge ...
. In August 1942, the remaining Jews were rounded up and held in a local factory and church. Some were murdered on the spot, about 150 were sent to the Łódź Ghetto, a few tried to hide, and the rest were sent to be murdered at Chełmno. The
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 ...
ended in 1945, and the town was restored to Poland, although with a
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
-installed communist regime, which remained in power until the
Fall of Communism The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Natio ...
in the 1980s. Only about 40 Zelów Jews survived and found their way back to Zelów after the war. They found one of their synagogues burned and the other used as a storehouse. They soon left.


Sports

The local
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 ...
club is . It competes in the lower leagues.


Footnotes


References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zelow Cities and towns in Łódź Voivodeship Bełchatów County Piotrków Governorate Łódź Voivodeship (1919–1939) Shtetls Czech communities Holocaust locations in Poland