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

Lesser Poland Voivodeship Lesser Poland Voivodeship ( ) is a voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship in southern Poland. It has an area of , and a population of 3,404,863 (2019). Its capital and largest city is Kraków. The province's name recalls the traditional name of a h ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. It is located between

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

and Zakopane in a valley on the northern slopes of the Gorce Mountains, 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 (; Goral ethnolect: ''Górole''; ; Cieszyn Silesian dialect, Cieszyn Silesian: ''Gorole''), also anglicized as the Highlanders, are an ethnographic group with historical ties to the Vlachs. The Goral people are primarily found in thei ...

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, Somerset, Ba ...

. 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 Physical therapy, physiotherapy, that involves the use of water for pain relief and ...

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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the Germans established a Nazi police school called the Sipo-SD Academy 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. Robin O'Neil. ''The Rabka Four - A Warning from History.'' Spiderwize, Office 404; Albany House 324/326 Regent Street, London, W1B 3HH, UK. 2011. The Commandant of the school was originally SS Hauptsturmfuhrer Hans Krueger and the deputy and police secretary was SS Untersturmfuhrer Wilhelm Karl Johannes Rosenbaum. The Nazi Police training school was originally situated in Zakopane, 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 (born 1979), heavyweight boxer * Maria Kaczyńska, married to Lech Kaczyński (former

President of Poland The president of Poland ( ), officially the president of the Republic of Poland (), is the head of state of Poland. His or her prerogatives and duties are determined in the Constitution of Poland. The president jointly exercises the executive ...

), was educated in Rabka. * Andrzej Bargiel (born 1988), ski mountaineer, backcountry skier, mountain runner and climber * Jan Ziobro (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 {{Authority control Cities and towns in Lesser Poland Voivodeship Nowy Targ County Spa towns in Poland