Rydułtowy () is a town in southern

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 ...

, in the

Wodzisław County __NOTOC__ Wodzisław County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland, on the Czech border. It came into being on 1 January 1999 as a result of the Polish local government ref ...

of the

Silesian Voivodeship Silesian Voivodeship ( ) is an administrative province in southern Poland. With over 4.2 million residents and an area of 12,300 square kilometers, it is the second-most populous, and the most-densely populated and most-urbanized region of Poland ...

. Rydułtowy is in the south-western part of the Silesian Highland, on the Rybnik Plateau, in the Oświęcim-Racibórz Valley. A mining town, Rydułtowy has been closely bound with the 200-year-old "Rydułtowy-Anna" coal mine.

History

Rydułtowy was first mentioned in a document of the Diocese of Wrocław from 1228 as ''Rudolphi Willa'', when it was part of the

Duchy of Racibórz Duchy of Racibórz (, , ) was one of the duchies of Silesia, formed during the medieval fragmentation of Poland into provincial duchies. Its capital was Racibórz in Upper Silesia. States and territories disestablished in the 1200s States and ...

of fragmented

Piast The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I (–992). The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of King Casimir III the Great. Branches of ...

-ruled

. In 1861, Rydułtowy Dolne had an entirely Polish population of 1,066, while Rydułtowy Górne had 360 inhabitants. In the late 19th century, the main occupation of the population was farming and coal mining. In 1923, the first Polish scout troop of Rydułtowy was founded. Rydułtowy Dolne and Rydułtowy Górne were merged in 1926. Rydultowy-ulica-lipowa-kalwaria-grob-zbiorowy-wojenny-jencow-radzieckich-5

Rydultowy-ulica-lipowa-kalwaria-grob-zbiorowy-wojenny-jencow-radzieckich-5

Following the joint German-Soviet

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

, which started

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 ...

in September 1939, Rydułtowy was occupied by Germany until 1945. Many local Polish scouts were killed during the war, and some teachers from Rydułtowy were among Polish teachers murdered by the Germans in

concentration camps A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploit ...

as part of the ''

Intelligenzaktion The ''Intelligenzaktion'' (), or the Intelligentsia mass shootings, was a series of mass murders committed against the Polish people, Polish intelligentsia (teachers, priests, physicians, and other prominent members of Polish society) during the ...

'' (see ''

Nazi crimes against the Polish nation War crime, Crimes against the Polish nation committed by Nazi Germany and Axis powers, Axis collaborationist forces during the invasion of Poland, along with Schutzmannschaft#Police battalions, auxiliary battalions during the subsequent occu ...

''). The Germans operated five

forced labour Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, or violence, including death or other forms of ...

camps in Rydułtowy, including a subcamp of the

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...

. The prisoners of the camps were initially Poles from nearby settlements, and then also French, English and

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

. Over 1,000 mostly

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

prisoners were held in the subcamp of Auschwitz. Prisoners unable to continue labour were sent back to Auschwitz and gassed there, while over 50 prisoners died in the subcamp itself, also by suicide. In January 1945, the Germans evacuated the prisoners on foot to

Wodzisław Śląski Wodzisław Śląski (; , , , , ) is a city in Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland with 47,992 inhabitants (2019). It is the seat of Wodzisław County. It was previously in Katowice Voivodeship (1975–1998); close to the border with the Czech ...

, and then deported them to the

Mauthausen concentration camp Mauthausen was a German Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen, Upper Austria, Mauthausen (roughly east of Linz), Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with List of subcamps of Mauthausen, nearly 100 f ...

. In 1951, Rydułtowy was granted

town rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

, and the neighboring settlement of Pietrzkowice was included within town limits as a new district.

Landmarks

*Housing in the Charles's building settlement *Municipal Hospital buildings "Rydułtowy" ZOZ (health care service) *Penitential cross *Railway station *Rail tunnel *Scales building KWK "Rydułtowy" (coal mine) *St. Hyacinth's Church *St. George's Church

Sports

The local

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team is . It competes in the lower leagues.

Twin towns – sister cities

Rydułtowy is twinned with: *

Hvidovre Hvidovre is the main town in Hvidovre Municipality, Denmark. The town, a suburb of Copenhagen, is about 10 km southwest of the capital's center. It is the 2nd biggest suburb of Copenhagen, only beaten by Frederiksberg. History Hvidovre has ...

, Denmark *

Orlová Orlová (; , ) is a town in Karviná District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 28,000 inhabitants. The town is struggling with structural problems and is infamously known as the worst town to live in in the Czech ...

, Czech Republic *

Reken Reken is a municipality in the district of Borken, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and t ...

, Germany

References

External links

Jewish Community in Rydułtowy
on Virtual Shtetl {{Authority control Cities and towns in Silesian Voivodeship Wodzisław County