Niesky (; Polish and Sorbian: ''Niska'' ; ) is a small town in

Upper Lusatia Upper Lusatia (, ; , ; ; or ''Milsko''; ) is a historical region in Germany and Poland. Along with Lower Lusatia to the north, it makes up the region of Lusatia, named after the Polabian Slavs, Slavic ''Lusici'' tribe. Both parts of Lusatia a ...

in eastern

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

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 the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It has a population of about 9,200 (2020) and is part of the district of

Görlitz Görlitz (; ; ; ; ; Lusatian dialects, East Lusatian: , , ) is a town in the Germany, German state of Saxony. It is on the river Lusatian Neisse and is the largest town in Upper Lusatia, the second-largest town in the region of Lusatia after ...

. Historically considered part of

, it was also part of Lower Silesia from 1815 to 1945.

History

The town was founded in 1742 by Moravian immigrants. As members of the

Moravian Church The Moravian Church, or the Moravian Brethren ( or ), formally the (Latin: "Unity of the Brethren"), is one of the oldest Protestant denominations in Christianity, dating back to the Bohemian Reformation of the 15th century and the original ...

, they fled from persecution in their

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

homeland. The name ''Niesky'' is the Germanised version of the

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 *Czech (surnam ...

word ''nízký'' ("low"). In 1776, at the age of 12, Benjamin Henry Boneval Latrobe, future designer of the

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called the Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the Seat of government, seat of the United States Congress, the United States Congress, legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, federal g ...

, as well as of the Baltimore Basilica, was sent to the Moravian School at Niesky. Niesky was administered by the

until 1892, when a separate civil administration was established. In 1931 it obtained a coat of arms, and in 1935 it was granted town rights. In 1935 a Catholic church was opened. In 1926 the architect Konrad Wachsmann worked in the timber construction firm Christoph & Unmack AG. 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 and operated the ''AL Niesky'' subcamp of the Gross-Rosen concentration camp, whose prisoners were mostly

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

Jews 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 ...

and

Yugoslavs Yugoslavs or Yugoslavians ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Jugoslaveni/Jugosloveni, Југославени/Југословени; ; ) is an identity that was originally conceived to refer to a united South Slavic people. It has been used in two connotations: ...

, but also

Czechs The Czechs (, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavs, West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common Bohemia ...

and Frenchmen, and hundreds of whom died. The Germans evacuated the prisoners in February 1945, leaving only those unable to walk in the camp. During the march, weak prisoners and those unable to continue walking were murdered by the Germans and buried in forests along the way. The prisoners remaining in the camp were liberated by the Polish Second Army which captured the town on 18 April 1945. On 26 July 1945 the city issued three postage stamps of its own.

Localities

Localities of Niesky are Neuhof, Neusärchen, Neuödernitz, Ödernitz, See, Zeche-Moholz, Kosel, Zedlig and Sandschänke.

Twin town

Niesky is twinned with the French town of Albert.

Gallery

File:Niesky_town_hall.jpg, Town hall File:Niesky public library.jpg, Public library File:Niesky_Raschkehaus.jpg, Raschke's house File:Niesky_Christophstr_11.jpg, Wooden house (by Christoph & Unmack AG)

References

Populated places established in 1742 Towns in Görlitz (district) History of the European Continental Province of the Moravian Church Settlements of the Moravian Church {{Görlitz-geo-stub