Rydułtowy (german: Rydultau) is a town in southern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

, in the

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

of the

Silesian Voivodeship Silesian Voivodeship, or Silesia Province ( pl, województwo śląskie ) is a voivodeship, or province, in southern Poland, centered on the historic region known as Upper Silesia ('), with Katowice serving as its capital. Despite the Silesian ...

. 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 In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

from 1228 as ''Rudolphi Willa'', when it was part of the

Duchy of Racibórz Duchy of Racibórz (german: Herzogtum Ratibor, cs, Ratibořské knížectví) was one of the duchies of Silesia. Its capital was Racibórz in Upper Silesia. History After Bolesław I the Tall and his younger brother Mieszko I Tanglefoot backed ...

of fragmented

Piast The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I (c. 930–992). The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of king Casimir III the Great. Branch ...

-ruled

. In 1861, Rydułtowy Dolne had an entirely

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

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 (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week af ...

, which started

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

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 Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

as part of the ''

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

'' (see ''

Nazi crimes against the Polish nation Crimes against the Polish nation committed by Nazi Germany and Axis collaborationist forces during the invasion of Poland, along with auxiliary battalions during the subsequent occupation of Poland in World War II, consisted of the murder ...

''). The Germans operated five forced labour camps in Rydułtowy, including a

subcamp Subcamps (german: KZ-Außenlager), also translated as satellite camps, were outlying detention centres (''Haftstätten'') that came under the command of a main concentration camp run by the SS in Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe. The Nazi ...

of the Auschwitz concentration camp. The prisoners of the camps were initially Poles from nearby settlements, and then also

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

and

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, 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 priso ...

. Over 1,000 mostly

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 ...

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 (; german: Loslau, cs, Vladislav, la, Vladislavia, yi, וואידסלוב, Voydislav, szl, Władźisłůw) is a city in Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland with 47,992 inhabitants (2019). It is the seat of Wodzisław Co ...

, and then deported them to the

Mauthausen concentration camp Mauthausen was a Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen (roughly east of Linz), Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with nearly 100 further subcamps located throughout Austria and southern Germany ...

. 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 traditio ...

, 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 Rydułtowy, Town Hall 01

Sports

The local football team is . It competes in the lower leagues.

Twin towns – sister cities

Rydułtowy is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

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 (; pl, ; german: Orlau) is a town in Karviná District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 28,000 inhabitants. Administrative parts Orlová is made up of four town parts: Lazy, Lutyně, Město and Poru ...

, Czech Republic *

Reken Reken is a municipality in the district of Borken, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located approximately 15 km east of Borken. Sister Mary Prema Sister Mary Prema Pierick, M.C. (born 13 May 1953), is a German-born Indian Ca ...

, Germany

References

External links

Jewish Community in Rydułtowy
on Virtual Shtetl {{DEFAULTSORT:Rydultowy Cities and towns in Silesian Voivodeship Wodzisław County Silesian Voivodeship (1920–1939)