Szopienice-Burowiec () is a district of

Katowice Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...

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 ...

, located in the north-eastern part of the city. It has an area of 8.47 km² and in 2007 had 17,139 inhabitants. The area of a district encompasses two historically important settlements: Roździeń and Szopienice. Shortly after the German

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, a unit of the German ''

Einsatzgruppe I (, ; also 'task forces') were (SS) paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, during World War II (1939–1945) in German-occupied Europe. The had an integral role in the impl ...

'' was stationed in Szopienice. It was responsible for many crimes against Poles committed in the nearby cities of

Będzin Będzin (; also seen spelled ''Bendzin''; ) is a city in the Dąbrowa Basin, in southern Poland. It lies in the Silesian Highlands, on the Czarna Przemsza River (a tributary of the Vistula River, Vistula). Even though part of Silesian Voivodeship ...

Dąbrowa Górnicza Dąbrowa Górnicza () is a city in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie, southern Poland, near Katowice and Sosnowiec. It is located in eastern part of the Silesian Voivodeship, on the Czarna Przemsza and Biała Przemsza rivers (tributaries of the Vistula Rive ...

and

Sosnowiec Sosnowiec is an industrial city county in the Dąbrowa Basin of southern Poland, in the Silesian Voivodeship, which is also part of the Metropolis GZM municipal association.—— Located in the eastern part of the Upper Silesian Industrial Re ...

. During the subsequent German occupation, the occupiers also established and operated the E734

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 ...

subcamp of the Stalag VIII-B/344

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as Prisoner of war, prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, inte ...

in Szopienice. The occupation ended in 1945.

Notable people

* Hilary Krzysztofiak (1926–1979), Polish painter, graphic artist and set designer * Piotr Libera (b. 1951), Roman Catholic bishop

Gallery

City by bike - Szopienice - Plac Powstańców Śląskich.jpg, ''Plac Powstańców Śląskich'' ("Silesian Insurgents' Square") Kosciol Sw Jadwigi-Szopienice 2.jpg, Church of St. Hedwig, High Duchess consort of Poland Katowice Szopienice - Powstańców Śląskich Square - monument of Freedom (2).jpg, Silesian Uprisings Monument Katowice - Szopienice-Burowiec 374.jpg, ''Park Olimpijczyków'' ("Olympians' Park") Katowice - Szopienice-Burowiec 151.jpg, ''Ulica Wiosny Ludów'' (" Spring of Nations Street") with the Primary School No. 42 on the left Katowice - Szopienice-Burowiec 199.jpg, Primary School No. 44 Katowice - Szopienice-Burowiec 293.jpg, Former brewery complex Katowice - Szopienice-Burowiec 282.jpg, Pesa Twist 2012N tram at ''Ulica Obrońców Westerplatte'' (" Defenders of Westerplatte Street") in Roździeń

References

Districts of Katowice {{Silesian-geo-stub