Szopienice-Burowiec () is a district of

Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most populo ...

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 ...

, 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 (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, a unit of the German '' Einsatzgruppe I'' was stationed in Szopienice. It was responsible for many crimes against Poles committed in the nearby cities of

Będzin Będzin (; also ''Bendzin'' in English; german: Bendzin; yi, בענדין, Bendin) 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). Even though p ...

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, see ...

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 Silesian Metropolis municipal association.—— Located in the eastern part of the Upper Silesian Indust ...

. During the subsequent

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 193 ...

, the occupiers also established and operated the E734 forced labour 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 by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military priso ...

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 Hedwig of Silesia ( pl, Święta Jadwiga Śląska), also Hedwig of Andechs (german: Heilige Hedwig von Andechs, la, Hedvigis; 1174 – 15 October 1243), a member of the Bavarian comital House of Andechs, was Duchess of Silesia from 1201 and ...

, High Duchess consort of Poland Katowice Szopienice - Powstańców Śląskich Square - monument of Freedom (2).jpg,

Silesian Uprisings The Silesian Uprisings (german: Aufstände in Oberschlesien, Polenaufstände, links=no; pl, Powstania śląskie, links=no) were a series of three uprisings from August 1919 to July 1921 in Upper Silesia, which was part of the Weimar Republic ...

Monument Katowice - Szopienice-Burowiec 374.jpg, ''Park Olimpijczyków'' ("Olympians' Park") Katowice - Szopienice-Burowiec 151.jpg, ''Ulica Wiosny Ludów'' ("

Spring of Nations The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europ ...

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