Będzin
 |
Będzin | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
| Motto: Civitas Regi Bendzinensis | |
| Country |  Poland |
| Voivodeship |  Silesian |
| County | Będzin County |
| Gmina | Będzin (urban gmina) |
| Established | 9th century |
| Town rights | 1358 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Radosław Baran |
| Area | |
• City | 37.37 km2 (14.43 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 382 m (1,253 ft) |
| Lowest elevation | 260 m (850 ft) |
| Population (2008) | |
• City | 58,639 |
| • Density | 1,600/km2 (4,100/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 2,746,000 |
| • Metro | 5,294,000 |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 42-500 |
| Area code | +48 32 |
| Car plates | SBE |
| Website | http://www.bedzin.pl |
Będzin [ˈbɛnd͡ʑin] (also Bendzin, Template:Lang-yi בענדין, Template:Lang-de) is a city in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie in southern Poland. Located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Czarna Przemsza river (tributary of the Vistula), the city borders the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - a metro area with a population of about 2 million.
It has been situated in the Silesian Voivodeship since its formation in 1999. Before 1999, it was located in Katowice Voivodeship. Będzin is one of the cities of the 2.7 million person conurbation - Katowice urban area and within a greater Silesian metropolitan area populated by about 5,294,000 people.[1] The population of the city is 58,639 (2008).[2]
History
According to archeological finds, the settlement has existed since the early Middle Ages. The earliest historical mention of Będzin comes from 1301, when it is listed as a village. It was granted Magdeburg rights and became a city in 1358.
Until World War II, Będzin had a vibrant Jewish community. According to the Russian census of 1897, out of the total population of 21,200, Jews constituted 10,800 (around 51% percent).[3] According to the 1921 census the town had a Jewish community consisting of 17,298 people, or 62.1 percent of its total population.[4] In September 1939, the German Army (Wehrmacht) overran this area, followed by the SS death squads (Einsatzgruppen), who burned the Będzin synagogue and murdered many of the Jewish inhabitants. A Będzin Ghetto was created in 1942. Eventually, in the summer of 1943, most of the Jews in Będzin were deported to the nearby German concentration camp at Auschwitz. Since Będzin was one of the last Polish communities to be liquidated, there are a relatively large number of survivors from there, and an extensive collection of their personal photographs were recovered, offering photographic insight into the pre-war life there.
Notable inhabitants
- Rutka Laskier, diarist (1929–1943)
- Jean-Marie Lustiger's parents
- Joshua Prawer, Israeli historian, founder of the crusader studies (1917–1990)
- Andrzej Kubica, former football player (1972- )[5]
International relations
Twin towns — Sister cities
Będzin is twinned with:
References and other sources
- ^ European Spatial Planning Observation Network (ESPON) [1]
- ^ Powierzchnia i ludność w przekroju terytorialnym w 2008 - Central Statistical Office in Poland ISSN 1505-5507 , 13.08.2008
- ^ Joshua D. Zimmerman, Poles, Jews, and the politics of nationality, Univ of Wisconsin Press, 2004, ISBN 0299194647, Google Print, p.16
- ^ Jewish Historical Institute community database http://www.jhi.pl/en/gminy/miasto/613.html
- ^ "Andrzej Kubica". 90 Minut. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
- Weiss, Ann (2005). The Last Album: Eyes from the Ashes of Auschwitz-Birkenau, 2nd ed. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America. pp. 32–37. ISBN 0-393-01670-6.
External links
- Official web page of the city of Będzin (Polish)
- A Memorial to the Jewish Community of Będzin
- Będzin, Czeladź, Dąbrowa Górnicza, Sławków, Sosnowiec
50°19′N 19°08′E / 50.317°N 19.133°E
| Urban gminas |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Urban-rural gmina | ||
| Rural gminas | ||