Bełżec | |
|---|---|
Village | |
 Train station in Bełżec | |
 Coat of arms | |
  Bełżec | |
| Coordinates:50°23′N23°26′E / 50.383°N 23.433°E /50.383; 23.433 | |
| Country |  Poland |
| Voivodeship | Lublin |
| County | Tomaszów Lubelski |
| Gmina | Bełżec |
| First mentioned | 1515 |
| Population (2011) | |
• Total | 2,723 |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| ISO 3166 code | POL |
| Vehicle registration | LTM |
| National roads |  |
| Voivodeship roads |  |
| Website | http://www.belzec.pl |
Bełżec (pronounced[ˈbɛu̯ʐɛt͡s]) is avillage inTomaszów Lubelski County,Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland.[1] It is the seat of thegmina (administrative district) ofGmina Bełżec. It is located in theRoztocze region.
DuringWorld War II, the village was the site of the Nazi GermanBelzec extermination camp.
Bełżec was first mentioned in a document from 1515, after it was founded within territory of the village of Przeorsko, which in turn was founded in the 15th century by the Małdrzyk family.[2] As of 1546, Bełżec was a private village of the Bełżeckinoble family.[2] Thanks to efforts of local nobleman Samuel Lipski, Bełżec was grantedtown rights by Polish KingSigismund III Vasa in 1607,[2] however, it did not develop properly, and several decades later it was yet again referred to as a village. The King also established two annualfairs. TheGrabie coat of arms of the Lipski family is the coat of arms of Bełżec. Administratively, the village was located in the Bełz County in theBełz Voivodeship in theLesser Poland Province of the Kingdom of Poland. In 1648 it was destroyed by theCossacks, and during the Swedish invasion of Poland of 1655–1660, known as theDeluge, a battle was fought nearby between Poles led by HetmanStefan Czarniecki and the Swedes.[2]
The village was annexed byAustria in theFirst Partition of Poland in 1772.[3] It was regained by Poles in theAustro-Polish War of 1809, and included within the short-livedDuchy of Warsaw. Following the duchy's dissolution in 1815, it fell again to theAustrian Partition of Poland, also known asGalicia, and was located on the border with theRussian Partition. In 1887, Bełżec was connected by rail toLwów, one of the largest agglomerations in the region, viaRawa Ruska (now in western Ukraine). Bełżec became a full-fledged rail hub in 1916, with a new connection toLublin viaRejowiec and a layover yard with a bigengine-house.[4] FollowingWorld War I, in 1918, Poland regained independence and control of the village. In 1921, Bełżec was visited by Marshal of PolandJózef Piłsudski.[5]
On 19 September 1939, during the joint German-Sovietinvasion of Poland which startedWorld War II, it was the site of theBattle of Bełżec [pl] between Poland and Germany. Afterwards, the village wasoccupied by Germany. It was located on the border of three new districts of theGeneral Government of Poland created by Nazi Germany:Lublin District,Kraków District andDistrict of Galicia (created on 1 September 1941 soon afterOperation Barbarossa) with the capital in Lwów.
Approximately one millionPolish Jews lived there duringthe Holocaust in occupied Poland in the so-calledLublin reservation. In 1940, the Germans established twoforced labour camps: for Jews,[6] and for theRomani andSinti.[7][8]Polish people were also deported to forced labour in Bełżec.[8] In 1941, the occupiers began the construction of theBełżec extermination camp on the Kozielsk Hill some 500 metres (1,600 ft) from the railway station, at the site of the former forced labour camp for Jews. The first stationary gas chambers of theFinal Solution were built there. Between 430,000 and 500,000 people are believed to have been murdered at the camp between March and December 1942.[9] The victims were mostly Jews from various German-occupied countries, but also Romani people and Poles.[3] In 1943, the Germans used Jewish forced laborers to dismantle the camp, and then deported them to theSobibor extermination camp.[3] During the operation of the camp, the Germans tried to hide its real purpose, and after it was liquidated, they planted a forest in its place.[3]
On 16 June 1944, near Bełżec, Ukrainian nationalists of theUPA carried out an attack on a train that left the local station for Lwów.[10] In the attack, the Ukrainians massacred several dozen Polish men, women and children.[10] A few people survived.[10] The Polish undergroundHome Army was able to document the crime shortly after it happened.[10]
The Bełżec station was bombed by a Soviet warplane on 4 July 1944, setting fire to munitions and explosives from the German military cargo train. The ensuing explosions and fires consumed over 50 nearby buildings along with the train station itself. Several railway workers were killed. The historic train station was never rebuilt. A new station was erected half a kilometre away in postwar Poland.[4] On 21 July 1944 the village was liberated by the PolishHome Army.
In 1971, Bełżec was visited byPrimate of PolandStefan Wyszyński and Cardinal Karol Wojtyła (futurePope John Paul II).[11]
The PolishNational road 17 andVoivodeship road 865 run through the village, and there is also a train station.
There are several World War II memorials in Bełżec, including theMuseum and Memorial at the site of the Nazi GermanBelzec extermination camp, a memorial to Polish soldiers killed in the Battle of Bełżec during the Germaninvasion of Poland in 1939, a monument to the victims of the attack of the Ukrainian nationalists on Polish civilians in 1944, and a memorial at the burial site of the Romani and Sinti victims of the Nazi German forced labour camp. Cultural heritage sites include the historic churches of Our Lady Queen of Poland and of Saint Basil. The over 200-year-oldjuniper tree in theZagóra part of the village is a notablenatural monument.[12]
There is a Gmina Culture Center (Gminny Ośrodek Kultury) and a public library in Bełżec.
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