It is one of the oldest cities in theUpper Silesia, and the former seat of thePiast dukes of theDuchy of Bytom. Until 1532, it was in the hands of thePiast dynasty, then it belonged to theHohenzollern dynasty. After 1623 it was astate country in the hands ofthe Donnersmarck family. From 1742 to 1945 the town was within the borders ofPrussia andGermany, and played an important role as an economic and administrative centre of thelocal industrial region. Until the outbreak ofWorld War II, it was the main centre of national, social, cultural and publishing organisations fighting to preserve Polish identity inUpper Silesia. In the interbellum and during World War II, local Poles and Jews faced persecution by Germany.
After the war, decades of thePolish People's Republic were characterized by a constant emphasis on the development ofheavy industry, which deeply polluted and degraded Bytom. After 1989, the city experienced a socio-economic decline. The population has also been rapidly declining since 1999. However, it is an important place in the cultural, entertainment, and industrial map of the region.
The bedrock of the Upland ofMiechowice consists primarily of sandstones and slates. The rocks are punctuated with abundant natural resources of coal and iron ore from the Carboniferous period. In the north part of the upland, in the Bytom basin lays the broad range of the triassic rocks, from sandstones to limestones, with rich ore, zinc and lead reserves. The upper layer is composed of clay, sand and gravel.
One half of thecoat of arms of Bytom depicts a miner mining coal, while the other half presents a yellow eagle on the blue field – the symbol ofUpper Silesia.
Bytom is one of the oldest cities ofUpper Silesia, originally recorded asBitom in 1136, when it was part of the MedievalKingdom of Poland. Archaeological discoveries have shown that there was a fortified settlement (agród) here, probably founded by the Polish KingBolesław I the Brave in the early 11th century.[5]
After thefragmentation of Poland in 1138, Bytom became part of theSeniorate Province, as it was still considered part of historicLesser Poland. In 1177 it became part of theSilesian province of Poland, and remained within historicSilesia since.[6] Bytom receivedcity rights from PrinceWładysław in 1254 with its first centrally located market square. The city of Bytom benefited economically from its location on a trade route linkingKraków with Silesia from east to west, andHungary withMoravia andGreater Poland from north to south. The firstRoman Catholic Church of the Virgin Mary was built in 1231. In 1259 Bytom was raided by theMongols. The Duchy of Opole was split and in 1281 Bytom became aseparate duchy, since 1289 under overlordship and administration of theKingdom of Bohemia.Bytom Castle was built in around 1284-1299 and demolished in later centuries. They duchy existed until 1498, when it was re-integrated with thePiast-ruledDuchy of Opole. Due to German settlers coming to the area, the city was beingGermanized.
It came under the control of theHabsburg monarchy ofAustria in 1526, which increased the influence of the German language. In 1683, Polish KingJohn III Sobieski and his wife QueenMarie Casimire, visited the city, greeted by the townspeople and clergy, on the king's way to theBattle of Vienna.[7] The city became part of theKingdom of Prussia in 1742 during theSilesian Wars and part of theGerman Empire in 1871. In the 19th and the first part of the 20th centuries, the city rapidly grew and industrialized.
Polish Gymnasium in Bytom (2023)The Sleeping Lion at Bytom's Market Square
Bytom was one of the main centers of Polish resistance against Germanization in Upper Silesia in the 19th century, up until the mid-20th century. Polish social, political and cultural organizations were formed and operated here. From 1848, the newspaperDziennik Górnośląski was published here. Poles smuggled large amounts of gunpowder through the city to theRussian Partition of Poland during theJanuary Uprising in 1863.[8] According to the Prussian census of 1905, the city of Beuthen had a population of 60,273, of which 59% spokeGerman, 38% spokePolish and 3% were bilingual.[9] In 1895, the"Sokół" Polish Gymnastic Society was established, and, during theSilesian uprisings, in 1919–1920, Polish football clubsPoniatowski Szombierki andPolonia Bytom were founded, which later on, in post-World War II Poland both won the national championship. AfterWorld War I, in theUpper Silesian plebiscite of 1921, 74.7% of the votes in Beuthen city were forGermany, and 25.3% were forPoland, due to which it remained in Germany, as part of theProvince of Upper Silesia.[10] In the interwar period, Bytom was one of two cities (alongsideKwidzyn) inGermany, in which a Polish gymnasium was allowed to operate. In 1923 a branch of theUnion of Poles in Germany was established in Bytom. There was also a Polishpreschool,[11] twoscout troops and a Polish bank.[12] In a secretSicherheitsdienst report from 1934, Bytom was named one of the main centers of the Polish movement in western Upper Silesia.[13] Polish activists were persecuted since 1937.[14] TheBytom Synagogue was burned down by Nazi GermanSS andSA troopers during theKristallnacht on 9–10 November 1938. Before 1939, the town, along with Gleiwitz (nowGliwice), was at the southeastern tip of German Silesia.
During the Germaninvasion of Poland, which startedWorld War II, the Germans carried out mass arrests of local Poles. On September 1, 1939, the day of the outbreak of the war, Adam Bożek, the chairman of the Upper Silesian district of the Union of Poles in Germany, was arrested in Bytom and then deported to theDachau concentration camp.[15] The Germans carried out revisions in the Polish gymnasium and the local Polish community centre, 20 Polish activists were arrested on September 4, 1939, then released and arrested again a few days later to be deported to theBuchenwald concentration camp.[16] Also three Polish teachers, who had not yet fled, were arrested, while the assets of the Polish bank were confiscated.[17] TheEinsatzgruppe I entered the city on September 6, 1939, to commitatrocities against Poles.[18] Many Poles were conscripted to theWehrmacht and died on various war fronts, including 92 former students of the Polish gymnasium.[19] TheBeuthen Jewish community was liquidated via the first everHolocaust transport to be exterminated atAuschwitz-Birkenau.[20][21][22]
The Germans operated a Nazi prison in the city with aforced labour subcamp in the present-day Karb district.[23] There were also multiple forced labour camps within the present-day city limits, including six subcamps of theStalag VIII-B/344prisoner-of-war camp.[24] Dozens of prisoners were sent from the Nazi prison on adeath march westwards towardsGłubczyce.[25]
In January 1945, the city was captured by the SovietRed Army. Soviet troops then committed massacres of civilians in the present-day district of Miechowice and Stolarzowice, killing some 400 and 70 people, respectively, and raped many women.[26] In 1945, the city was transferred to Poland as a result of thePotsdam Conference.[citation needed] Its German population was largelyexpelled by the Soviet Army and the remaining indigenous Polish inhabitants were joined mostly byPoles repatriated from the easternprovinces annexed by the Soviets.[citation needed]
Radzionków withRojca (currently a district of Radzionków) were located within the city limits of Bytom from 1975 until 1997. Somehow there is (probably) autonomic district named "Vitor" in South Stroszek.
Trade is one of the main pillars of the economy of Bytom. Being a city with long traditions of commercial trade, Bytom is fulfilling its newpostindustrial role. In the centre of Bytom, and mainly around Station Street and the Market Square, is the largest concentration of registered merchants in the county.
In 2007, Bytom and its neighbours created the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union, the largest urban centre in Poland. The Union was superseded byMetropolis GZM in 2018.
Bytom is home toPolonia Bytom which has both a football and an ice hockey team (TMH Polonia Bytom). Its football team played in theEkstraklasa, most recently from 2007 to 2011, winning it twice in1954 and in1962. TheSzombierki district is home to another former Polish championSzombierki Bytom which won the title in1980, and is one of the oldest clubs in the region. Other areas of the city host football clubs such as Górniki which is home to lower league club Rodło Górniki, founded in 1946.[28]
^Rosenbaum, Sebastian; Węcki, Mirosław (2010).Nadzorować, interweniować, karać. Nazistowski obóz władzy wobec Kościoła katolickiego w Zabrzu (1934–1944). Wybór dokumentów (in Polish). Katowice:IPN. p. 306.ISBN978-83-8098-299-4.
^Cygański, Mirosław (1984). "Hitlerowskie prześladowania przywódców i aktywu Związków Polaków w Niemczech w latach 1939 - 1945".Przegląd Zachodni (in Polish) (4): 31, 33.
^Konieczny, Alfred (1974). "Więzienie karne w Kłodzku w latach II wojny światowej".Śląski Kwartalnik Historyczny Sobótka (in Polish).XXIX (3). Wrocław:Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich, WydawnictwoPolskiej Akademii Nauk: 377.
^Hanich, Andrzej (2012). "Losy ludności na Śląsku Opolskim w czasie działań wojennych i po wejściu Armii Czerwonej w 1945 roku".Studia Śląskie (in Polish).LXXI. Opole: 217.ISSN0039-3355.
The list includes the 107 urban municipalities governed by acity mayor (prezydent miasta) instead of a town mayor (burmistrz) ·Cities with powiat rights are initalics · Voivodeship cities are inbold
