Przemyśl owes its long and rich history to the advantages of its geographic location. The city lies in an area connecting mountains and lowlands known as the Przemyśl Gate (Brama Przemyska), with open lines of transport, and fertile soil. It also lies on the navigableSan River. Important trade routes that connectCentral Europe from Przemyśl ensure the city's importance. The Old Town of Przemyśl is listed as aHistoric Monument of Poland.[2]
Since the start of theRussian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Przemyśl has been a point of refuge for many Ukrainians, as it is located near thePoland–Ukraine border and serves as the end point of theLviv–Przemyśl railway junction.
Different names in various languages have identified the city throughout its history. Selected languages include:Czech:Přemyšl;German:Premissel, Prömsel, Premslen;Latin:Premislia;Russian:Перемышль (Peremyšl');Ukrainian:Перемишль (Peremyshlj) andПшемисль (Pshemyslj); andYiddish:פּשעמישל (Pshemishl).
Przemyśl is the second-oldest city (afterKraków) in southeastern Poland, dating back to the 8th century.[6] It was the site of a fortifiedgord belonging to theLędzianie (Lendians),[7] aWest Slavic tribe. In the 9th century, the fortified settlement and the surrounding region became part ofGreat Moravia. Most likely, the city's name dates back to the Moravian period.[citation needed] Also, archeological remains testify to the presence of aChristian monastic settlement as early as the 9th century.[citation needed]
Upon the invasion of theHungarian tribes into the heart of the Great Moravian Empire around 899, the local Lendians declared allegiance to the Hungarians.[citation needed] The region then became a site of contention betweenPoland,Kievan Rus andHungary beginning in at least the 9th century, with Przemyśl along with otherCherven Grods, falling under the control of thePolans (Polanie), who would in the 10th century under the rule ofMieszko I establish the Polish state. When Mieszko I annexed the tribal area of Lendians in 970–980, Przemyśl became an important local centre on the eastern frontier ofPiast's realm.[8][9]
In 1340, Przemyśl was retaken by the kingCasimir III of Poland and again became part of theKingdom of Poland as result of theGalicia–Volhynia Wars. Around this time, the firstLatin Catholic Archdiocese of Premislia was founded in the city,[13] and the city was granted a city charter based onMagdeburg rights, confirmed in 1389 by the kingVladislav II Jagiello.The city prospered as an important trade centre during the 16th century. Like nearbyLviv, the city's population consisted of a great number of nationalities, includingPoles,Jews,Germans,Czechs,Armenians, andRuthenians. The long period of prosperity enabled the construction of public buildings such as theRenaissance town hall and theOld Synagogue of 1559. Also, aJesuit college was founded in the city in 1617.[13]
The prosperity came to an end in the middle of the 17th century, caused by the invadingSwedish army duringthe Deluge, and a general decline of thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The city's decline lasted for over a hundred years, and only at the end of the 18th century did it recover its former levels of population. In 1754, the Latin Catholic bishop founded Przemyśl's first public library, which was only the second public library in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, withWarsaw'sZałuski Library founded seven years earlier. Przemyśl's importance at that time was such that when Austriaannexed eastern Galicia in 1772 the Austrians considered making Przemyśl their provincial capital, before deciding on Lviv.[13] In the mid-18th century, Jews constituted 55.6% (1,692) of the population, Latin Catholic Poles 39.5% (1,202), and Greek Catholic Ruthenians 4.8% (147).[14]
In 1772, as a consequence of theFirst Partition of Poland, Przemyśl became part of theAustrian Empire, in what the Austrians called theKingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. According to the Austrian census of 1830, the city was home to 7,538 people of whom 3,732 wereLatin Catholic, 2,298Jews and 1,508 were members of theGreek Catholic Church, a significantly larger number of Ruthenians than in most Galician cities.[13] In 1804, a Ruthenian library was established in Przemyśl. By 1822, its collection had over 33,000 books and its importance for Ruthenians was comparable to that held by theOssolineum library in Lwów for Poles. Przemyśl also became the centre of the revival of Byzantine choral music in theGreek Catholic Church. Until eclipsed by Lviv in the 1830s, Przemyśl was the most important city in the Ruthenian cultural awakening in the nineteenth century.[13] As the majority of Przemyśl's inhabitants were Poles, the city also became a centre for the development of Polish culture and science, and Polish independence organisations also operated in Przemyśl. The greatest heyday of Polishness in Przemyśl dates back to 1860-1918, due to the granting of autonomy to Galicia.
In 1861, theGalician Railway of Archduke Charles Louis built a connecting line from Przemyśl to Kraków, and east to Lwów. In the middle of the 19th century, due to the growing conflict betweenAustria andRussia over theBalkans, Austria grew more mindful of Przemyśl's strategic location near the border with theRussian Empire. During theCrimean War, when tensions mounted between Russia and Austria, a series of massive fortresses, 15 km (9 mi) in circumference, were built around the city by the Austrian military.
Przemyśl before 1914
In 1909, the Polish "Museum of the Przemyśl Land" was established in Przemyśl. It was an extremely important facility for the Polish population.
The census of 1910, showed that the city had 54,078 residents. Latin Catholics were the most numerous 25,306 (46.8%), followed by Jews 16,062 (29.7%) and Greek Catholics 12,018 (22.2%). 87% of the city's inhabitants spoke Polish. All Poles spoke Polish, and most Jews were bilingual and communicated in Yiddish and Polish, but owing to the inability to declare Yiddish, almost all Jews declared the Polish language.[15]
With technological progress inartillery during the second half of the 19th century, the old fortifications rapidly became obsolete. The longer range ofrifled artillery necessitated the redesign of fortresses so that they would be larger and able to resist the newly available guns. To achieve this, between the years 1888 and 1914 Przemyśl was turned into a first-classfortress, the third-largest in Europe out of about 200 that were built in this period. Around the city, in a circle of circumference 45 km (28 mi), 44 forts of various sizes were built. The older fortifications were modernised to provide the fortress with an internal defence ring. The fortress was designed to accommodate 85,000 soldiers and 956cannons of all sorts, although eventually 120,000 soldiers were garrisoned there.[16]
In August 1914, at the beginning of theFirst World War, Russian forces defeatedAustro-Hungarian forces in the opening engagements and advanced rapidly intoGalicia. The Przemyśl fortress fulfilled its mission very effectively, helping to stop a 300,000-strong Russian army advancing upon theCarpathian Passes and Kraków, theLesser Poland regional capital. The firstsiege was lifted by a temporary Austro-Hungarian advance. However, the Russian army resumed its advance and initiated asecond siege of the fortress of Przemyśl in October 1914. This time relief attempts were unsuccessful. Due to lack of food and exhaustion of its defenders, the fortress surrendered on 22 March 1915. The Russians captured 126,000 prisoners and 700 big guns. Before the surrender, the complete destruction of all fortifications was carried out. The Russians did not linger in Przemyśl. A renewed offensive by theCentral Powers recaptured the destroyed fortress on 3 June 1915. During the fighting around Przemyśl, both sides lost up to 115,000 killed, wounded, and missing.[16]
At the end of World War I, Przemyśl became disputed between renascent Poland and theWest Ukrainian People's Republic. On 1 November 1918, a local provisional government was formed with representatives of Polish, Jewish, and Ruthenian inhabitants of the area. However, on 3 November, a Ukrainian military unit overthrew the government, arrested its leader and captured the eastern part of the city. The Ukrainian army was checked by a small Polish self-defence unit formed of World War I veterans. Also, numerous young Polish volunteers from Przemyśl's high schools, later to be known as Przemyśl Orlęta,The Eaglets of Przemyśl (in a similar manner to more famousLwów Eaglets), joined the host. The battlefront divided the city along the river San, with the western borough of Zasanie held in Polish hands and the Old Town controlled by the Ukrainians. Neither Poles nor Ukrainians could effectively cross the San river, so both opposing parties decided to wait for a relief force from the outside. That race was won by the Polish reinforcements and the volunteer expeditionary unit formed in Kraków arrived in Przemyśl on 10 November 1918. When the subsequent Polish ultimatum to the Ukrainians remained unanswered, on 11–12 November the Polish forces crossed the San and forced out the outnumbered Ukrainians from the city in what became known as the1918 Battle of Przemyśl.
After the end of thePolish–Ukrainian War and thePolish–Bolshevik War that followed, the city became a part of theSecond Polish Republic. Although the capital of thevoivodeship was inLwów (see:Lwów Voivodeship), Przemyśl recovered its nodal position as a seat of local church administration, as well as the garrison of the 10thMilitary District of thePolish Army — a staff unit charged with organizing the defence of roughly 10% of the territory of pre-war Poland. As of 1931, Przemyśl had a population of 62,272 and was the biggest city in southeastern Poland between Kraków and Lwów.
On 11–14 September 1939, during theinvasion of Poland, which startedWorld War II, the German and Polish armies fought theBattle of Przemyśl in and around the city. After the battle GermanEinsatzgruppe I entered the city to commit variousatrocities against the population, and theEinsatzgruppe zbV entered to take over the Polish industry.[17] The battle was followed by three days of massacres carried out by the German soldiers, police andEinsatzgruppe I against hundreds of Jews who lived in the city. In total, over 500 Jews were murdered in and around the city and the vast majority of the city's Jewish population was deported across theSan River into the portion of Poland that wasoccupied by the Soviet Union.[18]
German-occupied left-bank Przemyśl with Soviet-occupied right-bank Przemyśl in the background (World War II)
The town's population increased due to a large influx of Jewish refugees from theGeneral Government who sought to cross the border toRomania.[25] It is estimated that by mid-1941 the Jewish population of the city had grown to roughly 16,500. In theOperation Barbarossa of 1941, the eastern Soviet-occupied part of the city was also occupied by Germany. On 20 June 1942, the first group of 1,000 Jews was transported from the Przemyśl area to theJanowska concentration camp, and on 15 July 1942 aNazi ghetto was established for all Jewish inhabitants of Przemyśl and its vicinity – some 22,000 people altogether. Local Jews were given 24 hours to enter the ghetto. Jewish communal buildings, including theTempel Synagogue and theOld Synagogue were destroyed; theNew Synagogue,Zasanie Synagogue, and all commercial and residential real estate belonging to Jews were expropriated.[26]
The ghetto in Przemyśl was sealed off from the outside on 14 July 1942. By that time, there may have been as many as 24,000 Jews in the ghetto. On 27 July theGestapo notifiedJudenrat about the forced resettlement program and posted notices that an"Aktion" (roundup for deportation to camps) was to be implemented involving almost all occupants. Exceptions were made for some essential, andGestapo workers, who would have their papers stamped accordingly. On the same day, MajorMax Liedtke, military commander of Przemyśl, ordered his troops to seize the bridge across the San river that connected the divided city, and halt the evacuation. The Gestapo were forced to give him permission to retain the workers performing service for theWehrmacht (up to 100 Jews with families). For the actions undertaken by Liedtke and his adjutantAlbert Battel in Przemyśl,Yad Vashem later named them "Righteous Among the Nations".[27] The process of extermination of the Jews resumed thereafter. Until September 1943 almost all Jews were sent to theAuschwitz orBelzec extermination camps. The local branches of thePolish underground and theŻegota managed tosave 415 Jews. According to a postwar investigation in German archives, 568 Poles were executed by the Germans for sheltering Jews in the area of Przemyśl, including Michał Kruk,[28] hanged along with several others on 6 September 1943 in a public execution. Among the manyPolish rescuers there, were theBanasiewicz, Kurpiel,[29] Kuszek, Lewandowski, andPodgórski families.[citation needed]
In October 1941, the Germans relocated the Stalag II Fprisoner-of-war camp fromCzarne to Przemyśl and renamed it Stalag 315, with some POWs, including Jews and Soviet communist political commisars, executed by theSicherheitsdienst.[30] In November 1942, the camp was moved toVillingen.[30] Then in December 1942, the occupiers relocated the Stalag 327 prisoner-of-war camp fromSanok to Przemyśl with multiple subcamps founded in the area.[31] It housed Italian, Dutch and Soviet POWs, with the Italians and Soviets suffering from malnutrition and infectious diseases, and Italians also subjected to mass executions by the Gestapo and SS.[31] In July 1944, the camp was evacuated westwards in adeath march with death rates reaching 50 men per day.[31]
TheRed Army took the town from German forces on 27 July 1944. On 16 August 1945, a border agreement between the government of the Soviet Union and the PolishProvisional Government of National Unity, installed by the Soviets, was signed inMoscow. According to the so-calledCurzon Line, the postwar eastern border of Poland was established several kilometres to the east of Przemyśl.
In the postwar period, the border ran only 15 kilometres to the east of the city, cutting it off from much of its economic hinterland. Due to the killing of Jews in theNaziHolocaust and the postwar expulsion of Ukrainians (in theOperation Vistula orakcja Wisła), the city's population fell to 36,000,[citation needed] almost entirely Polish. However, the city welcomed thousands of Polish migrants fromKresy (Eastern Borderlands) who were expelled by the Soviets — their numbers restored the population of the city to its prewar level. On 11 July 2022,President of UkraineVolodymyr Zelenskyy conferred the honorary title of "Rescuer City" upon Przemyśl for the role the city played in helpingUkrainian refugees fleeing the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[32]
The climate is warm-summerhumid continental (Köppen:Dfb). Despite its location in southeastern Poland, its winters may be colder than at higher latitudes, especially in the north-west of the country due to continentality.[33]
Climate data for Przemyśl (1971–2000 normals, extremes 1954–2001)
The main Przemyśl railway station is calledPrzemyśl Główny, and is located in the city center. About 40 trains depart every day, including trains to many cities in Poland, as well as in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and Ukraine.
The main road connection to the rest of Poland is provided by theA4 motorway that passes about 15 km (9 mi) north of the city center.
The closest international airport isRzeszów–Jasionka, about 90 km (56 mi) away by road.
Due to the long and rich history of the city, there are many sights in and around Przemyśl, of special interest to tourists, including the Old Town, which is listed as aHistoric Monument of Poland,[2] with theRynek, the main market square.
Among the historic buildings and museums, opened to visitors, are:
Muzeum Narodowe (the National Museum), contains a collection of icons, second only to the one inSanok in size
Muzeum Dzwonów i Fajek (the Museum of Bells and Pipes)
Kopiec Tatarski, a mound to the south of the city where a 16th-centuryTatarkhan was supposedly buried. TheTatarska Góra TV tower is built on the mound.
^"Główny Urząd Statystyczny" [Central Statistical Office] (in Polish). To search: Select "Miejscowości (SIMC)" tab, select "fragment (min. 3 znaki)" (minimum 3 characters), enter town name in the field below, click "WYSZUKAJ" (Search).
^"Local Data Bank". Statistics Poland. Retrieved18 August 2022. Data for territorial unit 1862000.
^Przemysław Wiszewski. Domus Bolezlai: Values and Social Identity in Dynastic Traditions of Medieval Poland (c. 966–1138). BRILL. 2010. p. 445.
^"Przemyśl".StayPoland.com. Retrieved18 June 2022.Przemyśl is considered to be one of the oldest settlements in Poland, and the second oldest in southern Poland. Its history dates back to the 8th century when, according to legend, the city was founded by a hunter after bagging a huge bear (thus the bear in the emblem of the city).
^Poleski, Jacek (2000). Wieczorek, Alfried; Hinz, Hans-Martin (eds.).Europe's Centre Around AD 1000. Theiss. p. 175.ISBN978-3806215496.But before long, in 981, the western reaches of Little Poland occupied by the Lendzi (with their principal strongholds at Przemyśl and Czerwień) were conquered by Kievan prince Vladimir the Great.
^Buko, Andrzej (2005). "Unknown revolution: Archaeology and the beginnings of the Polish state". In Curta, Florin; Zupka, Dušan (eds.).East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450-1450.University of Michigan. pp. 169–170.ISBN978-0-472-11498-6.
^Buko, Andrzej (2002). "From Great Poland to the Little Poland: the ruling Piast dynasty and the processes of creating the regions". In Helmig, G.; Scholkmann, B.; Untermann, M. (eds.).Centre-Region-Periphery, Vol. 1. Hertingen: Wesselkamp. p. 471.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
^Under 981, the Primary Chronicle reports on Volodymyr's campaign against the Poles, which resulted in the capture of "their towns" Peremyshl and Cherven. As the chronicler notes, they remained under Rus' control until his own time. In: S. Plokhy. "The origins of the Slavic nations: premodern identities in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus". Cambridge University Press, 2006. p. 57.
^A. Buko. "The archaeology of early medieval Poland". Brill. 2008.pp. 307–308
^Przemysław Wiszewski.Domus Bolezlai: Values and Social Identity in Dynastic Traditions of Medieval Poland (c. 966–1138). BRILL. 2010. p. 445.
^abcdefStanislaw Stepien. (2005). Borderland City: Przemyśl and the Ruthenian National Awakening in Galicia. InPaul Robert Magocsi (Ed.). Galicia: A Multicultured Land. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. pp. 52–67
^J. Motylkiewicz. "Ethnic Communities in the Towns of the Polish-Ukrainian Borderland in the Sixteenth, Seventeenth, and Eighteenth Centuries". C. M. Hann, P. R. Magocsi ed.Galicia: A Multicultured Land. University of Toronto Press. 2005. p. 37.
^Juraj Buzalka.Nation and Religion: The Politics of Commemorations in South-East Poland. LIT Verlag Münster. 2008. p. 34
^Rejestr faktów represji na obywatelach polskich za pomoc ludności żydowskiej w okresie II wojny światowej (in Polish). Warszawa: IPN. 2014. p. 388.
^Rejestr faktów represji na obywatelach polskich za pomoc ludności żydowskiej w okresie II wojny światowej, p. 396
^abMegargee, Geoffrey P.; Overmans, Rüdiger; Vogt, Wolfgang (2022).The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV. Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. pp. 302–303.ISBN978-0-253-06089-1.
^abcMegargee, Geoffrey P.; Overmans, Rüdiger; Vogt, Wolfgang (2022).The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV. Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. p. 323.ISBN978-0-253-06089-1.
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
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