Happy TravellerWelcome to Zawiercie, a city located in the south of Poland in the Silesian Voivodeship. With a population of 49,334 inhabitants (2019), Zawiercie is situated in the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland near the source of the Warta River. Although the town lies near the historical region of Silesia, it belongs to Lesser Poland. Zawiercie is a gateway to the Polish Jura, where several castles, which used to defend the western border of Lesser Poland, are located.
Name and Location:
Zawiercie, even though currently associated with Silesia, belongs to Lesser Poland. The city lies near the source of the Warta river, and its name probably comes from the location. The inhabitants of the ancient village of Kromołów, to reach another village located on the other side of the river, would go behind the Warta, or in Polish – za Wartę. From the perspective of Kromołów, Zawiercie is located behind the Warta. There is also a theory that the name of the city comes from settlers who zawiercili (or circled) the settlement area. The town has an area of 85 square kilometers and is located along the Warsaw–Vienna railway, and is a road hub, on the National Road Nr. 78.
History:
First mention of the village of Kromołów (now a district of Zawiercie) comes from 1193. In the 14th century, the village was located in western Lesser Poland, along a merchant road from Kraków to Poznań. In 1431, Duke Bolko IV of Opole allowed a man named Mikołaj Czenar to open an inn here, and in his document, the name Zawiercie is mentioned for the first time. In the 15th century, the area became the early center of iron manufacturing, but despite this Zawiercie remained for centuries a small village. It was administratively located in the Lelów County in the Kraków Voivodeship in the Lesser Poland Province of the Polish Crown. Until the 19th century, it was divided into Zawiercie Małe (Small Zawiercie) and Zawiercie Duże (Big Zawiercie), both administratively belonged to the gmina of Kromołów. After the Third Partition of Poland in 1795 Zawiercie was annexed by Austria, in 1809 it became part of the short-lived Polish Duchy of Warsaw, and it 1815 it passed to Russian-controlled Congress Poland. Zawiercie owes its development to the construction of the railroads. On December 1, 1847, the first train came to the village, along the newly built Warsaw–Vienna railway. This gave Zawiercie a boost, and in the second half of the 19th century, several companies and coal mines were opened in the village, including Zawiercie Steel Plant, opened in 1901. In 1878, construction of a settlement for workers was initiated, with schools, parks, and churches. In 1894, Polish Socialist Party organized a mass sit-in at Zawiercie’s Cotton Plant, and by 1914, the population of the village grew to 30,000. Zawiercie finally got its town charter on July 1, 1915. After World War I, in 1918, Poland regained independence and the town was reintegrated with Poland. World War I and the 1920s were a bad time for Zawiercie. Unemployment grew, the steel plant closed, and the TAZ factory reduced the number of workers. The situation did not improve until 1927 when Zawiercie County, part of Kielce Voivodeship, was created. On the eve of the Second World War, there were 7,000 Jews in Zawiercie – about a quarter of its residents. They made their living primarily from trade, crafts, the clothing industry, and the metal industry. Printing houses owned by Jews played a central role in the cultural life in the city. The city had labor unions which were composed of small traders and artisans, as well as two banks, a charitable fund companies, and charities. Between the World Wars in Zawiercie, there were various Zionist parties and Agudat Israel. The city had a traditional
