View source for Bielsko

{{Short description|Until 1950 an independent town situated in Cieszyn Silesia, Poland}}
{{other places}}
[[File:Sułkowski Castle, Bielsko-Biała 3.jpg|thumb|250px|Sułkowski family castle in Bielsko]]
'''Bielsko''' {{IPAc-pl|AUD|Pl-Bielsko2.oga|'|b|j|e|l|s|k|o}} ({{langx|de|Bielitz}}, {{langx|cs|Bílsko}}) was until 1950 an independent town situated in [[Cieszyn Silesia]], [[Poland]]. In 1951 it was joined with [[Biała Krakowska]] to form the new town of [[Bielsko-Biała]]. Bielsko constitutes the western part of that town.
Bielsko was founded by the [[Duchy of Cieszyn|Cieszyn Piast dukes]] in the late 13th century{{fact|date=March 2024}} on the grounds of village later called [[Stare Bielsko]] (''Old Bielsko''), on the [[Biała River (Vistula basin)|Biała River]]. It was first mentioned in a written document in 1312. Originally settled by Germans, it became the largest German-language center (''Deutsche Sprachinsel Bielitz'') in the [[Duchy of Teschen]], and remained so until the end of [[World War II]]. In 1572 it gained autonomy as the [[Duchy of Bielsko|Duchy (State) of Bielsko]]. During the 18th century a rapid development of [[textile]] industry occurred, and at the beginning of the 19th century more than 500 [[weaving|weaver]]s worked in the town.<ref>Jedlecki 2008, 50.</ref> After the 1920 division of [[Cieszyn Silesia]] between [[Poland]] and [[Czechoslovakia]] it became, despite the protests of local Germans, a part of Poland.
According to the [[Austria-Hungary|Austrian]] census of 1910 the town had 18,568 inhabitants. The census asked people for their native language: 15,144 (84.3%) were German-speaking, 2,568 (14.3%) were Polish-speaking and 136 (0.7%) were Czech-speaking. [[Jews]] were not allowed to declare [[Yiddish language|Yiddish]], and most of them thus declared German as their native language. The most populous religious groups were [[Roman Catholics]] with 10,378 (55.9%), followed by [[Protestants]] with 4,955 (26.7%) and the [[Jews]] with 3,024 (16.3%).<ref>Ludwig Patryn (ed): ''[http://www.sbc.org.pl/dlibra/docmetadata?id=11734&from=&dirids=110&ver_id=667518&lp=1&QI=88775AF9984FF398CDB8D74B3F93EEB0-1 Die Ergebnisse der Volkszählung vom 31. Dezember 1910 in Schlesien]'', Troppau 1912.</ref> The vast majority of the Jews were exterminated by Nazis during World War II, and the German population was expelled by the [[Soviet Union|Soviets]] after the war under the terms demanded by Stalin at the [[Potsdam Conference]].
==Notable people==
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* Three well-known [[Holocaust survivors]] from Bielsko are [[Kitty Hart-Moxon]], [[Roman Frister]] and [[Gerda Weissmann Klein]]. All three have written autobiographies and other works about their experiences during the Second World War.
*[[Shlomo Avineri]], an Israeli political scientist
* The ancestors of the British peer [[Christopher Tugendhat, Baron Tugendhat]], are also from what was Bielitz.
* [[Gustav Gyula Geyer]] (1828–1900), Hungarian educator and entomologist
* [[Maurice Bloomfield]], an American linguist
==See also==
*[[Bielsko Synagogue]]
*[[Jews in Bielsko-Biała]]
== Footnotes ==
{{Reflist}}
== References ==
* {{cite journal
| last = Jedlecki
| first = Przemysław
| title = W przędzalni i tkalni
| journal = [[Zwrot]]
|date=July 2008
| pages = 50
}}
== External links ==
* {{in lang|pl}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20080120010450/http://www.ksiestwocieszynskie.republika.pl/bielsko.html History of Bielsko]
{{Coord|49|48|50.353|N|19|1|33.42|E|region:PL_type:city|display=title}}
{{Silesian Voivodeship (1920–1939)}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Bielsko-Biała]]
[[Category:Cieszyn Silesia]]