Tarnobrzeg

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Tarnobrzeg's Coat of Arms

Tarnobrzeg is a town in south-eastern Poland, on the east bank of the river Vistula, with 51,300 inhabitants (2001). Situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodship (Polish: Województwo Podkarpackie) since 1999, it had previously been the capital of Tarnobrzeg Voivodship (1975-1998).

1 Economy
- 1.1 Sulphur mining
2 History
3 Sister cities

[edit] Economy

[edit] Sulphur mining

The city was a major center for the mining and processing of sulphur and sulphuric acid. However, its mines have since closed having been deemed uneconomic. The mine in Piaseczno was closed first, followed by the Machów mine (after 40 years of working — it had been the biggest open-cast sulphur mine in Europe), and finally the Jeziórko mine in the 1990s. The Jeziórko mine stayed open as long as it did because of the introduction of the modern Frasch process of sulphur extraction.

Since the 1980s, the land in the mining areas has gradually been reclaimed. The Machów mine has been filled with water to form a reservoir used for recreation, and the same is happening with the Jeziórko mine — it is being slowly filled from the nearby Vistula river.

[edit] History

Tarnobrzeg was founded in 1593, during the golden age of Poland, to become the residence of the regional Tarnowski "szlachta" (noble family) whose head is known as Count Tarnow. In 1772, it becomes part of the Austrian empire where it remains until 1918, when it becomes part of independent Poland interrupted by World War II when ca. 6,000,000 Poles of diverse ethnicity - including many inhabitants of Tarnobrzeg and surrounding areas - meet with untimely demise.

While part of Austria and Austro-Hungary, a public school system is founded. To great extent this system determines the literacy and culture of pre-World War I Tarnobrzeg and other similar Austrian-ruled Polish municipalities.

There are no large cities located in the vicinity of Tarnobrzeg. Travel to and from the one-time Imperial capital of Vienna is through Krakow (the nearest Polish city) with railway service established in later years of the Empire.

Pre-Holocaust Tarnobrzeg, a shtetl of western Galicia, is home to a thriving and traditional Jewish community. The History of Jews in Poland is confluent with the history of Tarnobrzeg. More specifically, this important component of Tarnobrzeg culture is Galician, with individuals termed Galitzianers or Galician Jews. During the Holocaust and World War II, Galicia is permanently split between eastern/Russian and western/Polish sectors and citizens throughout the region are required to choose a lesser of two evils, escaping the Nazis eastward or westward. Those migrating eastward to communist Russia further have the devilish option of becoming permanent communist citizens of Russia with little chance to depart after the cessation of hostilities, or alternatively becoming displaced persons who were relocated temporarily to work camps in Siberia there to wait out the War. Many among the latter, in fact, perish owing to the extremely rugged conditions and poor supplies available in wartime trans-Ural Russian Asia, but some do survive and are permitted to depart Russian lands following World War II.

Although population displacements during World War II are of more recent memory, deportations during World War I to trans-Ural Russia are significant. Although many return to Tarnobrzeg and surrounding towns following World War I, Tarnobrzeg and surrounding towns are no longer quite so prosperous nor hospitable after World War I and the end of Franz-Josef-ruled Austro-Hungary rule.

Nearby shtetlach (Jewish or Yiddish-language plural of shtetl) of, e.g., Rozwadow and Ulanow had many commercial and family ties to Tarnobrzeg. There are several affinity groups among the Jewish population of the time, including Hasidic, Zionist, Bundist (Socialist), and others. Many Jewish citizens of Tarnobreg emigrate to Palestine during the pre-World War II period.

Prominent citizen Moses Hauser, a centenarian whose life coincides with the 19th century, is a businessman, trader, and landholder dating from Napoleonic times through the reign of Austrian Emperor Franz-Josef. His name may virtually be considered synonymous with Tarnobrzeg during this period as may be verified by primary sources and printed documents such as a Yizkor (Memorial) Book published by Tarnobrzeg elders following the Holocaust. Hauser is father to twelve children and accordingly many descendants whom he had the privilege to know during his lifetime. He has many descendents living in the United States, Israel, and elsewhere.

World War I brings disaster to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Galician Poland. Tarnobrzeg sustains heavy damage during WW I by invading armies and suffers significant emigration within the former Austrian empire and elsewhere during the inter-War years 1919-1939. In 1939, the sovereignty of all Poland is tragically violated by invading German National Socialist (Nazi) troops.

Following the Holocaust and World War II, Tarnobrzeg - as it existed for centuries - ceases to exist. Post-World War II European history is a period of reconstruction.

In the 1950s, after geological research into fuel deposits, significant sulphur resources are discovered. From early 1960s the city grows rapidly: the population rises from 5,000 to almost 50,000.