History of Oswiecim

t of a starosta, in 1915 a high school was opened, and in 1917-18 a new district, called Nowe Miasto, was founded. After World War I, the town became part of the Second Polish Republic's Kraków Voivodeship. Until 1932, Oświęcim was the seat of a county, but on 1 April 1932, the County of Oświęcim was divided between the County of Wadowice, and the County of Biala Krakowska. On the eve of World War II there were about 8,000 Jews in the city, over half the population. In the early days of the Invasion of Poland, the retreating Polish Army units blew up the bridge over the Sola river.

World War II and post-war

In October 1939, Nazi Germany immediately annexed the area to Germany in the Gau of Upper Silesia, which became part of the "second Ruhr" by 1944.

In 1940, Nazi Germany used forced labour to build a new subdivision to house Auschwitz guards and staff. In 1941, German authorities decided to build a large chemical plant of IG Farben, in the eastern outskirts of the town. Polish residents of several districts were forced to abandon their houses, as the Germans wanted to keep the area around Auschwitz concentration camp empty. A buffer zone with the area of some 40 square kilometres (15 sq mi) was planned around the camp, and expulsions of local Polish residents took place in two stages, in 1940 and 1941, when all inhabitants of the Zasole district were forced to abandon their houses. In the districts of Plawy and Harmeze more than 90% of all buildings ceased to exist and the residents of Plawy were transported to Gorlice, where they were left to fend for themselves. Altogether, some 17,000 people in Oświęcim itself and surrounding villages were forced to leave their homes, and eight villages were wiped off the map. As a result, by April 1941 the population of Oświęcim shrank to 7,600.

The town and the