Racławice Olkuskie

History abstract

Racławice Olkuskie was most probably founded at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries. The exact date of the settlement incorporation is not known, but it must have been before 1358. The land area of the village was over 20 lans (kmiecy lan - about 420 ha) in a field-forest system. The basis for the existence of the population was agricultural production, and the majority of the population were peasants. From the beginning of the 15th century the village was part of the property of the Rabsztyn starosty, which formally belonged to the Polish king and was leased by the Melsztyński, Tęczyński, Boner, Firlej, Wolski and Myszkowski families. In 1655 Rabsztyn was conquered and burnt down by Swedish troops (the invader from the north occupied Cracow and its surroundings also during the Northern Seven Years' War in 1702-1708). After the Third Partition of Poland in 1795, Racławice was incorporated into the Austrian Empire and become part of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. By virtue of the resolutions of the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the town was incorporated into the Kingdom of Poland, under the protectorate of Tsar Alexander I. In the 19th century, natural disasters, crop failures, famine and epidemics often plagued the area (1811-1813, 1829-1831 and 1853-1855). During the January Uprising in 1863, Polish troops and volunteers from Hungary, Italy and even France were hiding in the nearby forests. After the outbreak of World War I at the beginning of August 1914, the Cadre Company set off from Oleanderów, passing through Racławice, in the direction of Miechów. Confiscation of food, difficulties affecting food supplies, famine and marches of troops exacerbated the occurrence of infectious diseases and epidemics. When Poland regained its independence in 1918, the village was incorporated into the Kielce voivodship. Most of the inhabitants were still engaged in agriculture. The hardships of another war were deeply felt by the inhabitants of Rawcław in 1939, when the occupiers incorporated the settlement into the General Government. The Nazis introduced obligatory supplies of agricultural products and livestock. Young men were conscripted into the Reich Construction Service "Baudienst" and sometimes deported for forced labour into the country. Already in 1940 a unit of the Union of Armed Struggle was established in the commune, which joined the Home Army subdivision in Krzeszowice. In January 1945, the Soviet army "liberated" the town, plundering the belongings of the local population at the same time. Under the rule of the People's Republic of Poland, a number of investments were made in Racławice, including among other things electrification, the establishment of a fire brigade, the construction of a school, the establishment of a library and the paving of local roads.