Oświęcim 2024-11-26

Dwory railway station.

Geographic coordinates: 50.045N 19.284E. Elevation 228 m (748 ft). Address: Dwory, ulica ZWYCIĘSTWA 223, 32-600 OŚWIĘCIM.

Before we discuss the Dwory railway station, let’s systematize the name Dwory; Dwory is a junction railway station within the city limits of Oświęcim. Dwory Osiedle is a part of Oświęcim, you could say it is a district of the city. Dwory is also a water channel, which is a tributary of the upper Vistula River. There are also Dwory Pierwsze, which is part of Oświęcim. There are also Dwory Drugie, which is a village in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in Oświęcim County, in the Oświęcim commune. And there is also the Dwory Unia hockey sports club in Oświęcim.

Geographically Oświęcim lies in the Oświęcim Basin. This basin is shaped by a system of river valleys, including the Vistula and Soła. The terrain is shaped by the former glaciation.

Historically, Oświęcim is located in Western Lesser Poland. The settlement was founded in the 12th century. The town was first mentioned in 1404, when Bolek, Duke of Cieszyn-Oświęcim, granted the Oświęcim Dominican monastery a sheaf tithe from the princely villages of Dwory and Łąki. In the document of sale of the Duchy of Oświęcim to the Polish Crown by Jan IV Oświęcimski, issued on 21 February 1457, the town was mentioned as Dwory. In 1564, the Duchies of Oświęcim and Zator were incorporated into the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, creating a Silesian district within the borders of the Kraków Voivodeship. After the Republic of Poland regained independence in 1918, the town belonged to the Kraków Voivodeship. Until 1932, Dwory was a commune in the Oświęcim district, and after the change, in the Biała Podlaska district (1932–34), in the Kraków Voivodeship. In 1931, Dwory had 1,925 inhabitants. In 1934, Dwory became part of the collective community of the Oświęcim commune. At that time, Dwory was divided into Pierwsze and Drugie.

During the German occupation (1939-1945), the city was incorporated directly into the Raj and was part of the Upper Silesian province. In Oświęcim, the Germans set up the largest concentration camp for Polish citizens. It consisted of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp and extermination center. The complex included the Auschwitz I main camp in Oświęcim, Auschwitz II – Birkenau in Brzezinka, Auschwitz; III Monowitz and IV Monowitz in Monowice, with a system of many sub-camps. In the 1960s, schools taught young people that 5 million people were murdered in the Germanic camp. In the 1990s, it was reported that only 1.5 million people were killed. Currently, about 1 million people died. If this continues, the Freemasons will report that no one died there. What’s more, the Germans say that it was a Polish concentration camp. That is why it is so important to teach history in schools. Only 200,000 people lived to see liberation.

In 1954, Dwory Pierwsze was incorporated into Oświęcim. Dwory was associated with the Haller family estate. There is a park complex with a Haller family chapel, Zwycięstwa Street. General Józef Haller, commander of the Blue Army, Polish hero of the fight for the independence of the Republic of Poland, comes from this family. The landscape park with a chapel – the Haller family mausoleum is located in the area of ​​the former village of Dwory, currently a district of the city of Oświęcim. The historical compositional layout of the park has been preserved within the original boundaries of the manor buildings and creates a coherent whole, despite later changes. Currently, the park is crossed by Zwycięstwa Street. The Germans built chemical plants on the fields of the estate.

From a Polish point of view, Oświęcim is a beautiful Polish city, with a nice market square, a castle that houses a beautiful historical museum, and an observation tower. Oświęcim is 125 years of activity of the Salesian Fathers with their Salesian School Complex and monumental church; Sanctuary of Our Lady Help of Christians.

Currently, Oświęcim is located in the Małopolska province and is strongly connected with the tradition of Małopolska, both in the administrative and cultural sense. By train SKA2 (Fast Agglomeration Railway), in 80 minutes you can get from Oświęcim to the center of Krakow.

The town of Dwory was incorporated into the borders of Oświęcim in 1954. The district is inhabited by approximately 2,500 people. The district lies on the right bank of the Vistula River, in the north-eastern part of the city. The district includes the Dwory railway station and a water stage that is part of the Upper Vistula Waterway. Dwory is located in the Oświęcim commune in the western part of the Małopolska province, on the border of three economic regions: the Upper Silesian Industrial Region, the Kraków Agglomeration and the Podbeskidzie region, which includes Bielsko-Biała and the surrounding area. The area is rich in ponds and marshes that saturate the air with moisture. In addition, the Vistula River emerges from its bed every few years, flooding the coastal areas with water. In the 1970s, the “Vistula Cascade” economic plan was adopted and as part of it, a water stage and a five-kilometer canal were built in Dwory.

Dwory Railway Station.

Dwory station is located at 57.375 km, LK No. 94. Dwory station was launched in 1884, together with the launch of the Oświęcim – Podgórze railway line (currently Kraków Płaszów). Currently (2024) Dwory station is located within the city limits of Oświęcim, in the Dwory housing estate. Dwory station serves the Dwory Chemical Plant in Monowice, which is reached by an electrified, single-track railway link No. 886.

A typical Austrian-style station was built at the station. It is the smallest building of this type in the Austrian catalog. The building is without a basement, two-storey with an undeveloped attic. The station was built of red brick. The building has typical architectural details; cornices, window frames, decorative corners. The structure is three-axis. The front of the building, from the driveway side, has a projection. The building is covered with a hipped roof. At the attic level, the elevation is made of boards. Initially, there were ceramic tiles on the roof, and now there is corrugated sheet metal. On the side of the track, there is a three-dimensional inscription DWORY, which had a neon sign. There are also inscriptions DWORY on the side walls. Currently (2024) the station is abandoned and secured against access by unauthorized persons. However, it requires renovation. There is degradation of the plaster on the walls, roof, gutters, lightning protection system, window and door joinery.

There is no toilet at the Dwory station. Apparently, as recently as 2022, there was a ToyToy here. The station is off the beaten track, so it is often visited by people who are not interested in riding the train. Around 2017, the road leading to the station was paved.

The platform is accessed via a footbridge. The footbridge was built in the 1960s. The footbridge has been renovated and is made of reinforced concrete. Its surface is non-slip. The footbridge has lighting and typical additional protection against touching the traction network. The balustrades and handrails have been painted blue. Additionally, there is a level crossing for services and passengers in wheelchairs.

There is one island platform at the Dwory station, with two edges. The platform edge is concrete and painted white. There is also a yellow warning line. The platform surface is made of gray pavement tiles. The platform is 200 m long. The platform height is about 0.35 m from the railhead. There are two short roofs on the platform, and under them are benches. Additionally, there are display cases with railway information, lighting, an audio system (but trains are not announced), and waste bins. The lighting consists of eight lanterns, and each lantern has two lamps. The lanterns are built on concrete posts.

There are five through tracks at Dwory station. The track by the station building used to be a track by a single-edge platform. There was a fence between the first and second tracks (counting from the station building), which prevented passengers from crossing the track. All tracks are electrified. The traction network is suspended on concrete and steel poles.

The last long-distance passenger train to travel the entire line No. 94 in 2014 was the international InterRegio train from Krakow to Ostrava in the Czech Republic: Krakow – Skawina – Oświęcim – Czechowice Dziedzice – Zebrzydowice – Ostrava. In the period July 2018 – July 2019, Sunday-Saturday LEO Express trains stopped at the station on the Krakow Główny – Praha hlavní nádraží route. In this way, Dwory railway station became an international station. The route was closed due to the poor condition of the LK No. 94 tracks, and therefore the very long travel time. In the period 2017-2024, LK No. 94 was renovated. SKA2 trains appeared on the route. In 2023, the station served up to 10 passengers per day. Tickets can be purchased on the train or from the conductor’s team.

A short railway line No. 886 to the chemical plant departs from Dwory station; Dwory – Monowice. The length of LK No. 886 Dwory – Zakłady Chemiczne Dwory is 2.890 km. The line is single-track, electrified with 3 kV current. There are also hundreds of meters of internal tracks on the premises of the chemical plant. A separate station is the freight station; Dwory Zakłady Chemiczne, which is located southeast of Dwory station. In relation to LK No. 94, the station is located higher, on a plateau, with a height difference of about 8 m. There are 22 tracks at the station. The Włosienica Container Terminal is adjacent to the station. The station includes the base of the carrier RAIL POLSKA. The chemical plant is currently SYNTHOS DWORY.

Railway line No. 94 Kraków Płaszów – Oświęcim.

Railway line No. 94 Kraków Płaszów – Oświęcim is a line running meridionally. The line is 64.502 km long, is a double-track line and is electrified with 3 kV DC. In 1918, the line was incorporated into the reborn Poland. The line was launched in 1884. On August 1, 1884, the first train ran the Podgórze (historical site, currently the area of ​​former quarries) – Oświęcim route. From the very beginning, the LK had normal gauge tracks of 1,435 mm. Infrastructure in the form of: stations, water towers, rail-road crossings; was made a few years later. During the Great World War, the course of the track in Kraków changed in the area of ​​Lanckorońska Street. The track ran along the current Lanckorońska Street and had a large slope, so this section had to be rebuilt. In 2017, the number of tracks changed from two to one between Kraków Płaszów and Kraków Bonarka, due to the construction of the No. 624 connector and the reconstruction of the No. 603 connector.

The electrification of the route was carried out in two stages; on October 30, 1970, on the Kraków Płaszów – Spytkowice section and on September 9, 1971, on the Spytkowice – Oświęcim section.

The history of chemical plants.

The Auschwitz concentration camp is not the end of the barbaric behavior of the Germans in Oświęcim. During the war, they expanded the chemical factory, which belonged to the IG Farben concern, and produced Cyclone B, which was used to murder and gas people. The concern cooperated with doctors conducting pseudo-medical experiments on prisoners of concentration camps. Officially, the IG Farben concern was liquidated in 2012, but its “know how” was taken over by other Germanic companies.

It is worth mentioning the history of the chemical plant in Oświęcim, especially since it is the work of a superior race, the Germans. The beginning of these plants in Oświęcim was the area of ​​the Auschwitz III-Monowitz and IV-Monowitz concentration camps. The camp in Monowice was one of the first and at the same time the largest sub-camps of KL Auschwitz. Over time, the sub-camp was given the status of the headquarters of the so-called industrial sub-camps. The history of its establishment is associated with the initiative of the German chemical concern IG Farbenindustrie A.G. The idea was to build a third large factory: synthetic rubber, liquid fuels and poison gases. This time, the location was to be as far away as possible, beyond the range of Allied bombers. The choice fell on western Małopolska, which, already incorporated into the Reich, was referred to as Eastern Upper Silesia. There were several locations. Finally, at the turn of 1940/1941, a plain located between the eastern part of Oświęcim and the villages of Dwory and Monowice was chosen. The Germans justified the decision with favorable geological conditions, access to a railway line, water supply sources (the Vistula River) and raw material deposits: hard coal; mines in Libiąż, Jawiszowice and Jaworzno; limestone quarries in Krzeszowice and rock salt from Wieliczka. The factory was to use prisoners from the nearby Auschwitz concentration camp. In the period February-April 1941, Polish farmers were thrown off their land without compensation and exiled to the general government. Their houses were demolished. The Germans sold the land to IG Farben for a very low price. At the same time, all Jews from the city of Oświęcim were deported to camps in Sosnowiec and Chrzanów. The Germanic authorities sold the Jewish homes to the IG Farben company for their engineers and technicians. Then the IG Farben management made an agreement with the commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp to employ prisoners. The Germans from IG Farben paid the camp commandant 3-4 marks per prisoner’s day’s wage. Summing up the results of the talks, one of the IG Farben directors, engineer Otto Ambros, wrote in a letter to a colleague that: “our new friendship with the SS is very fruitful”. But the stupid Germans lost the great world war for the second time. In the period 1947-1948, the so-called IG Farben trial took place. As part of the Nuremberg trials, 24 directors of the concern appeared before the American Military Tribunal, and 13 of them were sentenced to prison terms. Let us remember that the American troops are based on German territory, not to defend them, but to defend Europe from the Germans, so that they do not start a third world war.

After World War II, on September 1, 1945, the factory was named Synthetic Fuel Factory in Dwory. In 1946, the name was changed to State Chemical Synthesis Plants in Dwory. In 1948, the factory received the name: Chemical Synthesis Plants in Dwory. In 1949, the name was given to Chemical Plants – Separated State Enterprise in Oświęcim. In June 1951, the plants adopted the name Chemical Plants “Oświęcim” in Oświęcim. On December 1, 1994, the factory was transformed into a sole-shareholder company of the State Treasury, which was a preparation for privatization. On September 12, 1995, 60% of the company’s shares were contributed to the National Investment Funds. In 1997, the name Chemical Company Dwory Joint Stock Company was adopted. On October 23, 2007, Chemical Company Dwory changed its name to Synthos Spółka Akcyjna. The adoption of the new name was the result of organizational changes related to the finalization of the acquisition process of the Czech company Kaucuk Kralupy. Synthos Spółka Akcyjna is one of the largest Polish companies in the chemical industry. The company’s operations focus on the following products: rubber, synthetic latex, styrene plastics, vinyls and copolymers. Currently, several specialist companies operate on the factory premises.

Written by Karol Placha Hetman