Beuthen District, or Beuthen Rural District (
German: Landkreis Beuthen,
Polish: Powiat ziemski Bytom) was an
Upper Silesianrural district with its seat in
Beuthen (
Polish: Bytom), which itself was a separate district - an urban district (
German: Stadtkreis Beuthen,
Polish: Powiat miejski Bytom).
In 1873 the Beuthen District was divided up: The Kattowitz, Tarnowitz and Zabrze districts were formed from parts of the district's land. In 1890
Beuthen became a
stadtkreis (urban district), subsequently leaving the Beuthen District and on April 1, 1898 the town of
Königshütte (
Polish: Królewska Huta) split off from the Beuthen District to become its own district.[2]
The German nationalist organization
Hakata, soon after its establishment in
Posen in 1890, began operation in Beuthen.[3]
World War I
Although the outbreak of the
Great War in 1914 was initially met with much enthusiasm across Germany,[4] the local situation in Beuthen quickly turned for the worse. The Russian
offensive in Galicia pushed the frontline nearer to
Upper Silesia, prompting German authorities to instate mass mobilisation in Beuthen, which coupled with growing unemployment in the district resulted in a local shortage of materials.[5] The strongly-industrialized Beuthen district heavily relied on the import of food items from the
Polish borderland: a market which was shut off by the war.
As the looming threat of Russian invasion subsided,
arms industry sprang up across the district, e.g. an explosive materials factory was raised on the grounds of the
Hohenzollern Coal Mine in
Schomberg. The military conscription of
coal miners led to the employment of
prisoners of war in Upper Silesia's coal mines; by 1915
POWs accounted for around 33% of workers in Beuthen-South coal mining district.[5]
On the night of August 16, 1919 the
First Silesian Uprising erupted when district commanders of the
Polish Military Organization for the
Rybnik and
Pleß districts received orders to commence the uprising.[12]
In response to news regarding the outbreak of the uprising, the Executive Committee of the
POW G.Śl. situated in Beuthen issued orders to initiate the uprising in the Beuthen,
Kattowitz,
Hindenburg,
Rybnik and
Tarnowitz districts on the 18th of August at 2:00 a.m.
The commander of the
POW G.Śl. in Beuthen district, Adam Całka, had left Beuthen for
Kraków on the 15th of August without leave, consequently
Jan Lortz the commander of POW G.Śl. in Roßberg assumed command.[13]
Fighting in Beuthen
Inscription on the building of the former Skorch's Hotel commemorating the insurgent attack on August 18th.
Despite 260 members of the
POW G.Śl. in the city of Beuthen having given military oath, only 60 rallied at the outbreak of the uprising. Insurgents in Beuthen, under the command of Jan Lortz, possessed 18 rifles and 25 pistols.[14]
The city of Beuthen housed a sizeable garrison of Grenzschutz units, barring the capture of the city by insurgent forces. Nonetheless, insurgents carried out attacks on the city.
The towns of
Deutsch Piekar and
Scharley were captured on the 18th of August after insurgents disarmed a local force of policemen. Thereafter, the 150-men strong insurgent
company from Deutsch Piekar under the command of
Jan Lortz attacked the
Barracks in Beuthen from the direction of
Scharley. The attack was quickly repulsed by machine gun fire, forcing the insurgents to flee.
That same day, the towns of Deutsch Piekar and Scharley were recaptured by the
Reichswehr, putting an end to the uprising in the northern part of the Beuthen district.
The town of
Roßberg, directly adjacent to Beuthen's historic city centre, was captured by insurgent forces on the eve of the uprising, with the local police unit having fled the town.[15] An insurgent unit under the command of Andrzej Demarczyk attacked Skorch's Hotel in Beuthen (Grenzschutz headquarters) from the direction of Roßberg. The attack was ultimately repulsed; A counterattack by men of the Freikorps Tüllmann recaptured the town after three days of fighting.
Silesian insurgents under the command of Jan Trzęsiok in
Bobrek.
Insurgents forces in
Bobrek commanded by Jan Trzęsiok numbered 70 men and possessed 12 rifles, 20 pistols and 70 grenades. Opposing the insurgent forces in
Bobrek and
Karf were two German
companies.[14]
In the early hours of August 18 insurgents in Bobrek disarmed units of German police, militia and industrial guard on the grounds of the
Julia Steel Mill before attacking the town prison which was seized after heavy fighting; 120 rifles and 10 crates of ammunition fell into insurgent hands.[16] Following the capture of Bobrek, the Silesian insurgents declared the establishment of a "Polish Republic".[14]
Ultimately, insurgent forces in Bobrek were forced to retreat to
Schoppinitz following a Grenzschutz counterattack. In total, 7 insurgents and 30 German servicemen lost their lives during the fighting in Bobrek.[14]
In
Karf, a group of 50 insurgents under the command of Jan Feja attacked a reconnaissance mission of Freikorps Tüllmann on the night of August 18 at around 2.a.m.
In
Schomberg insurgents under the command of Adolf Piontek attacked the
town hall. Although 80 members of the
POW G.Śl. had given military oath in the town, only 46 rallied at the outbreak of the uprising, possessing 25 rifles, 12 pistols and 35 grenades. Opposing them were 250 men of the Freikorps Tüllmann.[14]
The attack on the town hall was carried out in order to seize a German stash of weapons and ammunition, which ultimately could not be located. Additionally, two insurgents barged into
Godulla's Palace in Schomberg, where they announced that "
Haller's Army is coming".
Insurgent forces had to withdraw from Schomberg after an hour-long fight due to shortage of ammunition[14] and incoming German reinforcements.[17]
Plebiscite in Silesia
In the
Upper Silesia Plebiscite the residents of the city of Beuthen voted by a majority of 74.7% to remain in Germany. However, in the Beuthen Rural District the Polish side received 59.1% of the vote.
Following the plebiscite, the Beuthen District was divided up between
Germany and
Poland. Poland received the southern and eastern parts of the district from which the
Świętochłowice County (
Polish: Powiat świętochłowicki) was created. The city of Beuthen (with the exception of
Friedenshütte) remained with Germany.
Population of the District of Beuthen by year:[18]
1890
1900
1910
Stadtkreis
36,905
51,404
67,718
Landkreis
121,763
195,758
195,844
Ethnic composition
The table below presents the population structure of the Beuthen district prior to its division in 1873, according to the Prussian census information.[19]
^Grzegorzek, Józef (1935). Pierwsze Powstanie Śląskie 1919 r. w Zarysie. Katowice.{{
cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link)
^
abcdefFic, Maciej; Kaczmarek, Ryszard (2016). Słownik Powstań Śląskich 1919. Tom 1 (1st ed.). Katowice: Biblioteka Śląska w Katowicach.
ISBN978-83-64210-74-7.
^"Bytom-Bobrek". Mapa Powstań Śląskich. Muzeum Powstań Śląskich. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
^"Bytom-Bobrek". Mapa Powstań Śląskich. Muzeum Powstań Śląskich. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
^"Bytom-Szombierki". Mapa Powstań Śląskich. Muzeum Powstań Śląskich. Retrieved 4 March 2024.