Chelm
Encyclopedia
Chełm AUD is a city in eastern Poland
with 67,702 inhabitants (2007). It is located to the south-east of Lublin
, north of Zamość
and south of Biała Podlaska, some 25 kilometres from the border with Ukraine
. Since 1999 located in the Lublin Voivodeship
, previously the town was the capital of a separate voivodeship.
The city is of mostly industrial character, though it also houses numerous notable historical monuments and tourist attractions.
Chełm gives its name to the protected area
known as Chełm Landscape Park, which lies to the north and east of the city.
was created there and initially served as a centre of pagan worship. The etymology of the name is unclear, though most scholars derive it from the Slavic root helm or holm denoting a flat hill. In fact the town's centre is located atop of such hill called góra chełmska in modern times. However, there are also theories deriving the name from some Celtic root. In 981 the town, then inhabited by the Eastern Slavic tribe of Buzhans
, was made a part of Kievan Rus'
, along with the surrounding Cherven Towns. According to a local legend, it was Vladimir the Great to build the first stone castle there in 1001 following the Polish capture of Kiev in 1018 the region for a short time was made part of Poland, but returned under Kievan rule in 1031.
In 1235 Danylo Romanovych of Halych
granted the town a city charter and moved the capital of his domain there. He also built a new castle atop the hill in 1240 and created an Orthodox bishopric there (now the Basilica of the Birth of the Virgin Mary
). Until 14th century the town developed as part of that state and then as part of the short-lived Princedom of Chełm and Bełz. In 1366 king Casimir III
annexed the region to Poland and created a Catholic bishopric there. On 4 January 1392 the town was relocated and Magdeburg Law was granted with vast internal autonomy.
Throughout the ages, the town was the capital of a historical region of the Land of Chełm, administratively a part of the Ruthenian Voivodeship
with the capital in Lviv
. The city prospered in the 15th and 16th centuries, then declined in the 17th century due to the wars which ravaged Poland at the time. In the 18th century the situation in eastern Poland was stabilized and the town started to slowly recover from the damages suffered during The Deluge
and the Khmelnytsky's uprising. It attracted a number of new settlers from all parts of Poland, including people of Catholic, Orthodox and Jewish faiths. In 1794 the Chełm Voivodeship was established. However, later that year Kościuszko's Uprising started, and Chełm became one of the first towns to join it. In the effect of the battle of Chełm of 8 June 1794, in which the forces of Gen. Józef Zajączek
were defeated by the Russians under Gen. Derfelden, Valerian Zubov
and Boris Lacy, the town was yet again sacked by the assaulting armies. The following year, as a result of the Third Partition of Poland
, the town was annexed by Austria
.
During the Napoleonic Wars
in 1809, in the effect of the Polish-Austrian War
, the town was briefly attached to the Duchy of Warsaw
. However, the Congress of Vienna
of 1815 awarded it to Imperial Russia. The town entered a period of decline as the local administrative and religious offices (including the bishopric) were moved to Lublin
. In mid-19th century the Russian Army
turned the town into a strong garrison
, which made the Russian soldiers a significant part of the population. The period of decline ended in 1866, when the town was connected to a new rail road. In 1875 the Uniate bishopric was liquidated by the Russian authorities and all of the local Uniates were forcibly converted
to the Russian Orthodox Church. In the late 19th century the local administrative offices were restored and in 1912 a local gubernia was created.
In 1918, following World War I
, the town was incorporated into a restored Polish state.
During World War II, the city was host to conflict by multiple parties. The city and its environs were subject to massacres and revenge killings between Ukrainians
and Poles
. These massacres occurred from 1942 through to 1945. The most notable single day example of this occurred March 13 and 14, 1944, when Polish partisans
murdered 1,500 of the Ukrainians from Chelm region villages, 70% of whom were women and children. Almost all of the Jewish population was killed in the Sobibór extermination camp
during The Holocaust
. Some managed to shelter in the underground tunnel system below the city.
Within a few years, all the Chełm's Jews emigrated to Israel
, United States
and South Africa
.
For example: One Jewish Chełm resident bought a fish on Friday in order to cook it for Sabbath
. He put the live fish underneath his coat and the fish slapped his face with his tail. He went to the Chełm court to submit a charge and the court sentenced the fish to death by drowning.
Most of these stories have become well-known thanks to storytellers and writers such as Isaac Bashevis Singer
, a Nobel Prize
-winning Jewish writer in the Yiddish language, who wrote The Fools of Chelm and Their History (published in English translation in 1973), аnd the great Soviet Yiddish poet Ovsey Driz who wrote stories in verse. The latter achieved great popularity in the Soviet Union
in Russian and Ukrainian translations, and were made into several animated films.
Other notable adaptations of folklore Chełm stories into the mainstream culture are the comedy Chelmer Khakhomim (“The Wise Men of Chelm”) by Aaron Zeitlin
, The Heroes of Chelm (1942) by Shlomo Simon
, published in English translation as The Wise Men of Helm (Solomon Simon, 1945) and More Wise Men of Helm (Solomon Simon, 1965), and the book Chelmer Khakhomim by Y. Y. Trunk. The animated short film comedy "Village of Idiots
" also recounts Chełm tales.
) elected from this constituency:
with: Kovel
, Ukraine
Morlaix
, France
Utena
, Lithuania
Sindelfingen
, Germany
Knoxville
, USA
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
with 67,702 inhabitants (2007). It is located to the south-east of Lublin
Lublin
Lublin is the ninth largest city in Poland. It is the capital of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 350,392 . Lublin is also the largest Polish city east of the Vistula river...
, north of Zamość
Zamosc
Zamość ukr. Замостя is a town in southeastern Poland with 66,633 inhabitants , situated in the south-western part of Lublin Voivodeship , about from Lublin, from Warsaw and from the border with Ukraine...
and south of Biała Podlaska, some 25 kilometres from the border with Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. Since 1999 located in the Lublin Voivodeship
Lublin Voivodeship
- Administrative division :Lublin Voivodeship is divided into 24 counties : 4 city counties and 20 land counties. These are further divided into 213 gminas....
, previously the town was the capital of a separate voivodeship.
The city is of mostly industrial character, though it also houses numerous notable historical monuments and tourist attractions.
Chełm gives its name to the protected area
Protected area
Protected areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognised natural, ecological and/or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the enabling laws of each country or the regulations of the international...
known as Chełm Landscape Park, which lies to the north and east of the city.
History
The first traces of settlement in the area of modern Chełm date back to at least 9th century. The following century a Slavic fortified townGord (Slavic settlement)
Gord is a medieval Slavic fortified settlement. This Proto-Slavic word for town or city, later differentiated into grad , gard, gorod , etc. The ancient peoples were known for building wooden fortified settlements...
was created there and initially served as a centre of pagan worship. The etymology of the name is unclear, though most scholars derive it from the Slavic root helm or holm denoting a flat hill. In fact the town's centre is located atop of such hill called góra chełmska in modern times. However, there are also theories deriving the name from some Celtic root. In 981 the town, then inhabited by the Eastern Slavic tribe of Buzhans
Buzhans
The Buzhans or Buzhane were one of the tribal unions of Early East Slavs. They are mentioned as Buzhane in the Primary Chronicle. It appears that the name of the tribe derives from the Southern Bug River, where they chose to settle down. According to the Bavarian Geographer, the Buzhans had 230...
, was made a part of Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rus was a medieval polity in Eastern Europe, from the late 9th to the mid 13th century, when it disintegrated under the pressure of the Mongol invasion of 1237–1240....
, along with the surrounding Cherven Towns. According to a local legend, it was Vladimir the Great to build the first stone castle there in 1001 following the Polish capture of Kiev in 1018 the region for a short time was made part of Poland, but returned under Kievan rule in 1031.
In 1235 Danylo Romanovych of Halych
Halych
Halych is a historic city on the Dniester River in western Ukraine. The town gave its name to the historic province and kingdom of Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, of which it was the capital until the early 14th century, when the seat of the local princes was moved to Lviv...
granted the town a city charter and moved the capital of his domain there. He also built a new castle atop the hill in 1240 and created an Orthodox bishopric there (now the Basilica of the Birth of the Virgin Mary
Basilica of the Birth of the Virgin Mary
The Basilica of the Birth of the Virgin Mary is a church and monastery complex in the Polish city of Chełm. The church and the courtyard of the Basilica of the Birth of the Virgin Mary stand in the centre of Chełm on Chełm Hill . Over its history, the church has been Ukrainian Orthodox, Uniate,...
). Until 14th century the town developed as part of that state and then as part of the short-lived Princedom of Chełm and Bełz. In 1366 king Casimir III
Casimir III of Poland
Casimir III the Great , last King of Poland from the Piast dynasty , was the son of King Władysław I the Elbow-high and Hedwig of Kalisz.-Biography:...
annexed the region to Poland and created a Catholic bishopric there. On 4 January 1392 the town was relocated and Magdeburg Law was granted with vast internal autonomy.
Throughout the ages, the town was the capital of a historical region of the Land of Chełm, administratively a part of the Ruthenian Voivodeship
Ruthenian Voivodeship
Ruthenia Voivodeship was an administrative division of the Kingdom of Poland . Together with Bełz Voivodeship, it formed Lesser Poland Province with its capital city in Kraków. Part of Lesser Poland region...
with the capital in Lviv
Lviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
. The city prospered in the 15th and 16th centuries, then declined in the 17th century due to the wars which ravaged Poland at the time. In the 18th century the situation in eastern Poland was stabilized and the town started to slowly recover from the damages suffered during The Deluge
The Deluge (Polish history)
The term Deluge denotes a series of mid-17th century campaigns in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In a wider sense it applies to the period between the Khmelnytsky Uprising of 1648 and the Truce of Andrusovo in 1667, thus comprising the Polish–Lithuanian theaters of the Russo-Polish and...
and the Khmelnytsky's uprising. It attracted a number of new settlers from all parts of Poland, including people of Catholic, Orthodox and Jewish faiths. In 1794 the Chełm Voivodeship was established. However, later that year Kościuszko's Uprising started, and Chełm became one of the first towns to join it. In the effect of the battle of Chełm of 8 June 1794, in which the forces of Gen. Józef Zajączek
Józef Zajaczek
Prince Józef Zajączek , was a Polish general and politician.His first important military post was that of an aide-de-camp to hetman Franciszek Ksawery Branicki...
were defeated by the Russians under Gen. Derfelden, Valerian Zubov
Valerian Zubov
Count Valerian Aleksandrovich Zubov was a Russian general who led the Persian Expedition of 1796. His siblings included Platon Zubov and Olga Zherebtsova....
and Boris Lacy, the town was yet again sacked by the assaulting armies. The following year, as a result of the Third Partition of Poland
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...
, the town was annexed by Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
.
During the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
in 1809, in the effect of the Polish-Austrian War
Polish-Austrian War
Polish–Austrian War or Austro-Polish War was a part of the War of the Fifth Coalition in 1809...
, the town was briefly attached to the Duchy of Warsaw
Duchy of Warsaw
The Duchy of Warsaw was a Polish state established by Napoleon I in 1807 from the Polish lands ceded by the Kingdom of Prussia under the terms of the Treaties of Tilsit. The duchy was held in personal union by one of Napoleon's allies, King Frederick Augustus I of Saxony...
. However, the Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
of 1815 awarded it to Imperial Russia. The town entered a period of decline as the local administrative and religious offices (including the bishopric) were moved to Lublin
Lublin
Lublin is the ninth largest city in Poland. It is the capital of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 350,392 . Lublin is also the largest Polish city east of the Vistula river...
. In mid-19th century the Russian Army
Imperial Russian Army
The Imperial Russian Army was the land armed force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian army consisted of around 938,731 regular soldiers and 245,850 irregulars . Until the time of military reform of Dmitry Milyutin in...
turned the town into a strong garrison
Garrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
, which made the Russian soldiers a significant part of the population. The period of decline ended in 1866, when the town was connected to a new rail road. In 1875 the Uniate bishopric was liquidated by the Russian authorities and all of the local Uniates were forcibly converted
Conversion of Chelm Eparchy
The Conversion of Chełm Eparchy, which occurred from January to May 1875, refers to the generally forced conversion of the last Uniate Eparchy in the Russian Empire, which was centered in the Volhynian city of Chełm , to the Orthodox faith....
to the Russian Orthodox Church. In the late 19th century the local administrative offices were restored and in 1912 a local gubernia was created.
In 1918, following World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the town was incorporated into a restored Polish state.
During World War II, the city was host to conflict by multiple parties. The city and its environs were subject to massacres and revenge killings between Ukrainians
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
and Poles
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
. These massacres occurred from 1942 through to 1945. The most notable single day example of this occurred March 13 and 14, 1944, when Polish partisans
Leśni
Leśni is one of the informal names applied to the anti-German partisan groups operating in occupied Poland during World War II. The groups were formed mostly by people who for various reasons could not operate from settlements they lived in and had to retreat to the forests...
murdered 1,500 of the Ukrainians from Chelm region villages, 70% of whom were women and children. Almost all of the Jewish population was killed in the Sobibór extermination camp
Sobibór extermination camp
Sobibor was a Nazi German extermination camp located on the outskirts of the town of Sobibór, Lublin Voivodeship of occupied Poland as part of Operation Reinhard; the official German name was SS-Sonderkommando Sobibor...
during The Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
. Some managed to shelter in the underground tunnel system below the city.
Within a few years, all the Chełm's Jews emigrated to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
.
Population
In 1921: out of a total population of 23,221 there were 1,369 Orthodox Christians (Ukrainian and Belarusians), 9,492 Roman Catholics (Poles), 12,064 Jews, and 207 Lutherans (Germans).Sports
- Meblotap AZS ChełmMeblotap AZS ChelmMeblotap AZS Chełm was a Polish women's basketball team based in Chełm that played in the Sharp Torell Basket Liga.Meblotap AZS Chełm has won the 7th place in the Sharp Torell Basket Liga 2003-2004 season....
- women basketball team, 7th place in Sharp Torell Basket Liga in 2003/2004 season
Notable people
- Mykhailo HrushevskyMykhailo HrushevskyMykhailo Serhiyovych Hrushevsky was a Ukrainian academician, politician, historian, and statesman, one of the most important figures of the Ukrainian national revival of the early 20th century...
, a Ukrainian historian and president. - Ida HaendelIda HaendelIda Haendel, CBE is a British violinist of Polish birth.- Career :Ida Haendel was born in Chełm, a small city in Eastern Poland. She took up the violin at the age of three and as a seven-year-old was admitted at the Warsaw Conservatory. She later studied with Carl Flesch and George Enescu in Paris...
(born 1928) classical violinist - Józef SzydłowskiJoseph SzydlowskiJoseph Szydlowski , was a Jewish-Polish-French-Israeli aircraft engine designer who founded Turbomeca in France.- Biography and career :...
, an aircraft engine designer - Dariusz Jabłoński, wrestler
"Wise Men of Chelm"
Jewish folklore considers the Jewish residents of Chełm (Yiddish: כעלעם, Hebrew: חלם; often transcribed as Helm) fools. There are a lot of popular stories about their "smart" conduct.For example: One Jewish Chełm resident bought a fish on Friday in order to cook it for Sabbath
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
. He put the live fish underneath his coat and the fish slapped his face with his tail. He went to the Chełm court to submit a charge and the court sentenced the fish to death by drowning.
Most of these stories have become well-known thanks to storytellers and writers such as Isaac Bashevis Singer
Isaac Bashevis Singer
Isaac Bashevis Singer – July 24, 1991) was a Polish Jewish American author noted for his short stories. He was one of the leading figures in the Yiddish literary movement, and received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1978...
, a Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
-winning Jewish writer in the Yiddish language, who wrote The Fools of Chelm and Their History (published in English translation in 1973), аnd the great Soviet Yiddish poet Ovsey Driz who wrote stories in verse. The latter achieved great popularity in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
in Russian and Ukrainian translations, and were made into several animated films.
Other notable adaptations of folklore Chełm stories into the mainstream culture are the comedy Chelmer Khakhomim (“The Wise Men of Chelm”) by Aaron Zeitlin
Aaron Zeitlin
Aaron Zeitlin , the son of the famous Jewish writer Hillel Zeitlin and Esther Kunin, authored several books on Yiddish literature, Poetry and Parapsychology.-Biography:...
, The Heroes of Chelm (1942) by Shlomo Simon
Solomon Simon
Solomon Simon was a Jewish author and educator. He published over thirty books, in Yiddish and English, notably his children's books The Wandering Beggar, The Wise Men of Helm, and More Wise Men of Helm. He was also a leading figure of the Sholem Aleichem Folks Institute, a Jewish cultural...
, published in English translation as The Wise Men of Helm (Solomon Simon, 1945) and More Wise Men of Helm (Solomon Simon, 1965), and the book Chelmer Khakhomim by Y. Y. Trunk. The animated short film comedy "Village of Idiots
Village of Idiots
Village of Idiots is a short animated comedy based on the classic Jewish, humorous, folk tales of Chełm made by animators/directors Eugene Fedorenko and Rose Newlove with the National Film Board of Canada...
" also recounts Chełm tales.
Biała Podlaska/Chełm/Zamość constituency
Members of Parliament (SejmSejm
The Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. The Sejm is made up of 460 deputies, or Poseł in Polish . It is elected by universal ballot and is presided over by a speaker called the Marshal of the Sejm ....
) elected from this constituency:
- Badach Tadeusz, SLD-UP
- Bratkowski Arkadiusz, PSL
- Byra Jan, SLD-UP
- Janowski Zbigniew, SLD-UP
- Kwiatkowski Marian, Samoobrona
- Lewczuk Henryk, LPR
- Michalski Jerzy, Samoobrona
- Nikolski Lech, SLD-UP
- Skomra Szczepan, SLD-UP
- Stanibuła Ryszard, PSL
- Stefaniuk Franciszek, PSL
- Żmijan Stanisław, PO
Twin towns — Sister cities
Chełm is twinnedTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with: Kovel
Kovel
Kovel is a city located in the Volyn Oblast , in northwestern Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Kovelskyi Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast. The current estimated population is around 65,777.Kovel gives its name to one of the...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
Morlaix
Morlaix
Morlaix is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.-Leisure and tourism:...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Utena
Utena, Lithuania
Utena is a city in north-east Lithuania. It is the administrative center of Utena district and Utena County. Utena is one of the oldest settlements of Lithuania. The name of the city is most probably derived from a hydronym. The name of the settlement has been known since 1261.Utena is an...
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
Sindelfingen
Sindelfingen
Sindelfingen is a German town near Stuttgart at the headwaters of the Schwippe that is the site of a Mercedes-Benz assembly plant.-History:* 1155 First documented mention of Sindelfingen...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Knoxville
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...
, USA