The Dàbrowa Basin (also, Dàbrowa Coal Basin) or Zagà ÂÃÂbie Dàbrowskie (; is a geographical and historical region in southern Poland. It forms western part of Lesser Poland, though it shares some cultural and historical features with the neighbouring Upper Silesia. The region is sometimes referred to in English as Zaglembie or Zaglembia, especially in Jewish publications written in the English language.
Zagà ÂÃÂbie is a highly industrialised and densely populated region of southern Lesser Poland, bordering Silesia through the Brynica river (running between Sosnowiec and Katowice). Apart from the three main cultural and industrial centres of the area (Dàbrowa Górnicza, Sosnowiec and BÃÂdzin), the region also includes a number of smaller cities. Among them are Czeladà º, Wojkowice, Siewierz and Sà Âawków, and also smaller villages: Psary, Oà ¼arowice, Bobrowniki and MierzÃÂcice.
Since the borders of the region were never clearly defined, other towns are also sometimes listed among the cities of Zagà ÂÃÂbie. These are: Zawiercie, PorÃÂba, Wà Âodowice, Kroczyce, Ogrodzieniec, à Âazy and Olkusz.
The name Zagà ÂÃÂbie Dàbrowskie was first used in ca. 1850, by Jozef Cieszkowski, a clerk employed at Western Coal District in Dàbrowa Górnicza. At that time, the town of Dàbrowa Górnicza was quickly growing, emerging as a main center of the region. The adjective "dàbrowskie" comes from the name of the town. The capital of the region has never been officially established. Sosnowiec is the largest city of Zagà ÂÃÂbie, but Czeladà º is the oldest.
Until the 19th century, Zagà ÂÃÂbie shared the fate of the rest of the region of Lesser Poland, and belonged to Kraków Voivodeship, with the exception of the Duchy of Siewierz, which between 1177 and 1443 was under the rule of Silesian dukes. On 30 December 1443, the Duchy was incorporated back into Lesser Poland as Polish fief and a property of the bishops of Kraków. After the Partitions of Poland, in 1795 Zagà ÂÃÂbie was briefly annexed to the Prussian province of New Silesia. In 1807 however, during the Napoleonic Wars and the PolishâÂÂAustrian War, it was liberated and became part of the Duchy of Warsaw.
After the Congress of Vienna, along with the greater part of the Duchy, Zagà ÂÃÂbie became part of the Russian-controlled Kingdom of Poland. Simultaneously, in both Upper Silesia and neighbouring Zagà ÂÃÂbie, large deposits of coal were discovered. With the opening of the WarsawâÂÂVienna railway in 1848, the region became the most industrialised part of the Kingdom. Despite developing simultaneously with adjacent Silesia, the region remained outside of German influence and remained largely Polish, a fact that is still a source of a certain animosity between the Silesians and the Zagà ÂÃÂbiacy, natives of Zagà ÂÃÂbie. Zagà ÂÃÂbie is sometimes called "Red", because of its Socialist or Communist traditions (it was one of main centers of the Revolution in the Kingdom of Poland (1905âÂÂ07)), while Silesia is more conservative and religious.
After Poland regained her independence in 1918, Zagà ÂÃÂbie became part of the Kielce Voivodeship. After World War II most of Zagà ÂÃÂbie was attached to the Silesian Voivodeship, later Katowice Voivodeship and recently Silesian Voivodeship. On March 25, 1992, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sosnowiec was created. It is called sometimes the Diocese of Zagà ÂÃÂbie.
Residents of the region spoke their own dialect, which now is largely extinct. It belonged to Lesser Poland group of dialects, with some Silesian and Russian additions (because Zagà ÂÃÂbie in 1815âÂÂ1915 was part of the Russian Empire). Several polonized words of Russian origin were in common use, such as "skolko" (standard Polish: "ile", English: "How much"), or "konfiety" (standard Polish: "cukierki", English: "sweets").
At the start of World War II, 100,000 Jews lived in the area of Zagà ÂÃÂbie. On August 12, 1942 all the Jews of the region were gathered together and after a selection process, 12,500 of them were deemed unfit for work and were sent to Auschwitz for immediate extermination. The rest of the Jews were sent to slave labor camps throughout the Nazi empire. A forest was planted in Israel near the city of Modiin in memory of the Jews of Zagà ÂÃÂbie. The memorial plaque reads: <blockquote> Tens of Jewish communities thrived and prospered throughout the Zagà ÂÃÂmbie region of south west Poland over the course of 700 years. The Jews of Zagà ÂÃÂbie, who numbered 100,000 before the War, were destroyed by Nazi Germany. The Jews of Zagà ÂÃÂmbie resisted their Nazi enemies with honor and resourcefulness until death. </blockquote>