helping the prisoners of Auschwitz concentration camp. Prisoners of Auschwitz were also housed in a sub-camp, called Jawischowitz, near the mine where they labored. Numerous prisoners were killed through slave labor by the German civilian mine authorities, and by the SS. German authorities changed its name into Kohlendorf. After the war the village continued its development, and in July 1962 was granted town charter. Economy The economy of the town focuses on an anthracite coal mine "Brzeszcze-Silesia" which is the biggest employer in the region, and one of the biggest in the entire Voivodeship. In the Second Polish Republic, it was the only large coal mine which belonged to the Polish state. During the war, the mine was part of the Reichswerke Hermann Göring conglomerate, and inmates of the Jawischowitz were employed in it. Points of interest Most important point of interest is a 19th-century Roman Catholic parish church of St. Urban. Its construction was initiated in 1874, and lasted 30 years, mostly due to financial difficulties. Apart from the church, Brzeszcze has an 18th-century Austrian boundary marker, several 19th-century roadside chapels, and foundations of a 16th-century church, which was burned by the Swedish invaders in 1655. Sports Górnik Brzeszcze – The club was founded in 1922 by the Polish refugees from Zaolzie in Czechoslovakia. The "Brzeszcze" mine used to be its main sponsor, and club's original name was “Strzała”. Famous inhabitants Arkadiusz Skrzypaszek, modern pentathlete and Olympic gold medalist Włodzimierz Lubański, Polish footballer Beata Szydło, Polish Prime Minister Kazimierz Bielenin, Polish archeologist References External links Jewish Community in Brzeszcze on Virtual Shtetl Cities and towns in Lesser Poland Voivodeship Oświęcim County Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Kraków Voivodeship (1919–1939) Holocaust locations in Poland