Rabka-Zdrój

Rabka-Zdrój (pronounced [ˈrapka ˈzdrui̯], in Goral dialects: Robka, colloquially: Rabka) is a spa town in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland. It is located between Kraków and Zakopane in a valley on the northern slopes of the Gorce Mountains, where the rivers Poniczanka and Słonka join the river Raba. It has about 13,000 inhabitants. There is a substantial population of Gorals in the town.

Rabka-Zdrój
Town centre
Town centre
Flag of Rabka-Zdrój
Flag
Coat of arms of Rabka-Zdrój
Coat of arms
Rabka-Zdrój is located in Poland
Rabka-Zdrój
Rabka-Zdrój
Coordinates: 49°36′30″N 19°58′0″E
Country Poland
VoivodeshipLesser Poland
CountyNowy Targ
GminaRabka-Zdrój
Area
 • Total36.59 km2 (14.13 sq mi)
Highest elevation
560 m (1,840 ft)
Lowest elevation
470 m (1,540 ft)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total12,662
 • Density350/km2 (900/sq mi)
Postal code
34-700
Websitewww.rabka.pl

Rabka was always known for its salt-works, and from 1864 became a popular spa town. The first treatment centre for children was established a few years later and continues to this day. Hydrotherapy continues to be utilised in local hospital and sanatoriums.

The Władysław Orkan Museum established in a former 17th-century larch-wood church, includes a collection of folk sculpture and paintings on glass. It also houses the "Order of the Smile Museum" (which children award to adults) and hosts events such as a winter carnival, the Carpathian Festival of Children's Regional Ensembles and the Mountain Children's Holiday International Festival. Other entertainment and folk events are held in the summer season.

Nazi Police School

During World War II, the Germans established a Nazi police school called the Sipo-SD Academy in the town,[1][2] to train executioners and torturers. The school and its surroundings were the place of numerous atrocities before it was eventually closed down as the war approached its end and the Germans left.[3]

The Commandant of the school was originally SS Hauptsturmfuhrer Hans Krueger and the deputy and police secretary was SS Untersturmfuhrer Wilhelm Karl Johannes Rosenbaum. The Nazi Police training school was originally situated in Zakopane, but was moved to Rabka in July 1940 along with the permanent staff and the Jewish workers.[4]

It has been estimated that over thirty Jewish roundups were conducted on the neighborhoods surrounding the school. The rounded up Jews were executed inside the school and in the woods behind the school with particularly pious Jews being treated the worst.[5] To cover up the numerous murders at the school Rosenbaum ordered the Rabka Town Clerk, Cheslav Triboski, to register their deaths as “victims of heart attacks.”[5]

Notable people
  • A park in Rabka-Zdrój
    A park in Rabka-Zdrój
  • Statue of Saint Nicholas, patron saint of Rabka
    Statue of Saint Nicholas, patron saint of Rabka
  • Historic wood-frame house
    Historic wood-frame house

References
  1. Michał Rapta , Wojciech Tupta , Grzegorz Moskal. Mroczne Sekrety willi "Tereska": 1939-1945. Grafikon, 2008 (in Polish). ISBN 8360817146.
  2. Grzegorz Rossoliński-Liebe. Debating, obfuscating and disciplining the Holocaust: post-Soviet historical discourses on the OUN–UPA and other nationalist movements. East European Jewish Affairs. Vol. 42, Iss. 3, 2012
  3. Robin O'Neil. The Rabka Four - A Warning from History. Spiderwize, Office 404; Albany House 324/326 Regent Street, London, W1B 3HH, UK. 2011.
  4. "The SD Schools at Bad Rabka & Zakopane". www.holocaustresearchproject.org. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  5. "The SD Schools at Bad Rabka & Zakopane". www.holocaustresearchproject.org. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
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