| The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07. |
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B dzin |
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(b N´j n) (KEY) , Ger. Bendzin (bn´ts n) (KEY) , town (1993 est. pop. 65,100),  l skie prov., SE Poland, on the Czarna Przemsza River, a tributary of the Vistula. It is a heavy industry and coal-mining center. Founded in the 14th cent., Bdzin was situated on the Wroc aw-Kraków trade route. The first coal mine in the Upper Silesian basin opened at Bdzin in 1785. The town passed to Prussia in 1795 and to Russia in 1815; it was returned to Poland in 1919. In World War II, the Germans built a concentration camp there in which more than 10,000 of the town’s citizens were killed. In Bdzin are the ruins of a 13th-century castle. |
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| | | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright © 2007 Columbia University Press. |
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