in the 17th century The
Polish historical region that encompasses
Lublin, and approximates Lublin Voivodeship as it was before the
Partitions of Poland, is known as
Lubelszczyzna. Provinces centred on Lublin have existed throughout much of Poland's history; for details see the section below on
Previous Lublin Voivodeships. Cities and towns of greatest historic importance are Lublin,
Chełm,
Kazimierz Dolny and
Zamość. Lublin hosted several sessions of the Polish Parliament, including the session which established the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (see
Union of Lublin), and was the seat of the
Crown Tribunal for the
Lesser Poland Province, the highest appeal court in the Kingdom of Poland, and
Parczew also hosted one session of the Polish Parliament.
Horodło was the place of signing of the Polish–Lithuanian
Union of Horodło, predating the Union of Lublin. In the 17th century, there were sizeable
Scottish communities in Lublin and Zamość, and also a smaller one in
Opole Lubelskie. Lublin and Zamość also hosted
Armenian minorities. The industry of the region was greatly expanded as part of the
Central Industrial Region of Poland. in the 1930s The region was, before World War II, one of the world's leading centres of
Judaism. Before the middle of the 16th century, there were few Jews in the area, concentrated in
Lublin,
Kazimierz Dolny, and perhaps
Chełm; but the founding of new private towns led to a large movement of Jews into the region to develop trade and services. Since these new towns competed with the existing towns for business, there followed a low-intensity, long-lasting feeling of resentment, with failed attempts to limit the Jewish immigration. The Jews tended to settle mostly in the cities and towns, with only individual families setting up businesses in the rural regions; this urban/rural division became another factor feeding resentment of the newly arrived economic competitors. By the middle of the 18th century, Jews were a significant part of the population in
Kraśnik,
Lubartów and
Łęczna. By the 20th century, Jews represented greater than 70% of the population in eleven towns and close to 100% of the population of
Łaszczów and
Izbica. From this region came both religious figures such as
Mordechai Josef Leiner of Izbica,
Chaim Israel Morgenstern of
Puławy, and
Motele Rokeach of
Biłgoraj, as well as famous secular author
Israel Joshua Singer. Israel's brother, the Nobel prize winner
Isaac Bashevis Singer, was not born in Biłgoraj but lived part of his life in the city. The "Old Town" of the city of
Lublin contained a famous
yeshiva, Jewish hospital, synagogue, cemetery, and kahal, as well as the
Grodzka Gate (known as the Jewish Gate). Before the war, there were 300,000
Jews living in the region, which became the site of the
Majdanek concentration camp,
Bełżec extermination camp and
Sobibór extermination camp as well as several
labour camps (
Trawniki,
Poniatowa,
Budzyn,
Puławy,
Zamość,
Biała Podlaska, and the Lublin work camps
Lipowa 7 camp,
Flugplatz, and
Sportplatz) which produced military supplies for the
Wehrmacht and
Luftwaffe. This was once one of the biggest forced labour centres in
German-occupied Europe, with approximately 45,000 Jewish prisoners. After the war, the few surviving Jews largely left the area; today there is some restoration of areas of Jewish historical interest, and a surge of tourism by Jews seeking to view their families' historical roots. Polish people were also victims of German persecution and
crimes, including the
AB-Aktion,
Aktion T4 and
Operation Zamość with deportations to
Nazi concentration camps, forced labour,
kidnapping of children and massacres in the region. It witnessed the Polish
Zamość uprising against German occupation. There were also
German prisoner-of-war camps for Polish,
French,
Italian, Dutch, Belgian,
Senegalese and Soviet prisoners of war in
Chełm,
Dęblin,
Biała Podlaska,
Zamość,
Kaliłów with several
forced labour subcamps, where many died from starvation, epidemics or were massacred. Lublin Voivodeship was created on January 1, 1999, out of the former
Lublin,
Chełm,
Zamość,
Biała Podlaska and (partially)
Tarnobrzeg and
Siedlce Voivodeships, pursuant to
Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998. == Cities and towns ==