Brzezinka (German: Birkenau) is a village in Poland, located about 3 km from Oświęcim, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Oświęcim County, Oświęcim Commune.
General information
Brzezinka - village located in the Lesser Poland region of Poland, gmina (county) of Oświęcim (Auschwitz), at the confluence of the rivers Vistula and Soła, at the very center of the Vistula Valley, 240 meters above sea level. By the time of the construction of the first railroad station in 1856 the station was on Brzezinka's territory, but later it was transplanted to nearby Oświęcim (Auschwitz). It's a large village, with several roads. It predominantly consists of village style housing. Two major factories are found there: Maszyn Górniczych "Omag", which in the 1930's, called Spółka Akcyjna Zjednoczenia Fabryk Maszyn i Samochodów "Oświęcim" (Auschwitz United Machinery and Automobile Manufacturing Inc.) which produced the "Oświęcim-Praga" which won a Monte Carlo Rally and the Polinova Company (popularly known as Papownia).
History
The name Brzezinka was given to the area as far back as 1385 and stems from the Polish word for the birch trees which are plentiful. From 1440 to 1483 Brzezinka was owned by Jan Brzeziński. During World War II while Poland was occupied by Germany the village was chosen as the site of the Auschwitz-Birkenau (Auschwitz II) Nazi death camp, which still exists along with Auschwitz I as state museums to memorialize the victims of Nazism and the Holocaust. On April 1, 2007 it was featured on The Amazing Race: All-Stars.
