DEBICA - HISTORY AND INTERESTING PLACES 

The first historical mention of Debica comes from 1293, when the settlement was owned by a rich family of Gryfites. Debica must have been an important center of this part of Poland, because in the first half of the XIV century it was the seat of a so-called 'forest decanate', which consisted of 14 parishes located in the mighty Sandomierz Wilderness. 

As the settlement was conveniently located on the 'Ruska Highway', which during the XIV century became an important trade route, the Gryfites decided to incorporate it as a town. In 1358 king Casimirus The Great signed permission which allowed Swietoslaw Gryfita to organize a town based on the so-called Sroda Regulations. The same Swietoslaw only in 1372 ordered Mikolaj of Lipiny to organize Debica. Mikolaj later became the first Mayor of the new town. 

The Grifites gave 30 units of land for Debica's needs, however only 12 of them were actually used. In 1446 Debica was granted rights to organize markets which was a huge boost and step in the right direction. 

Unfortunately, at the end of the XV century the town was ransacked by the Tartars. As a result of this event, in 1502 Debica's owners - Jan from Podgrodzie and Katarzyna from Latoszyn freed town's inhabitants from rents so that they would rebuild. Furthermore, the inhabitants were allowed to get free materiel from nearby woods. Later on, two great fires burned the town to the ground. 

In XVI century the development of Debica was hampered by the fact that the town belonged to several owners who often had different and discrepant purposes. In 1554 another fire broke out which burned the parish church and several houses. Afterwards the construction of a new church began (today it is St. Jadwiga Chuch). This construction lasted for a hundred years and was not completed until 1650. 

It took such a long time because of the reformation movement which had many followers in the town (among them - a local rector). The main reason for the delays, however, were never-ending quarrels of Debica's owners - for a while there were two rectors, each appointed by a different owner. Things got so bad that one of the town's owners, one Piotr Gorski, stole all silverware from the church. Gorski returned the items only after king Sigismund August urged him to do so. 

In 1660 a huge fire broke out, destroying the town hall. The end of the XVII century brought the beginning of the so-called New Debica, which was located in the area of today?s main market square where St. Barbara church once stood. It was then that first Jewish settlers from surrounding towns came to Debica. 

Quite unusual was the fact that both Debicas - Old and New, had different mayors, who hovewer were represented by one official. 
At the end of the 18th century Debica was passed to the family of the Radziwills and later to the Raczynskis, whose main seat was Zawada castle, a few miles east of the town (this castle was destroyed by Russian troops in 1915). During the years the owners? rights were getting more and more limited but the last relics of ancient serfdom completely disappeared only at the beginning of the XX century, after Poland regained independence. 

In 1772, after the first partition of Poland, Debica became part of newly created Austrian province of Galicia. New, Austrian authorities decided that it should no longer be regarded as a town, but rather a village. Bad times came to an end in the second half of the 19th century, when Austrian government decided to build a main West-East railroad line, connecting two major centers of the Austrian province of Galicja -Krakow and Lwow. A railroad station was built, and at the end of the 19th century, another line was constructed, joining Dębica and Sandomierz. The town became a rail junction, which was a huge boost for its citizens. 

In 1900 a high school was opened, and in 1908 students from this school founded one of the oldest still existing sports clubs in Poland, Wisloka (whose name comes from the River Wisloka, which flows by the town). 
Just before World War I, Dębica was again incorporated as a town. The war was a disaster for the town, as it was almost completely destroyed. 

After Poland regained independence (1918) Debica was slowly recovering but until 1936 the progress was limited. In the middle of the 30. Polish govermnent decided to create the Central Industrial District (Centralny Okreg Przemyslowy) of which Debica became one of centers. Several factories were then built, among them Tire Company. In 1937 Debica became the capital of a former Ropczyce county. 

In September of 1939, following German aggression, Debica was occupied by Nazi troops. The county was an important center of anti-German conspiracy with several hundred partisans in forests around. A Jewish ghetto was organized and by the end of the war once numerous Jewish population of the town dissappeared. Debica was badly destroyed during the war - e.g. the German-Soviet front line divided the county for several months (August 1944 - January 1945) 

After the war Debica again started to rebuild and now it is a town of about 45,000, located in the Subcarpathian Voivodship (Wojewodztwo Podkarpackie). Unemployment rate is high due to the collapse of many heavy-industry factories. The biggest company in the county - Tire Company 'Debica' is now owned by American giant Good Year. Another huge company - paints factory Polifarb, was bought by the Swedes. 

Dębica is the birthplace of 20th century composer Krzysztof Penderecki and Teresa Orlowski, a Polish born German porn star, famous in the 70s. 

Places worth seeing 

St Jadwiga's Church 

This church stands in part of town which in the Middle Ages made the center of Debica. Even before WW2 the area within Rzeszowska and Wielopolska streets as well as the Gryfite Square was called the Old Town. 
Church was built in late Gothic style and it is the oldest (and the most precious) building in the town. Its construction started in 1558 and it lasted until 1650. At first the church was quite small, consisting only of middle part of today?s building. After the fire at the end of XIX century the building was completelty remodelled, some parts were also added. The tower was built in the years 1890-1900. 

Inside one can find a late Baroque main altar (18th century). Side altars (late Baroque and Rococco) also come from the 18th century. The painting of Maria The Helper was painted in 1903 by Giovanni Burkhardt, later Pope Leon XII consecrated it at the Vatican. 

In the adjacent Gryfite Park stands the monument of Maria which was opened in 1919 to commemorate Poland's independence. 

Military cemetery 

Founded during WW1. One can find there numerous tombs of soldiers who died in this war as well as Polish soldiers who died during war with Soviet Russia (1919-1921), during the September Campaign (1939), one hundred Polish prisoners murdered by the Germans on June 27, 1940 in the forest near Lubzina, 53 Polish partisans murdered in 1943 and 54 prisoners killed on February 2, 1944 as a reprisal for attack on a German military transport. 

Also, here rest artists connected with Debica - Jerzy Zulawski (writer, died in 1915), Waleria Szalay-Groele (author of historical books, died in 1957) and Władysław Strumski (writer and anti-German resistance fighter, died in 1991). In 1996 a symbolic tomb of Debica's citizens who died in Siberia was opened. 

Jewish cemetery 

This is one of the few monuments which remain us of once numerous Debica's Jewish community. For years it was neglected and devastated - even condominiums were built on some tombs. In 1996 it was renovated and enclosed due to the efforts of Nissenbaum Family Foundation. 

The Synagogue 

Late Baroque Jewish place of worship, built in the 17th century is located on Krakowska street, west of main market square. After conflicts with Polish population the original synagogue was destroyed in 1712. Only at the end of the 18th century the place was rebuilt. 
During WW2 the building was burned by the Germans. After the war remodelled, today it serves as a department store even though it belongs to Krakow's Jewish community. On the walls there are interesting ornaments