Lublin in the context of "Gas chamber"

The Union of Lublin (Polish: Unia lubelska; Lithuanian: Liublino unija) was signed on 1 July 1569 in Lublin, Poland, and created a single state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest countries in Europe at the time. It replaced the personal union of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with a real union and an elective monarchy, as Sigismund II Augustus, the last of the Jagiellons, remained childless after three marriages. In addition, the autonomy of Royal Prussia was largely abandoned. The Duchy of Livonia, tied to Lithuania in real union since the Union of Grodno (1566), became a Polish–Lithuanian condominium.

The Commonwealth was ruled by a single elected monarch who carried out the duties of King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, and governed with a common Senate and parliament (the Sejm). The Union is seen by some as an evolutionary stage in the Polish–Lithuanian alliance and personal union, necessitated also by Lithuania's dangerous position in wars with Russia.

Lublin Voivodeship (Polish: województwo lubelskie [vɔjɛˈvut͡stfɔ luˈbɛlskʲɛ] ) is a voivodeship (province) of Poland, located in the southeastern part of the country, with its capital being the city of Lublin.

The region is named after its largest city and regional capital, Lublin, and its territory is made of four historical lands: the western and central part of the voivodeship, with Lublin itself, belongs to Lesser Poland, the eastern part of Lublin Area belongs to Cherven Cities/Red Ruthenia, and the northeast belongs to Polesie and Podlasie.Lublin Voivodeship borders Subcarpathian Voivodeship to the south, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship to the south-west, Masovian Voivodeship to the west and north, Podlaskie Voivodeship along a short boundary to the north, Belarus (Brest Region) and Ukraine (Lviv and Volyn Regions) to the east. The region's population as of 2024 was 1,996,440. It covers an area of 25,155 square kilometres (9,712 sq mi).

In the history of Poland, a royal city or royal town (Polish: miasto królewskie) was an urban settlement within the crown lands (Polish: królewszczyzna).

The most influential royal cities enjoyed voting rights during the free election period in Poland (1572–1791). These cities were Gdańsk, Warsaw, Kraków, Poznań, Lwów, Wilno, Toruń, Lublin, Kamieniec and Elbląg. Other important royal cities included Gniezno (ecclesiastical capital of Poland and former capital of early medieval Poland), Płock (former capital of medieval Poland), Piotrków (second most important political center of Poland in the early and mid-16th century as the main location of the Sejm, and then the main Crown Tribunal location alongside Lublin, thus one of the two judiciary capitals of Poland), Grodno (de facto capital of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 1580s and then the general sejm location alongside Warsaw), Bydgoszcz and Kalisz (temporary locations of the Crown Tribunal), and Sandomierz, Przemyśl, Kazimierz.

Chełm (Polish: [xɛwm] ; Ukrainian: Холм, romanized: Kholm; Yiddish: כעלם, romanized: Khelm) is a city in eastern Poland in the Lublin Voivodeship with 60,231 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is located to the south-east of Lublin, north of Zamość and south of Biała Podlaska, some 25 kilometres (16 miles) from the border with Ukraine.

The city is of mostly industrial character, though it also features numerous notable historical monuments and tourist attractions in the Old Town. Chełm is a multiple (former) bishopric. In the third quarter of the 13th century, it was the capital of the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia. Chełm was once a multicultural and religious centre populated by Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Protestants and Jews. The Jewish population was decimated in World War II, going from 15,000 Jewish inhabitants to mere dozens. From 1975 to 1998 it was the capital of the Chełm Voivodeship. The city's landmarks are the Castle Hill with the Basilica of the Birth of the Virgin Mary and the unique Chełm Chalk Tunnels spanning some 15 kilometres (9 mi) of underground routes.

Bolesław Bierut ([bɔˈlɛswaf ˈbʲɛrut] ; 18 April 1892 – 12 March 1956) was a Polish communist activist and politician, leader of communist-ruled Poland from 1948 until 1956. He was President of the State National Council from 1944 to 1947, President of Poland from 1947 to 1952, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party from 1948 to 1956, and Prime Minister of Poland from 1952 to 1954. Bierut is believed to have worked as an NKVD informant or agent prior to 1945, although his relationship with the Soviet agency has been a subject of debate among historians. As communist leader, he implemented aspects of the Stalinist system in Poland. Together with Władysław Gomułka, his main rival, Bierut is chiefly responsible for the historic changes that Poland underwent in the aftermath of World War II. Unlike any of his communist successors, Bierut led Poland until his death.

Born in Congress Poland on the outskirts of Lublin, Bierut joined the Polish Socialist Party in 1912. Later he became a member of the Communist Party of Poland and spent some years in the Soviet Union. He was sentenced to a prison term in 1935 for conducting illegal labor activity in Poland by the anti-communist Sanation government and was later released in 1938. During World War II, Bierut was an activist of the newly founded Polish Workers' Party (PPR) and subsequently the chairman of the State National Council (KRN), established by the PPR. Trusted by Joseph Stalin, Bierut participated in the Potsdam Conference, where he successfully lobbied for the establishment of Poland's western border at the Oder–Neisse line.

An industrial city or industrial town is a town or city in which the municipal economy, at least historically, is centered around industry, with important factories or other production facilities in the town. It has been part of most countries' industrialization process. Air pollution and toxic waste have contributed to the lower life expectancy in some industrial cities. Industrial cities are distinguished from port cities or other transportation hubs, which deal in services. In countries with strong central planning, such as China and India, a city could be created on paper, and then industry found to locate there.

In the United States, which had much sparsely populated land, the industry typically preceded the town; the town grew up around a factory, mine, or source of water power. As the industry grew, and it and its employees needed goods and services, the town grew with and often around it, until in some cases the town became a city. It is a capitalistic and typically unplanned expansion. Examples are Scranton, Pennsylvania, and the mill towns of New England. Many American industrial cities are located in the Great Lakes region of the country, often referred to as the Rust Belt, referring to the declining industry and overall economy of many cities in the region. "The industrial city" as a nickname, though, most frequently refers to South San Francisco, where the term is inscribed on a hillside sign.

Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name Małopolska (Polish: [mawɔˈpɔlska] ; Latin: Polonia Minor), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a separate culture featuring diverse architecture, folk costumes, dances, cuisine, traditions and a rare Lesser Polish dialect. The region is rich in historical landmarks, monuments, castles, natural scenery and UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The region should not be confused with the modern Lesser Poland Voivodeship, which covers only the southwestern part of Lesser Poland. Historical Lesser Poland was much larger than the current voivodeship that bears its name. It reached from Bielsko-Biała in the southwest as far as to Siedlce in the northeast. It consisted of the three voivodeships of Kraków, Sandomierz and Lublin.