| Rachowice | |
| Settlement Type: | Village |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | Voivodeship |
| Subdivision Name1: | Silesian |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Gliwice |
| Subdivision Type3: | Gmina |
| Subdivision Name3: | Sośnicowice |
| Established Title: | Founded |
| Established Date: | 13th century |
| Coordinates: | 50.2833°N 47°W |
| Pushpin Map: | Poland |
| Pushpin Label Position: | right |
| Timezone: | CET |
| Utc Offset: | +1 |
| Timezone Dst: | CEST |
| Utc Offset Dst: | +2 |
| Population Total: | 699 |
| Registration Plate: | SGL |
Rachowice is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Sośnicowice, within Gliwice County, Silesian Voivodeship, in southern Poland.[1] It lies approximately 4km (02miles) west of Sośnicowice, 140NaN0 west of Gliwice, and 370NaN0 west of the regional capital Katowice.
The name of the village is of Polish origin and comes from the word rak, which means "crayfish".[2]
The village was founded in the 13th century within fragmented Piast-ruled Poland. Later on, it fell to Bohemia (Czechia) and Prussia. In 1861, it had a population of 645.[3] In 1871, it became part of the German Empire. In the 1921 Upper Silesia plebiscite, 69.5% of the residents voted to rejoin Poland,[4] which just regained independence following World War I, however the village remained within Germany in the interbellum. In 1936, during a massive Nazi campaign of renaming of placenames, the village was renamed to Buchenlust to erase traces of Polish origin.
During World War II, the Germans operated the E149 forced labour subcamp of the Stalag VIII-B/344 prisoner-of-war camp in the village.[5] British prisoners of war were engaged in forestry work. In January 1945 the prisoners of war were evacuated on foot, in extreme winter weather conditions, and had to march for four months in a generally westward direction, until liberated by Allied forces. Following the war, in 1945, the village became again part of Poland and its historic name was restored.