Siemianowice Śląskie (Polish pronunciation: [ɕɛmjanɔˈvit͡sɛ ˈɕlɔ̃skʲɛ]; German: Siemianowitz-Laurahütte; Silesian: Śymjanowice Ślůnskje) also known as Siemianowice is a city in Upper Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice, in the core of the Metropolis GZM - a metropolis with a population of 2 million people and is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Brynica river (tributary of the Vistula).

[3] German saboteurs then entered the local mine, taking several dozen Polish miners as hostages.

[5] During the German occupation, two forced labour camps were established and operated in the city: one for Poles (Polenlager)[6] and one for Jews.

[7] In April 1944, the Germans also established a subcamp of the Auschwitz concentration camp, in which over 900 people were held and subjected to forced labour.

[8] In January 1945, the prisoners of the subcamp were taken to the Mauthausen concentration camp,[8] and shortly afterwards the Germans left the city and the occupation ended.