The old story of Górki Śląskie.

The first prince of the Upper Silesia was called Mieszko. He built a stronghold on the bank of the Oder River, called Racibórz. Racibórz was located on a major trade route along which merchant caravans travelled from east to west, and from south to north. In the middle ages the Duchy of Racibórz was covered by large thick Silesian Forest. The forest delivered whatever the first settlers needed: timber, wood, fruit and a possibility of hunting. That’s why this forest was a favourite place for hunters. The tenants of the land or the peasants were obliged to receive the whole Duke’s entourage while hunting. It was worth spending a few days in the dark forest in order to shoot the king of the Silesian Nature: the Deer. What’s more, other species were in abundance: follow deer, roe deer, wild boar, bear or beaver in the rivers.
In the XIII century Mieszko’s heir, the prince Kazimierz was a very religious ruler. He decided to organise a Crusade to the Holy Land. The Duke and his 12 best knights fought against the pagans who took over Jesus Christ’s birthplace. On the return way the Silesian ruler married the Bulgarian Emperor’s daughter, princess Violette. As a wedding gift prince Kazimierz received the picture of Mother of God the Humble. Since that event Rudy became a very famous Sanctuary, where Our Lady of Humble was said to do wonders. Praying to her, many people were cured or found a great consolation.
When the Duke came back to his possessions, he gave a part of his land to knights in reward for their courage. The ruler had an interest in ensuring the safety of travellers, pilgrims and merchants. Five of his knights were granted a hilly land on a major trade from Racibórz towards the village Rudy, where the Cistercians settled down. The knights Mark, Adam, Bogun and Rasko founded the following settlements: Markowice, Adamowice, Bogunice, Raszczyce because of its first lord’s name. The last knight Waniek founded a little settlement in the valley of the Sumina River ( catfish river).
The knight Waniek held a land owned by the Duke of Racibórz. His land was located at the bottom of a hilly coutryside. Waniek invited first settlers. They were peasants, fishermen and woodcutters. The village, which was surrounded by swampy areas, forests and streams, offered favourable conditions for the construction of a fortified tower. The village was called Boża Góra,which meant a divine mountain. The knight called it Boża Góra because this land was given to him by the Duke in reward for fighting in the Holy Land.
The knight built his residence on an earth mound . The wooden tower, 15 metres high was protected from 3 sides by a moat. On the last side the Sumina River was flowing. A wooden fence or pallisade surrouded the fortress. Inside the fortress there were some thatched cottages of peasants. The knight’s duty was to protect not only his peasants but also defend merchants, pilgrims travelling from Wrocław to the Cistercian Monastery in Rudy.
The fortress had 3 floors. On the ground floor the tower had a pantry and a warehouse. On the first floor there was a living room with a tiled stove whose tiles represented dragons and eagles – the Bohemian coat of arms. It proved that he was interested in the Fine Arts. In the XIII century knight Waniek swore an oath of alliegance to the Bohemian king. From the top floor the residents could observe the surrounding area and a possible attack of their enemies. In peaceful times the villagers went fishing, as the Sumina River was full of catfish. Also a miller used to harness the power of the Sumina Water to work the wheelmill nearby. In the surrounding forest woodcutters cut down the trees and produced charcoal, wood tar and pitch. The pigs found food in this forest. From time to time the merchant’s caravans or pilgrims passed on through a silent village of Boża Góra.
According to the feudal system and the code of chivalry our knight should not hurt anybody exept in a fair battle and had to do his best in protecting travellers on his way through the dark forest.
When Waniek saw his people getting richer and happier, he was worried about it. He became greedy and forced them to work harder and pay more taxes. He made merchants pay extra money. The local knight wanted to become richer at the cost of his servants and travellers. Moreover, he started to attack the surrounding villages and plunder the caravans. Since then the Boża Góra settlement was a hiding place for robbers and outlaws like his landowner. Instead of defending countrymen knight Waniek with his sword and spears rode a horse to the neighbouring villages. The inhabitans were on guard and rang bells to warn other villagers of danger coming from the evil knight – Bies. From that time he was called Bies or Jastrząb ( hawk) because he rode in his shinning armour and robbed at top speed. Nowadays this village is called Zwonowice, the place where people rang bells in order to warn others. Finally the Hawk knight became a cruel man. The merchants used to stay away from the Bies’s residence. However, the Jewish caravan of merchants travelling from the Monastery of Rudy were uncounscious of the danger. The local highwayman attacked them from the forest, cut the merchants’ heads off and took all goods from the Jews. Later on the woodland was called “Żydowina” to commemorate this event and the village of the evil knight was called Górki because of the hilly countryside.
The Duke of Racibórz finaly decided to settle with Waniek. So the ruler prepared for a battle against the cruel and wicked knight from Górki. His wooden tower was burnt and all his possessions destroyed. The evil knight was shot with an arrow. After the landowner’s death only three families stayed there. The man called Czerny (Black man) occupied the site of the burnt tower. The second settler’s name was Kałuża ( a puddle) who took up a site of great water. The last settler, called Macher or Machnik (from German) started to live in a place between the former tower and the forest.
Once upon a time, after a fire of the defensive tower the tree families ...