text:
Talk:Mother Teresa/Archive 3

Easy Issues
''Put your user name (three tildes) next to each option you can live with. These are not votes per se, but it helps others to see what everyone else thinks we should do.''

Where to put the article
Note: any title(s) not chosen will redirect to the chosen title
 * Mother Teresa - Uncle Ed, Pfortuny, Hemanshu
 * Teresa of Calcutta - Uncle Ed, Pfortuny

What to call the person
First reference (bold, opening words of the article):
 * Mother Teresa of Calcutta - Uncle Ed

 * Mother Teresa - Uncle Ed, Pfortuny, JamesDay, Hemanshu
 * Teresa of Calcutta - Uncle Ed, Pfortuny
 * Blessed Mother Teresa -

Google, last 3 months, on 15 Nov 2003: Given our policies, the answer on the article name seems clear and it also seems clear that we need to mention all three versions in the opening paragraph, with Teresa of Calcutta the most droppable (because blessed is now her official title and has to stay for that reason). JamesDay 09:28, 15 Nov 2003 (UTC) There is no difference between 'Blessed' and 'Duchess'. Or 'Sri'. These are styles. As long as Wikipedia is consistent, that's what matters Wetman 22:13, 16 Nov 2003 (UTC)
 * "Mother Teresa": 332,000
 * "Teresa of Calcutta": 20,700
 * "Blessed Teresa": 1,350

Hard Issues

 * How much criticism do we want in this article?
 * As much as can be written about neutrally. If any particular source begins to dominate, we could create a linked article which just describes that criticism.
 * Who is "qualified" to be a critic?
 * Christoper Hitchens?
 * Not for me (see reasons far above). Pfortuny
 * How do we deal with "unqualified" critics?
 * Ignore them altogether
 * Mention briefly that they've offered criticism?
 * Link to their website or magazine interview?
 * Have a separate article summarizing their book?

Specific sections of the article
''If a sysop protects the article, we can still edit the excerpts below. We can even display multiple versions!''

First paragraph
Teresa of Calcutta, known for most of her life as Mother Teresa, (August 26 1910 - September 5 1997), Catholic nun and founder of the Missionaries of Charity, became a figure of veneration within the Catholic church, and admiration beyond it, for her work among the poor of Calcutta. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in October 2003, and Catholics call her Blessed Teresa.

 * It is absurd to title the article with a name that no-one recognises and was never used in her lifetime.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta (August 26 1910 - September 5 1997), Catholic nun and founder of the Missionaries of Charity, became a figure of veneration within the Catholic church, and admiration beyond it, for her work among the poor of Calcutta. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in October 2003, and Catholics call her Blessed Teresa.

 * Has Alexandros accepted that he will not edit the article or abuse people in the Talk page without Pfortuny's clearance?
 * Adam 16:20, 14 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Alexandros has a clean slate. Why? Because I said so, and no one objected :-)

He doesn't need clearance from anyone to edit the article; it's been unprotected.

I'm sure he won't "abuse" anyone, as you put it -- especially if we all are "nice" to him! --Uncle Ed 19:14, 14 Nov 2003 (UTC)

I like the Mother Teresa of Calcutta opening. It nicely covers two of the Google name search results I posted above. Not sure that "Catholics call here Blessed Teresa" is right - wouldn't something like "the Catholic church now officially calls her..." be better, unless Catholics have generally switched from Mother Teresa - seems quite unlikely to me that they have. JamesDay 09:31, 15 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Definitely support "now officially calls her." I've never heard anyone use it.Jmabel
 * Type and it will be converted to your user name when you save. Type ~ to get user name and timestamp. The tilde ~ character is often just to the left of the number 1 at the top left of US keyboards. JamesDay 11:36, 16 Nov 2003 (UTC)

To Ed, from on bended knee
So, a big round of applause for Ed for taking time out of his busy schedule to demonstrate to us blithering halfwits mired in mindless bickering how collaborative decision-making works. I guess we just needed a guy with uncle in his name to set us straight, and I propose that when he is done here we see if we can't fast-track him too for beatification -- I think Blessed would be much more becoming and appropriate title.

Your humble servant, Viajero 20:09, 14 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * Note to the humor-impaired: the above was meant as sarcasm.

I said earlier that I wouldn't participate further in editing this article unless Aplank (now Alexandros) was banned from editing. I later modified that by accepting Pfortuny's proposal that he act as an intermediary between Alex and the page: ie, that Alex will not edit without Pfort's approval. I still have not seen an explicit statement from Pfort that that arrangement is now in place, or from Alex that he accepts it. Until I see both of these I maintain my view that editing cannot go ahead. Adam 06:23, 15 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * I have not that agreement. As I told you the above post is what I got. On the other hand I think it is not wise from you to expect from me to agree to that. You may expect it from Alex, but not from me. Pfortuny 08:03, 15 Nov 2003 (UTC) Maybe Pedro ---which is my name--- is simpler to type than Pfortuny? :).

Well in that case we can't proceed, IMHO. Adam 10:03, 15 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Also, here is a piece of text I posted at the debate about Wahhabism. It is also relevant here, because the problem is the same. Just substitute "fundamentalist Catholicism" for "Islam."

''A comment on Anjouli's opinion on Wikipedia. Historically the encyclopaedia is a characteristic project of the Enlightenment intellectual (Diderot, Voltaire etc). It rests on the assumption that there is an objective truth about all subjects, which can be known to humans and discerned through scientific inquiry, and written about dispassionately by the enlightened intellectual. WP reflects this ideology as much as any other encyclopaedia, and so it should. This ideology cannot help but be hostile to the absolutist religious view of the world, which holds that knowledge belongs to God and can only be known to humans through revelation or scripture. That absolutist view is today most typically represented by Islam, although it exists also in Christianity, Judaism and Hinduism. The very fact that we are writing about Islam in a rationalist and secularist manner makes us hostile to Islam whatever our subjective intention, so we might as well acknowledge that. We can try as hard as we like to be NPOV about Islam, but we will never succeed in doing so in a manner satisfactory to serious Muslims. So we shouldn't try to defer to them. (I take the same view in relation to Catholics at Mother Teresa, by the way: as an atheist I have no specific hostility to Islam, just to the theocratic worldview in general).'' Adam 06:23, 15 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * Well, only with some minor changes (and I mean minor) I agree to translating that using "fundamentalist Catholicism" (wiht the adjective). The text with that phrasing is correct for me (but I insist, with one or two modifications). Because any fundamentalism is as far from the truth as any relativism. In medio virtus. Pfortuny 08:03, 15 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Since Alex has neither been banned from this page nor agreed to refrain from editing it, I am, as previously advised, withdrawing from work on this article. I have made a contribution in the form of the biography section but I have better things to do then endlessly defend it against religious fanatics. Pax vobiscum. Adam 05:51, 16 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * I only want to express my regret and tell the others to realize that Adam's withdrawal is most harmful for this article. Its history and the debates here bear witness to this. Pfortuny 10:34, 16 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Pfortuny: While I agree that Hitchens is for the most part unqualified, it would still be appropriate to mention him if it only takes up less than 5 sentences. I would be willing to alot a little more room if others want more than 5 sentences of criticism, but I think we all agree, that the criticism section should be at least shortened, and I am sure that no one thinks it should be longer. Alexandros 22:35, 16 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * I won't object to a brief mention (or to his evaporation from the article) for the reasons I gave. But I think we need much more consensus here before making any changes to that section. Pfortuny 09:08, 17 Nov 2003 (UTC)
 * I would like to propose a vote then.

Yes

 * Alexandros 13:51, 17 Nov 2003 (UTC)

No

 * —Eloquence 14:00, Nov 17, 2003 (UTC) (nonsense, this article has already been butchered by Teresa-fans beyond recognition and in violation of every neutrality policy that has ever been written)

 * Could you please point the names? I am not aware. Pfortuny 14:53, 17 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * Peruse the archives and the page history. Conspicuously missing, for example: Robin Fox noted that Teresa's order does not distinguish between curable and incurable patients. That means that people who could otherwise survive will die because of infections and insufficient care! These people go to Teresa's homes in expectation of food, shelter and medical help, and what they get is a graveyard, with secret baptisms before their passing (and food only if they have food stamps, distributed chiefly to - you guessed it - good Catholics). Where did the pictures go, anyway? There was never any consensus decision to remove them. Partisans like Aplank have tried to dominate this article and turn it into a love-fest for Mother T., to ignore criticism under the pretense that critics are not qualified (a work critical of MT apparently needs an official church imprimatur to be accepted!), and to remove everything that contradicts their preconceived notions. This ridiculous and primitive understanding of "bias" that is underlying these uninformed opinions would mean that the only person qualified to write about Mother Teresa is someone who knows nothing about her (hence no bias).

 * Ask yourself, in all honesty, what you are trying to achieve: Are you trying to comply with our neutrality policy -- because if anything, this article is currently biased in MT's favor, ignoring "negative" pictures, summarizing away important details and missing lots of the criticisms in Chatterjee's book -- or are you trying to uphold an image that has been etched into your brain, unwilling and unable to change your opinion about a person that has been beatified and canonized by the media even before the church could get on the job? Those who are not willing to examine the MT issue with an open mind should withdraw from this article and focus on pages they are more qualified to edit. I'm sure there are some historical controversies about the immaculate conception that are not yet covered.

 * It's this simple: If the Church refuses to address the criticisms of MT, then they will remain without objection by the Church. If the Church feels that they can ignore how MT is perceived in academic and intellectual circles, as long as the unwashed masses continue to see her as the saint she wasn't, then nobody here should be surprised that the criticism section in the article about MT remains largely without answers. It is completely fallacious and ignorant to blame the critics for the lack of any kind of rebuttal or response to these criticisms, or to demand that they be shortened or removed because of that. If the same logic was applied on the Israel/Palestinian issue on Wikipedia, there'd be Wiki World War III in no time ("the Israelis have not responded, so let's just cut down the Palestinian position to 5 paragraphs").

 * The attempt by some Wikipedians to fill the holes in the MT picture with their own explanations is so clearly in violation of NPOV it's embarrassing. Wikipedia draws on published facts and opinions, not on the opinions of its authors. If you know of published rebuttals to the criticisms, then include them by all means, I'll be the first to assist you if you need any help. But don't butcher away facts you don't like to achieve Fox News style "balance".—Eloquence 15:20, Nov 17, 2003 (UTC)

 * So you are pointing Aplank? That is what I was asking for. I never said I was happy with his edits, as you can see in the history. Anyone else?
 * Conceptually (not the precise content) I quite agree with your text, but I might also tell you that people have a lot to do better than refuting ridiculous accusations: and I know you agree with me. Work comes before rebutting stupidity.
 * Please assume honesty on my part as I assume it on yours. Pfortuny 15:43, 17 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Eloquence, could you calm down and cheer up? Yes, it is me Pfortuny 17:28, 17 Nov 2003 (UTC)

No

 * Astavakra 17 Nov 2003

Missing facts and criticisms

 * Details on MT's campaign against abortion and contraception, which often included high level last minute political meetings to prevent a certain bill from passing
 * The real world extent of her operations in Calcutta, e.g. the lack of ambulance support even though the order possesses city-donated ambulances (used to carry the nuns through the city), no medical help for people who still have living relatives, however distant
 * Chatterjee's observations on MT rarely even being in Calcutta in her later years, preferring to spend her time in Rome or New York (Lady Di tried to arrange a meeting with MT in Calcutta, nine times, which eventually had to be held in Rome because MT was never there!)
 * Chatterjee's various, well-documented rebuttals of MT's countless numerical claims about her order's size and extent of her operations, which often contradicted each other, and were nowhere near the real data (those who explain this with MT being bad with numbers should realize that she never erred to her disadvantage, see chapter 2 in Chatterjee's book)
 * Her and her order's lack of intervention in any real world catastrophes, while the order continued to exaggerate its own relevance in media interviews (see chapter 1 in Chatterjee's book)
 * the Muggeridge connection -- Muggeridge was a staunch anti-secularist whose early work about MT propelled her to international fame. Muggeridge was also part of the "Congress for Cultural Freedom", a CIA organization founded for the purpose of spreading propaganda to counter the "communist threat" (documented in F. Stonor Saunders: Who Paid the Piper?), see chapter 3 in Chatterjee's book
 * MT's spiritual doubts (see last section in this revision)
 * the fake "miracle" required for her beatification, also included in the same revision but missing from the current one

Potential separate article:

 * Mother Teresa and the media - could include the Muggeridge history and other relevant material, e.g. statistics on how many critical/non-critical articles were published over the years

Stuff for Missionaries of Charity
 * Torture allegations can be moved there since MT likely had nothing to do with the few cases where that occurred
 * Comparison with other charities operating in Calcutta (see chapter 11 of Chatterjee's book)

And there's still a lot of stuff missing even when that is added. Let's face it: Virtually everyone working on this article so far (including myself) has focused on "sanitizing" the criticism section that is currently in it, even though Chatterjee's well researched book is available in full text, for free, on the web. I challenge MT's defenders to read it and argue why these criticisms should not be included in the article.—Eloquence 17:38, Nov 17, 2003 (UTC)

Accuracy dispute
Who disputes the factual accuracy? What do they dispute? I want specific paragraphs and claims, otherwise I will remove the dispute header.—Eloquence 17:39, Nov 17, 2003 (UTC)

 * Yes, you are right. Nobody disputes the factual accuracy. Apologies.

 * Yes, you are right in the above paragraphs also. There are lots of stuff missing: a cousin of mine told me that they hated Mother Teresa in his village for not building up a factory there. Should this be included?

 * You had better calm down, Eloquence. Pfortuny 17:52, 17 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Pfortuny 17:52, 17 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * If there is a publication about your cousin's opinion, and there is any relevant context that explains why these actions of MT contradict his expectations, e.g. if MT promised to provide funds for building it and did not do so, then yes, of course it should be included. It would be helpful if you could provide real world examples instead of made up ones, though.—Eloquence 17:59, Nov 17, 2003 (UTC)

By the way may the others notice that Eloquence is going agaist the (maybe tacit) agreements concerning photos, captions, etc...? Pfortuny 17:55, 17 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * Nonsense. I have used Jtdirl's captions as they were before the images were inexplicably removed.—Eloquence 17:59, Nov 17, 2003 (UTC)

 * If you could give a link? Pfortuny 18:01, 17 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * I already did - see links above. Check the history and you will find that my original captions were much longer; I still think that they should be reinstated and there was no clear consensus either way, but I'll let it rest for now.—Eloquence

Eloquence, you win: I give up this page for a month at least. Mother Teresa wants our happiness, and it would be absurd to waste time here on her behalf. Enjoy your editing meanwhile. Pfortuny 18:03, 17 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * By MT's definition, happiness was suffering -- according to that view, your departure makes me very unhappy.—Eloquence 18:23, Nov 17, 2003 (UTC)

Don't be so sarcastic, Erik. Can you possibly for one minute be constructive and neutral and leave your personal agenda to one side? FearÉIREANN 20:41, 17 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * I have said what I think needs to be changed in the current article. Do you have any other suggestions? Given that the article largely reflects the result of the recent vote as it is, I don't see any reason for you to be still grumpy.—Eloquence 21:05, Nov 17, 2003 (UTC)

Eloquence, you win: As Pfortuny said, " Mother Teresa wants our happiness, and it would be absurd to waste time here on her behalf. Enjoy your editing meanwhile." Your removal of the quotes from Mother Teresa is the last straw. I agree with Jtdirl. When you have become neutral, I will possibly come back. Alexandros 21:22, 17 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * As I have explained, we should avoid self-references ("Wikiquote says .." -- see Avoid self-references) and isolated quotation sections and try to integrate such material into the article proper. Alternatively, add a link to the Wikiquote page to "External links". Wikiquote should not be treated by Wikipedia any different from any other website, so that third parties re-using our material (see Sites using Wikipedia content) will not have to clean it from Wikimedia-idiosyncratic material. This has nothing to do with the quote content, it is purely a matter of style.—Eloquence 21:33, Nov 17, 2003 (UTC)

I will take out Torture section as it is too obscure to include and does not concern mother teresa. There IS an article about the mission of charity. Alexandros 22:37, 25 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * Please move it there instead of deleting it entirely.—Eloquence 04:32, Nov 26, 2003 (UTC)

It fails just about every criteria for inclusion. Its heading is POV. Its content is unevidenced. It does not have relevance to the subject of the article. It would not stand 30 seconds in any professionally edited encyclopædia and deserved instant deletion. FearÉIREANN 19:26, 26 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * Wrong, James, on all counts. At the point where you have published witness reports from reasonably credible persons, as well as news reports, as well as an admission of inappropriate behavior from the person running the homes, the allegations become worthy of inclusion, although I do agree (and have always agreed) that they do not necessarily belong here.—Eloquence 20:06, Nov 26, 2003 (UTC)

No, Erik. Ever heard of source, relevance, context, the mantra for accurate writing? The source expresses opinions that no link to the person being discussed. As there is no link there is no relevance. And professional writing is based on factual contextualisation, again which has no point here. I am not saying the allegations are true or untrue. I am saying that in the context of an encyclopædic article, the source is not sufficiently backed up by evidence, and cannot be without going down irrelevant tangents in the context of this article. And there is 0 relevance. FearÉIREANN 20:18, 26 Nov 2003 (UTC)~

 * The standard of evidence is sufficient for making the statements that have been made, and the relevance is obvious given their gravity, just like we would (and do) write about child sex abuse allegations against MJ, even if they are as of yet less substantiated than the ones against the MoC. As I said, however, this discussion should be moved to Missionaries of Charity.—Eloquence 20:54, Nov 26, 2003 (UTC)

 * sigh*. Here we go again. The community edit the page down to introduce some degree of NPOV and encylopædic content, and Erik jumps in and undoes everything and decides to go back to his version, including bits all sides agree to take out.  No, Erik. We are not going back in time to play to your prejudices. FearÉIREANN 19:32, 29 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * Thank you Jtdirl. After the page was reverted, Erik said this to me :

 * Massive reverts of the type you did on the Mother Teresa article are entirely unacceptable and in violation of every established rule and policy on Wikipedia. If you continue this, I will report this behavior and you will quite possibly be banned from editing.—Eloquence 05:26, Nov 29, 2003 (UTC)

 * I think the way he threatens individual wikipedians is a problem in itself, but the issue is Mother Teresa. If he does another addition of this POV rubbish, someone else would need to revert, as I would rather stay away from conflict. Alexandros 19:38, 29 Nov 2003 (UTC)

You're lying, James. The additions were meaningful and neutral, and not in contradiction with any past agreements. Obviously you can't read either. Alexandros reverted to a version which contains paragraphs like this: "These people go to Teresa's homes in expectation of food, shelter and medical help, and what they get is a graveyard, with secret baptisms before their passing." Of course Alexandros hasn't read this because he just blindly reverts. This was added by Ed Poor directly from the talk page and fixed by me later. —Eloquence 20:13, Nov 29, 2003 (UTC)

 * No, I reverted to Ed Poor's edit. You are mistaken. Alexandros 21:30, 29 Nov 2003 (UTC)

My take on this article: Why should those pictures not be included? Sure, they show MT in a bad light because she associates with questionable characters (see also picture on Donald Rumsfeld). However, it was of her own volition that she associated with said people. This is not a mere inclusion of "stupid" pictures, such as eg. a picture of someone picking their nose. These pictures are relevant. Removing them is therefore a deletion of factual information - not acceptable. I did a quick search through this talk page and its archive for the string "picture" and "image". Nowhere did I find any discussion on removing the pictures. Maybe someone can point me to it or recap the arguments for removing this information. I do not think that Erik's comment regarding the banning of Alexandros were appropriate, but that should not distract us from improving this article. --snoyes 21:25, 29 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * Alexandros is Aplank, his past edits to this articles have been so POV to be ludicrous. This massive revert is merely the tip of the iceberg.—Eloquence 21:28, Nov 29, 2003 (UTC)
 * I have never made a POV teresa edit. (unless blanking the entire page, which I did out of ignorance, counts) Alexandros

 * You did not just blank the entire page, you repeatedly tried to remove everything negative about MT. It is quite clear that you lack the necessary emotional distance to edit this article.—Eloquence

 * The community agreed upon Adam Carr's version which did NOT include the images. Therefore, the community agreed upon the irrelevence of the images. Alexandros 21:27, 29 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * No, the community agreed on Adam's text, there was no vote on the pictures. Everyone has the right to report policy violations, and I intend to exercise that right if necessary to stop the pro-Catholic apologists from mutilating this article beyond recognition.—Eloquence

 * A vote is the wrong method anyway. The question is simple: "Do the pictures constitute information that is both true and relevant to the article". I doubt anyone would claim that they are fake, and I am of the opinion that they are relevant.--snoyes 21:32, 29 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * Pro-catholic apologists? This is an article about a person, not the catholic church.  Issues such as their stance on abortion are irrelevent in this biography.  It is not necessary to mention every single point that ONE author made about Mother Teresa.  How is removing hearsay from some randomn person who "says"(notice we have no way of verifying) that she worked for the ministries of charity and thought the conditions were bad.  Regardless, that would belong in the mission of charity article. Alexandros

 * "Issues such as their stance on abortion are irrelevent in this biography." That is just ludicrous. Take a step back and look at your statement. More generically one can reformulate your statement: "Biographies should not contain the philosophical and political opinions of the person." Any reasonable person would agree that this is ludicrous. --snoyes 21:47, 29 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * If MT had merely held these beliefs, it would barely be noteworthy. The fact that she actively lobbied for them on the political level, and implemented them, both at the expense of the quality of her charity, very much is, and well documented both by supporters and critics.—Eloquence 21:40, Nov 29, 2003 (UTC)
 * You use critics as plural, but there were only 1-3 PEOPLE in the world who didn't like teresa, and they are irrelevant because their beliefs are not based on any factual evidence. Regardless, some quote from a "volunteer" of the charity should not be included and that is what you are callimg "POV". Alexandros 21:42, 29 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * there were only 1-3 PEOPLE in the world who didn't like teresa You continue to disqualify yourself from any serious work with ludicrous comments like this one.—Eloquence 21:44, Nov 29, 2003 (UTC)
 * I would hardly call an overexageration a ludicrous comment. Alexandros

Eloquence's bullying of non-sysops through abusing his sysop powers warrant his loss of them. His cackhanded attempts to intimidate people into letting his do what he wants raise questions as to whether he should be banned. FearÉIREANN 21:51, 29 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Jtdirl's bullying of non-sysops through abusing his sysop powers warrant his loss of them. His cackhanded attempts to intimidate people into letting his do what he wants raise questions as to whether he should be banned.—Eloquence 21:53, Nov 29, 2003 (UTC)

 * Saying that someone else should be tried for murder too doesnt mean that you are innocent. This is a childish attempt at a rebuttal. Alexandros

 * There is nothing to rebut here. As soon as Jtdirl makes an informed comment, you can be sure that I will respond in detail.—Eloquence 21:56, Nov 29, 2003 (UTC)

Page protected again. Grow up! Angela 21:57, 29 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * Continued reverts to a massively mutilated version will not be tolerated, protection or not.—Eloquence

Can everyone just calm down a bit and actually discuss the article. I still have not seen _one single_ argument made for the deletion of the images. --snoyes 21:58, 29 Nov 2003 (UTC)

The widespread belief was there was too many of them and that, in the absence of counter-balancing pictures, they pushed a one-sided POV. No-one said that some of them should not be used, but in layout in encyclopædic text one has to show balance, not agenda or overload in image use. For example, one could use just images of Clinton with Monica, but that would be seen as agendaising the page on Bill Clinton by implying visually that that was all his presidency was about. Similarly one could just show images of Adolf Hitler in evening suit and give a POV impression that made him a nice guy and played down his many many negative sides and his militarism. Again showing Chavez only in military uniform plays up his military experience while downplaying his civilian rule, showing Pinochet only in lounge suit plays down his military side. The image use with Saddam Hussein on wikipedia is a classic example of how to use images that convey different sides of the Iraqi dictator, showing Saddam the military man, Saddam the wannabe divine right ruler on his throne. Here the general feeling was that in the absence of counterbalancing images, the images Eloquence keeps hammering in create the impression that MT's life was all about meeting these people, when in fact it was only one small aspect. Layout can be POV every bit as text. In using a group of images like that, Erik knew full well that he was POVing the article to suit his own personal agenda, just as he did through use of loaded phrases, dodgy headlines and through trying to drown the article in a massive one-sided, poorly written, questionably sourced, criticism section, much of it focusing on issues that were of no relevance to MT herself (and the article is supposed to be about her!) and were simply part of his bash the bitch agenda. It is no wonder so many wikipedians dismissed Erik's loopy article as practically a classic example of how not to write an NPOV encyclopædic article. BTW sorry - I was trying to add in your correction to the article but it got lost in Erik's 'I'm gonna force my views on this article come what may'' revertions FearÉIREANN 21:51, 29 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * More nonsense. The article shows both positive and negative aspects of MT's work clearly, both in text and pictures, and all you are trying to do is to hide the negative ones, just like you silently and sneakily tried to remove crucial elements of the criticisms such as the lack of separation between curable and incurable patients. The pictures convey fundamental, factual information about Teresa's relations to questionable world figures. All you have been doing ever since you started editing this article is trying to remove information you do not like, and you continue to do so, in violation of all established policies of Wikipedia. You should recuse yourself from editing this article, given your obvious pro-Catholic bias which prevents you from behaving in a rational, professional manner.—Eloquence 22:17, Nov 29, 2003 (UTC)

 * Don't be such a bigot. Almost everything you written on catholicism has been dismissed by neutrals on wikipedia as agenda-led and biased. Articles I have written on catholicism have been praised as fair and objective by everyone from RK to the agnostic 172, Zoe and others. I was the one who wrote a factually accurate article on clerical abuse on wikipedia that is now linked by a British abuse survivors' website. 4 newspaper articles I wrote criticising Roman Catholicism's treatment of gays, lesbians and the transgendered were quoted internationally in gay publications and have links on the web. I was the one who challenged one wikipedia traditionalist catholic's attacks on jews, gays, mormons and various protestant churches while you were writing potty catholic-bashing articles. And while you play at being critical of catholicism, I am the one who has been in articles publically critical of catholicism published in The Guardian, The Irish Times, The Times of London, the New York Post as well as in religious publications like the Church Gazette (anglican), the Protestant weekly and the Irish Catholic, not hiding behind a misleading nickname as posing as an expert on religious bigotry. So get down off your cross and stop playing God. You are just someone with a prejudice and the inability to be neutral. And the fact that you think that someone who is publicly critical of catholicism in over 100 newspaper and magazine articles, as well as in TV debates, has an "obvious pro-catholic bias" shows just how screwed up your view is and how little you really know about the topic. FearÉIREANN 22:39, 29 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * Not hiding behind a misleading nickname? So what is your real name, because it is not "James Duffy", as you have repeatedly explained on the mailing list. My real name has always been on my user page, and anyone can browse my list of publications on my homepage, which include a (not yet linked) article about Mother Teresa.—Eloquence 22:55, Nov 29, 2003 (UTC)

 * Like many others on wikipedia who work in the media/journalism/academia/politics I choose not to use my own name because I don't want people to deal with me on WP on the basis of who I am, given that some may immediately recognise my name if I used it here. I am here to contribute as part of a community, not to have a response of "so you are the person who wrote x, or appeared on y TV show" because that can create an illusion of hierarchy, that because I know such and such or appeared on such and such or wrote such and such I am somehow more important on wikipedia. I don't want to be treated that way, simply to put my expertise and knowledge to work to build up this wonderful project. FearÉIREANN 23:16, 29 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * That sounds nice, but it's kind of stupid to constantly refer to your alleged authority, when you are unwilling to back up those claims, making them sound like fiction, and it's even more stupid to accuse others, who have always used their real name, of "hiding behind misleading nicknames", when you even go so far to hide behind an invented "real" name. As usual, you are employing a double standard.—Eloquence 23:18, Nov 29, 2003 (UTC)

 * I think that jtdirl has no Pro catholic bias. (ill admit I might have a small pro-catholic bias). This was an edit war over your removal of the dispute marker, when obviously the article was disputed. Alexandros

 * Wrong. I have challenged everyone here on the talk page on Nov. 17 to point to parts of the article that are supposedly in dispute. Nobody did, so there is no dispute other than emotional "Oh, everyone loved Mother Teresa, how can you write so many bad things about her" crap. That's no dispute, that's just uninformed whining, and the place for it, if any, is the discussion page, not the article header.—Eloquence 22:26, Nov 29, 2003 (UTC)

 * I believe that this issue will not be resolved unitl disiplinary measures are taken against those who are abusing their sysop powers. Alexandros

 * Nice way of sidestepping the issue. I just see that JT has reverted a page protected by an impartial sysop. Do you think that disciplinary measures are warranted? --snoyes 22:11, 29 Nov 2003 (UTC)
 * Sidestepping the issue? Im just addressing another issue.  Just because a sysop is taking my side, it doesnt mean that I agree with everything he does. Eloquence AND Jtdirl BOTH edited the page whilst under protection. Alexandros 22:14, 29 Nov 2003 (UTC)
 * If you take a closer look at the time I posted my comment you'll see that by that time only JT had acted against wikipedia policy. [addition: Unfortunately wikipedia is only detailed enough to show the minute of the edit, not the second. My comment was made one minute after Erik also violated policy, I had however not seen this.] Don't try and impart a bias on me that doesn't exist. And frankly, you are sidestepping the issue by replying that a different issue has to be solved first. --snoyes 22:21, 29 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * Please don't get the wrong impression from me. I dont mean to get into an argument with you about some trivial interpretation of a comment I made.  I'm sorry if I gave you that impression. Alexandros 22:23, 29 Nov 2003 (UTC)

I think it might be appropriate to include this quite ironic statement by Eloquence:
 * "However, sysops are not editors, and should not use their privileges to enforce their own views." --Eloquence

Alexandros

 * There is no irony here. I haven't "used my privileges to enforce my own views". Everyone, including regular users, can revert a page.—Eloquence
 * Your building up a straw man. Regular users cannot edit a page while it is protected. Alexandros

 * And I wouldn't have edited if Jtd had not done so.—Eloquence
 * I know you are more sophisticated than that. Your comment sounds like a toddler, "but mommy, he drank the vodka too" Alexandros

 * The proper analogy would be the use of force to prevent a hooligan from vandalizing a household.—Eloquence

I was unaware until one minute ago that it had been protected (I didn't do the revert from the page and have been away for a while). If I had been I wouldn't have reverted it. Unlike Eloquence I don't abuse my powers as a sysop. Nor to I highjack articles to push political agendas, cram articles with POV images, and threaten non-sysops with bans. Eloquence has repeatedly done these things in a manner which, if done on a professionally edited encyclopædia would earn him the instant sack. And his attempt at an article here if submitted to a professionally edited encyclopædia would have been binned on sight and someone who knew what they were talking about commissioned to produce a proper, NPOV encyclopædic article. FearÉIREANN 22:39, 29 Nov 2003 (UTC)

BTW I have been trying to insert the above text and another paragraph for ages but kept been caught in edit conflicts. It was one minute before I wrote the first attempt, not one minute before the time above. FearÉIREANN 22:52, 29 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * Actually, you were the one that hijacked this article the moment you noticed the criticism section in a desperate effort to preserve MT's image. It is correct that you did not "cram the article with images", primarily because your contributions consist almost entirely of deletions.—Eloquence 22:46, Nov 29, 2003 (UTC)

Another gross lie.Another gross lie. I went to the MT page because from reading its opening it struck me as heavily biased in favour of MT and not NPOV. Reading down, I found that one-third was grossly and blatently pro-MT, and two-thirds a hatchet job. Both were an embarrassment to anyone interested in professional encyclopædic standards. As to "preserving MT's image", that is your own dillusion. If I was trying to do that, I would have deleted all the criticism, little of which was anything remotely touching elequent. There is an elementary rule in encyclopædic biography entries; stick to the elementary facts. If interpretation, particularly secondary interpretation, outweighs the main text in size and detail then summarise and relocate. It is what professional editors of encyclopædia articles do for a living, and I have done it with a number of them, the most recent published in the last two months. The MT article devoted 70% to minute criticism. Whether it is praise or criticism is irrelevant, if it drowns the main body of text then it is shortened, edited and if warranted, the detail is moved to a new encyclopædia article on the topic. So I moved the grossly overlong criticism section to a linked article and began to work off -article on a shortened summary which would be pasted in. But of course that didn't happen because doing your 'I'm God here. No-one edits my text no matter how POV it is' you tried immediately to slam back in your grossly overlong, poorly edited, clumsely written and POV-laiden stuff and delete the criticism article even though it was directly linked to the MT article and freed from the constrained of biographic entries and their structured formulæ could explore the criticisms in far more detail and more thoroughly that could be done here. The mess there has been here has all been your doing; your refusal to follow NPOV, your determination to force an article where 70% of the article was a criticism section that even Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein don't get on wikipedia, your bullying of people, your ignoring of critical comments. You wanted the article to be a hatchet job and to hell with the consequences for wikipedia's reputation as an NPOV trustworthy sourcebook. This article cannot be a hatchet-job. This article cannot be a glorification. All it has to be is a balanced, well written, objective analysis of the pluses and minuses of MT, the differing views about her. 70% glorification or 70% demonisation is not NPOV and it is not on, whatever tantrums you throw in trying to force your agenda on the page. FearÉIREANN 23:36, 29 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * Someone who makes so many spelling mistakes in one comment, and who seems to be incapable of using paragraphs to structure it, should probably avoid criticizing other people's writing skills. When you tried to stow away the criticism section, everyone working on the article at the time protested and it took an edit war with several parties, all against you, to stop you from doing it. You then proceeded to hold a silly "POV vs. NPOV" vote, which everyone who expressed an opinion on it criticized as pointless and against the spirit of Wikipedia.

 * Your problem is that you don't understand 1) that Wikipedia articles are a constant work in progress, and if one aspect dominates the article, the solution is to write more about the other, not to remove it, 2) it is not Wikipedia's job to come up with rebuttals or counter-claims that just aren't there, and nor is it Wikipedia's role to remove criticisms which have not been accurately responded to. If you indeed have any experience editing traditional encyclopedia, then that seems to be part of your problem working with the Wikipedia community, a problem which started the moment you "set foot" on this site.—Eloquence 23:47, Nov 29, 2003 (UTC)

Your lack of understanding about how to write in an NPOV article is almost as astounding as your bullyboy determination to highjack this article by intimidating the likes of Alexandros and Pfortuny into agreeing to let you have your way. And I have no problem working with the Wikipedia community. Unlike you I have never as a sysop threatened anyone with banning. That seems to be a regular occurance with you. If you know so little about how to write text, how to edit articles and how to achieve neutrality maybe you should go off and stick to writing polemical diatribes on somewhere that does not believe in principles like NPOV, factual accuracy and objectivity. Or take a course in essay writing. FearÉIREANN 00:11, 30 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * You're lying again, I have never threatened to ban anyone, I have threatened to report people's behavior.—Eloquence

That's not how those who were victims of your threats saw them. Another bit of Erik spinning of facts to suit himself, methinks. FearÉIREANN 00:25, 30 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Ungrateful Edit War
I was going to call this the "Thanskgiving Day Battle", but that seemed sacriligious.

I don't know what Eloquence is fighting with JTD and Alex about, but I counted over a dozen reverts in the last couple of days.

What /is/ it with you people? I take 5 days off, and you're at each other's throats? Stop acting like kids, and I'll unprotect the article. --Uncle Ed 15:55, 1 Dec 2003 (UTC)

 * Hey! The edit war was over and things were settled down, now is not the time to protect the article.  It was already protected once while you were away, then unprotected.  Alexandros has given up on this article for good now. silsor 17:19, Dec 1, 2003 (UTC)

 * Done. --Uncle Ed 17:28, 1 Dec 2003 (UTC)

title: Talk:Mother Teresa/Archive 3


text:
Żyrardów

Żyrardów is a town and former industrial hub in central Poland with approximately 41,400 inhabitants (2006). It is the capital of Żyrardów County in the Masovian Voivodeship, 45 km west of Warsaw.

Etymology
Żyrardów, initially a textile settlement, was named after French engineer and inventor Philippe de Girard, who worked in the area.

Origins
A textile factory founded by the Łubieński brothers opened in the village of Ruda Guzowska in 1833. One of the directors of the factory was French inventor Philippe de Girard (from Lourmarin). The village developed during the 19th century into a significant textile mill town in Poland. In honour of Girard, Ruda Guzowska was renamed Żyrardów, a toponym derived of the polonised spelling of Girard's name.

Labour movement
The terrible working conditions and inequality of the cotton mills and textile industry in Żyrardów during the late 19th century, which was in Congress Poland (part of the Russian Empire) at the time, led to a massive strike started by the female workers employed there in 1883. This event is one of the largest and most important events in the early history of the Polish workers' movement, which focused on fighting against the colonial oppressors as well as liberating the workers of partitioned Poland. The upheavals in Żyrardów were the largest protest in Poland up until the Łódź insurrection of the 1905 Revolution. They remain an essential element of Polish working class history, with various forms of media dedicated to them as well as street reenactments performed annually since 2004.

World War II and later
During the invasion of Poland at the start of World War II, with the onset of dawn on September 12, 1939, units of the 8th German Army launched an attack on Żyrardów. After several hours of fierce defence of the town, the Polish army had to leave their positions and start delaying actions towards Wiskitki, Guzów, Szymanów, and Paprotnia. In 1941, the Germans transported local Jews into the Warsaw ghetto.

From 1975 to 1998, Żyrardów was administratively located in the Skierniewice Voivodeship.

The town museum is nowadays located in the former palace of owner of factory K. Dittrich. A sign near the entrance to the little city states that it was the only town in Europe entirely set up for a factory. The city was named one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments (Pomnik historii), as designated 17 January, 2012. Its listing is maintained by the National Heritage Board of Poland.

Monuments
Most of Żyrardów's monuments are located in the manufacturing area which dates from the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is widely believed that Żyrardów's textile settlement is the only complete 19th-century urban industrial complex to be preserved in Europe.

Education

 * Szkoła Mistrzostwa Sportowego w Kolarstwie
 * Wyższa Szkoła Rozwoju Lokalnego
 * Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Stefana Żeromskiego
 * Zespół Szkół Publicznych nr. 7 im. Henryka Sienkiewicza w Żyrardowie

Sport
Since 1923 Żyrardów has a football club named Żyrardowianka Żyrardów (formerly Włókniarz Żyrardów), which in 2015/2016 played in the Polish IV League.

Notable people

 * Feliks Łubieński (1758–1848), landowner who gave the estate and his blessing to his sons to build the very first textile factory
 * Henryk Łubieński (1793–1883), banker and industrialist, son of Felix
 * Feliks Sobański (1833–1913), philanthropist who donated land for the church
 * Paweł Hulka-Laskowski (1881–1946), a writer, translator and social activist
 * Leszek Miller (born 1946), former Prime Minister of Poland, started his professional life as electrician in a local textile factory
 * Piotr Nowakowski (born 1987), volleyball player, double World Champion
 * Gosia Rdest (born 1993), a racing driver who competed in the W Series

Twin towns — Sister cities
Żyrardów is twinned with:
 * Tangshan, China
 * Delchevo, North Macedonia
 * 🇫🇷 Lourmarin, France
 * Siero, Spain
 * 🇧🇬 Tryavna, Bulgaria

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Żyrardów


text:
Mono, Ontario

Mono is a town situated in south-central Ontario, Canada, at the south-east corner of Dufferin County. It stretches from Highway 9 along its southern border to Highway 89 along its northern border. Its border to the west is with the Township of Amaranth and in the east, it is bordered by the Township of Adjala-Tosorontio. It was previously known as the Township of Mono.

Mono is a rural community in both geography and character. It has a wide variation in topography, being composed of mostly rolling, tree-covered hills. It holds many streams and creeks which form the headwaters of three rivers - the Humber River, Nottawasaga River and Credit River and most of the town is located on high land relative to the rest of Southern Ontario. This leads to its current slogan of 'the heart of the headwaters'.

Mono's residents live on farms, rural estates, and in small settlements. Mono Centre, Hockley Village, and Camilla are just some of the small communities which exist within the Town of Mono.

Mono's population represents many different backgrounds, including the farming community, local businesses, numerous artists and artisans, commuters to neighboring towns and cities, and weekend escapees from the urban bustle. The origins of the name is believed to be from Sir Peregrine Maitland from Spanish for monkey.

History
The Town of Mono as it currently is organized is the result of governmental changes that were made as the population grew and land uses change.

When "Simcoe District" was formed in 1843 by the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada, it contained 19 original townships. Simcoe District was restructured in 1845, changing its composition to 24 townships including the Township of Mono. Effective January 1, 1850, An Act for abolishing the Territorial Divisions of Upper Canada into Districts abolished Simcoe "District" in favour of the Simcoe "County", still composed of the Townships noted in the Act of 1845.

The "Provisional County of Dufferin" was initially organized as authorized by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in 1875 and the actual formation taking effect in 1881, from parts of the counties of Grey, Simcoe and Wellington Counties. The Township of Mulmur and the Township of Mono were transferred from Simcoe to Dufferin in 1881.

To better coordinate common services provided to the communities and consolidate governance within the township, the township reorganized as the Town of Mono on 1 June 1999.

Communities
The town of Mono comprises a number of villages and hamlets, including the following communities such as Blount, Camilla, Cardwell, Elba, Elder, Glen Cross, Granger, Hockley (partially), Lucille, Mono Centre, Primrose (partially), Relessey, Salem, Woodside; Coopertown, Coulterville, Glenoe, Gooseville, Lavertyville, Lorraine (partially), Mono College, Mono Mills (partially), Purple Hill, Rocktown, Sheldon (partially), Springbrook, White's Corners; Cardinal Woods, Leathertown (partially), Mulmur Corners (partially), Rosemont (partially), Starrview Acres (partially), Violet Hill (partially)

Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Mono had a population of $9,421$ living in $3,131$ of its $3,327$ total private dwellings, a change of NaN% from its 2016 population of $8,609$. With a land area of 278.37 km2, it had a population density of in 2021.

Recreation and tourism
Mono Cliffs Provincial Park is one place where the Niagara Escarpment puts out a dramatic appearance. The dominant features of the park are three Escarpment outcrops known as the Mono Rocks. The Toronto District School Board operates an outdoor education and conference centre located within the park. Also, the Bruce Trail goes through this area, linking it to the nearby Hockley Valley Provincial Nature Reserve.

The Hockley Valley itself is a popular destination for tourists in the fall wishing to take in the changing colors of the leaves in autumn. Outside of the Bruce Trail, there are several parks and the Niagara Escarpment is a UNESCO protected Biosphere reserve, one of only 12 in Canada.

There are several recreational attractions in the region as well. The Hockley Valley Resort is located on the 3rd Line of Mono. The Resort has both a golf course for activities in the summer and a popular ski resort for winter get-aways. There are also cross country skiing trails at Monora Park. There is much debate between residents and non residents as to the correct way to pronounce the name Mono, the correct way is mow-no. The Indigenous name Mahnoo, means "let it be so." The original name was Monadh (Irish pronounced it Monaah and later residents, Mowna) named by the Irish potato farmers who came to these higher elevations to get early crops.

There are several historic hamlets or villages in the Town of Mono. They include Camilla, Elba, Relessey, Mono Centre, Glen Cross, Granger, Hockley and Blount. The first woman lawyer in Canada, Clara Brett Martin, received her elementary education at Perry's School built in 1866, located in the Hamlet of Blount in South Mono. The Hamlet's post office was established in 1888 and the first postmaster was William Woods. Mono Cliff Inn in Mono Centre was Baker's General Store.

References in popular culture
James Cameron, the director of the 1997 film Titanic, spent time in his childhood in the Caledon region to the south and still has family there. As a tribute to his youth, he named the villain in Titanic, Caledon Hockley, after both Caledon and the Hockley Valley area.

The Wingfield Series of plays is set in a fictional small town in Ontario called Persephone Township. Many of the jokes and personalities are taken from, among other sources, Mono Township. For example, the debate over the pronunciation of Persephone reflects the debate over the pronunciation of Mono. Playwright Dan Needles created the character while working in Shelburne, Ontario.

Portions of the TV series Schitt's Creek are filmed at a motel located in Mono.

title: Mono, Ontario


text:
Uyghur alphabets

Uyghur is a Turkic language with a long literary tradition spoken in Xinjiang, China by the Uyghurs. Today, the Uyghur Arabic alphabet is the official writing system used for Uyghur in Xinjiang, whereas other alphabets like the Uyghur Latin and Uyghur Cyrillic alphabets are still in use outside China, especially in Central Asia.

Old Uyghur and Modern Uyghur
The Old Uyghur language and Modern Uyghur are distinct Turkic languages and are not different stages of the same language. The Old Uyghur language is ancestral to Western Yugur, while modern Uyghur is descended from one of the Karluk languages.

5th to 18th century
In the 5th century Old Uyghur was written for the first time using the Sogdian alphabet. This fell out of use during the 10th century, when it evolved into the Old Uyghur alphabet, although it was taken into use again between the 15th and 16th century. While the Sogdian alphabet was still in use, it was written with the Old Turkic alphabet from the 6th-9th centuries.

The Old Uyghur language evolved into the modern Western Yugur, and remained in use until the 18th century among the Yugur.

10th century to 19th century
An Arabic alphabet introduced along with Islam in the 10th century to the Karluk Kara Khanids, which evolved into the modern day Uyghur Arabic alphabet.

The Arabic-derived alphabet taken into use first came to be the so-called Chagatai script, which was used for writing the Chagatai language and the Turki (modern Uyghur) language, but fell out of use in the early 1920s, when the Uyghur-speaking areas variously became a part of, or under the influence of, the Soviet Union.

The Chagatai alphabet is known as Kona Yëziq (كونا يېزىق).

The Syriac alphabet has also been used for writing Old Uyghur at some time between the 5th century and 19th century.

20th to 21st century

The writing of Uyghur saw many changes during the 20th century mostly to do with political decisions, both from the Soviet and Chinese side. The Soviet Union first tried to romanize the writing of the language, but soon after decided to promote a Cyrillic script during the late 1920s known as the Uyghur Cyrillic alphabet, fearing that a romanization of the language would strengthen the relationship of the Uyghurs with other Turkic peoples.

With the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the promotion of a Cyrillic script began, but when the tensions between the Soviet Union and China grew during the late 1950s, the Chinese devised a new alphabet based upon Pinyin and Cyrillic (with some letters borrowed from the Soviet's Uniform Turkic Alphabet – a Cyrillic-influenced Latin alphabet, with Latin letters like Ə, Ƣ, Ⱨ, Ɵ, etc.), which is known as the Uyghur New Script and promoted this instead, and which soon became the official alphabet of usage for almost 10 years.

In 1982 Uyghur new script was abolished, the Arabic alphabet was reinstated in a modified form as the Uyghur Arabic alphabet. However, due to the increasing importance of information technology, there have been requests for a Latin alphabet, for easier use on computers. This resulted in five conferences between 2000 and 2001, where a Latin-derived auxiliary alphabet was devised known as the Uyghur Latin alphabet.

Present situation

Today, the Uyghur language is written using five different alphabets, which are:
 * UEY: the Uyghur Arabic alphabet, the only official alphabet in the Xinjiang province of China and is widely used in government, social media and in everyday life;
 * UKY: the Uyghur Cyrillic alphabet is mostly used by Uyghurs living in Central Asian countries, especially in Kazakhstan;
 * ALA-LC Uighur: the slightly-revised version dating from 2015 of the Romanized Uighur transliteration of the Library of Congress and the American Library Association is the standard used by WorldCat (a union-catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions, mostly libraries, in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative) and also has variants that make typing of it on computer easier (such as that of De Jong, Frederick. A Grammar of Modern Uyghur.  Utrecht: Houtsma, 2007, who substitutes for its ă, ö, ü, and v respectively ae, oe, ue, and w, these being options suggested by German);
 * ULY: the Uyghur Latin alphabet differs from the preceding in a few details and was introduced in 2008 and to be used solely in computer-related fields as an ancillary writing system, but has now largely fallen into disuse after the expanded availability of UEY keyboards and keypads on all devices.
 * UYY: the mixed Uyghur New Script (also called Pinyin Yeziⱪi or UPNY), this alphabet is also Latin-based, but now most people who want to type in Latin use ULY instead.

In the table below, the alphabets are shown side-by-side for comparison, together with phonetic transcription in the International Phonetic Alphabet. It is only grouped by phonemic proximity; each alphabet has its own sorting order. Some letter forms that are used for words borrowed from other languages (notably proper names), or kept occasionally from older orthographic conventions, are shown in parentheses.

As can be seen, the Uyghur Arabic alphabet, Uyghur New Script, ALA-LC Uighur Romanization, and Uyghur Latin alphabet each has a total of 32 letters (if one included their digraphs, which are: $⟨ng⟩$ in all three Latin-based alphabets; also $⟨ch⟩$, $⟨gh⟩$, $⟨sh⟩$, & $⟨zh⟩$ in ULY and ALA-CL, and in this last further $⟨kh⟩$, as well as their vowels bearing diacritics). Differences may still exist in texts using ULY (the most recently devised of the Latin orthographies) in that its standard $⟨ë⟩$ is sometimes written by instead $⟨é⟩$, that is to say, with the acute accent in place of the diaeresis, without this variation denoting any difference in Uyghur pronunciation.

The Uyghur Cyrillic alphabet has three additional letters, the Cyrillic soft letters/ligatures $⟨ё⟩$, $⟨ю⟩$, and $⟨я⟩$, representing, , and , respectively, which are written with an independent consonant and vowel in the other alphabets. Some words may still use the Cyrillic soft sign. Also, loanwords of Russian origin are often spelled as they are in Russian, and thus not adapted to Uyghur orthography.

Another notable feature of the Uyghur New Script is the use of the letter $⟨ƣ⟩$ to represent (sometimes incorrectly rendered as ). This letter has erroneously been named LATIN LETTER OI in Unicode, although it is correctly referred to as gha and replaced by the digraph $⟨gh⟩$ in the newer Uyghur Latin alphabet.

In the ALA-LC Uighur Romanization and the Uyghur Latin alphabet, only the ISO basic Latin alphabet is needed plus in the way of diacritic marks that occur above vowels (which are supported by many fonts and encoding standards) only: in both spellings diaeresis (umlaut) and in the ALA-LC breve as well. The letter $⟨c⟩$ is only used in the $⟨ch⟩$ digraph, and the letter $⟨v⟩$ is normally not used in the Uyghur Latin except in loanwords, where a difference exists between foreign and native. Another detail of the Uyghur Latin is that may be interchangeably represented by either of two letter: either using $⟨zh⟩$ or as $⟨j⟩$ — although the latter is also used for  (and, when the $⟨j⟩$ thus becomes ambiguous by serving also in place of the $⟨zh⟩$, speakers can still resolve the ambiguity from facts such as that the  tends to occur in words from Russian vs. the  in ones from Perso-Tajik, Arabic, and Mandarin). One might view this $⟨zh⟩$ in the Arabic-script and Cyrillic orthographies as merely as a graphic variant of the $⟨j⟩$, effectively reducing the number of letters in these two alphabets from 32 to 31. Users have found this variation in spelling acceptable as long as it does not obscure any semantic distinction.

One of the major differences among the four alphabets is the rules of when the glottal stop is written.

In Uyghur Arabic alphabet, it is consistently written, using the hamza on a tooth $⟨ﺋ⟩$, including at the beginning of words. However, in that position, the glottal stop is not considered by Uyghurs a separate letter, but rather to be just a support for the vowel that follow.

In the Uyghur Cyrillic alphabet and Uyghur New Script, the glottal stop was only written word-medially, using an apostrophe ($⟨’⟩$), but it is not required and thus not very consistent.

And finally, in the ALA-LC Uighur Romanization and the Uyghur Latin alphabet, the glottal stop is written between consonants and vowels (likewise using an apostrophe, but consistently), and also to separate $⟨gh⟩$, $⟨kh⟩$, $⟨ng⟩$, $⟨sh⟩$, and $⟨zh⟩$ when these represent two phonemes rather than being digraphs for a single consonant (for example the word bashlan’ghuch, pronounced and meaning beginning, which could have been  without the apostrophe).

Example
Below is the same text in Uyghur, but written using each of the four alphabets in common use today.

The text is taken from the first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

title: Uyghur alphabets


text:
Sieradz

Sieradz (Siradia, שעראַדז, שערעדז, שעריץ, 1941-45 Schieratz) is a city on the Warta river in central Poland with 40,891 inhabitants (2021). It is the seat of the Sieradz County, situated in the Łódź Voivodeship. Sieradz is a capital of the historical Sieradz Land.

Sieradz is one of the oldest cities in Poland. It was an important city of medieval Poland, thrice being a location for the election of the Polish monarchs. Polish Kings chaired six assemblies from here. Historically, it was the capital of the Duchy of Sieradz (1263-1339), Sieradz Voivodeship (1339–1793), and Sieradz Voivodeship (1975–1998).

History
The oldest settlements can be roughly traced back to the 6th century. The oldest known mention of Sieradz comes from the Bull of Gniezno from 1136. In the mid-13th century it was conferred with municipal rights by Duke Casimir I of Kuyavia. It had also welcomed many settlers from Scotland and the Netherlands after the 13th century. During the fragmentation of Poland, Sieradz was initially part of the Seniorate Province, and then from 1263 it was the capital of the Duchy of Sieradz, which in 1339 was transformed into the Sieradz Voivodeship of Poland. Polish king Casimir III the Great erected a castle in Sieradz. In the Middle Ages the town was attacked by the Mongols during all three Mongol invasions of Poland, Bohemians and Teutonic Knights.

Sieradz was a significant royal town of Poland. In 1445 the election of King Casimir IV Jagiellon took place in Sieradz. Until the 16th century the town used to be an important trade centre. Merchants from Spain and Portugal were frequently visiting the town for trade and commerce. In the 17th century due to the Swedish invasions, plagues, fires and floods the town lost its trading importance and fell from its prime. In the 18th century the reconstruction of town commenced. The residents during that time were only approximately 1,500.

Sieradz was annexed by Prussia in the Second Partition of Poland in 1793. On 13 November 1806 a Polish uprising against the Prussians took place in Sieradz, and in 1807 it was included in the short-lived Polish Duchy of Warsaw. After the duchy's dissolution, in 1815, it became part of so-called Congress Poland within the Russian Partition of Poland. It was the capital of a district within the Kalisz Governorate of the Russian Empire. During the January Uprising, on 18 September 1863, Polish insurgents attacked Russian troops stationed in the town. Further clashes between Polish insurgents and Russian troops took place on 24 January and 18 June 1864. After World War I, in 1918, Poland regained independence and control of the town.

World War II
With the joint German-Soviet invasion of Poland and the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, Sieradz was attacked on September 9 and occupied by the Wehrmacht. Annexed by Nazi Germany, it was renamed Schieratz and administered as part of the county or district (kreis) of the same name within Reichsgau Wartheland. Estimates are that at least 40% of the population of Sieradz was Jewish prior to the German occupation. Today, Sieradz commemorates a Day of Judaism each year in January.

In mid-September 1939, the Germans organized a temporary prisoner-of-war camp in the local prison, in which they held nearly 3,000 Polish soldiers, despite the prison capacity being 1,100. During the German occupation, the population was subjected to various atrocities. Already on 15 September 1939, the Germans carried out the first public execution of seven Poles in Sieradz. In early November 1939, the Germans arrested 62 members of the local elite in order to terrorize the population before the Polish Independence Day (11 November), and then on 14 November they forced local Jews to dig pits for the victims, and afterwards murdered 20 hostages. Among the victims were activists, teachers, school principals, craftsmen, policemen, pre-war mayor Ignacy Mąkowski, local officials, judges, and a boy scout. 522 Poles, families of teachers, officials, policemen, merchants, craftsmen and shop owners, were expelled in late 1939.

The town was subjected to severe Germanisation, and the Nazis destroyed traces of Polish culture, destroying historical records, monuments, and buildings. Street names were changed in an effort to wipe out any connection with a Polish identity.

The local prison was one of the most important German prisons in the Reichsgau Wartheland. Its prisoners, predominantly Poles and Jews, were subjected to insults, beatings, forced labour, tortures and executions. Prisoners were given very low food rations, and meals were even prepared from rotten vegetables, spoiled fish and dead dogs. Many prisoners died of exhaustion, starvation or torture. After the war, Polish historian Antoni Galiński was able to identify 968 people who died or were shot in the prison and its subcamps in 1940–1945, however the overall number of deaths is certainly higher. Despite such circumstances, the Polish resistance movement still operated in the area. The last executed prisoner was Antonina Chrystkowa, a female member of the Home Army resistance organization, who was beheaded with an axe on 18 January 1945. Another German prison was operated in the present-day district of Chabie; it was subordinate to the main prison in Sieradz.

Bombed by the Soviets, more than 100 residents were killed. After an assault lasting three days, the Red Army arrived on 23 January 1945. The day before the retreat of the Germans, the historic Danielewicz Palace was burned down. The town was restored to Poland, although with a Soviet-installed communist regime, which remained in power until the Fall of Communism in the 1980s.

Recent period
In 1947, local Polish youth established a secret anti-communist resistance organization, initially called the Union of Patriotic Youth (Związek Młodzieży Patriotycznej), and in 1949 renamed to Katyń to commemorate the Katyn massacre in which the Soviets murdered nearly 22,000 Poles in 1940. Its activity extended to the nearby cities of Zduńska Wola, Warta, Łódź and even Włocławek, and included collecting weapons, secret training, intelligence, and publishing and distribution of independent Polish press and leaflets. Its leader was Zbigniew Tur, a native of pre-war eastern Poland annexed by the Soviet Union, who as a teenager was arrested and deported to forced labour by both the Germans (twice) and the Soviets, before returning to Poland in 1946. The organization was eventually crushed by the communists, who sentenced its members to 1.5 to 10 years in prison in 1951. During the court hearings, the townspeople gathered near the courthouse and demonstrated their sympathy and support for the arrested youth.

Post-war economic activities included clothing manufacture, cereal-milling, spirit distillery, potato-farming and other agricultural activities. In 1957 the knitting plant "Sira" was founded. From 1975 to 1998 Sieradz was the capital of the Sieradz Voivodeship.

Dukes of Sieradz-Łęczyca
after 1305 parts of the united Kingdom of Poland initially as two vassal duchies, later incorporated as Łęczyca Voivodeship and Sieradz Voivodeship.
 * 1228-1232 Henry I the Bearded (Filip I Brodaty)
 * 1232-1233 Konrad of Masovia (Konrad Mazowiecki)
 * 1234-1247 Konrad of Masovia (Konrad Mazowiecki)
 * 1247-1261 Casimir I of Kuyavia (Kazimierz I kujawski)
 * 1261-1275 Leszek the Black (Leszek Czarny)
 * 1275-1294 divided into two duchies of Sieradz and Łęczyca (below)
 * 1294-1297 Ladislaus III the Short (Władysław Łokietek)
 * 1297-1305 Wenceslaus II of Bohemia (Wacław II Czeski)

Dukes of Sieradz

 * 1233-1234 Bolesław I of Masovia (Bolesław I Mazowiecki)
 * 1275-1288 Leszek the Black (Leszek Czarny)
 * 1288-1294 Ladislaus III the Short (Władysław Łokietek )
 * 1327-1339 Przemysł of Inowrocław

After 1305 part of the united Kingdom of Poland as a vassal duchy, later after 1339 incorporated by the Polish king Casimir III the Great as the Sieradz Voivodeship.

Sieradz constituency
Members of Parliament (Sejm) elected from Sieradz constituency
 * Joanna Lichocka, PiS
 * Marcin Przydacz, PiS
 * Paweł Rychlik, PiS
 * Piotr Polak, PiS
 * Tadeusz Woźniak, PiS
 * Marek Mauszewski, PiS
 * Cezary Tomczyk, KO
 * Agnieszka Hanajczyk, KO
 * Krzysztof Habura, KO
 * Paweł Bejda, TD
 * Jolanta Zięba-Gzik, TD
 * Paulina Matysiak, L

President of Sieradz

 * Paweł Osiewała

Sport, tourism and recreation
Sieradz has a fully equipped Sports town centre, with three proper football pitches, running track, two sports grounds, hotel, restaurant, tennis courts, sauna, health club, games, swimming pool and well guarded river side swim area. The local football club is. It competes in the lower leagues.

The natural forests on the banks of river Warta makes an ideal place for mushroom pickers. The Rynek (town square) filled with historic architecture also makes a perfect tourism place with local shops selling various products of good quality and brands. The churches in Sieradz carry historical significance and are well restored.

Development
Sieradz dramatically developed since 2007 with new residential projects & townships. Sieradz has some attractive shopping malls, such as Galeria sieradzka, Dekada, Rondo and several open markets. Its attracts residents from nearby villages and towns as well and makes Sieradz a prime shopping destination. The Sieradz City administration successfully holds Open Hair Festival every year and the town is very much well known for this event.

Notable people

 * Leszek II the Black (c. 1240–1288), High Duke of Poland
 * Jan Gruszczyński, a medieval Primate of Poland
 * Cyprian Bazylik (c. 1535–c. 1600), musician, writer, printer
 * Ary Szternfeld (1905–1980), aerospace scientist
 * Antoni ”Antoine” Cierplikowski (1884–1976), celebrity hairdresser
 * Arek Hersh, Holocaust survivor and educator
 * Zalman Ben-Ya'akov (1897–1959), Israeli politician
 * Hymie Weiss, American gangster
 * Hersh Leyb Zhitnitski (15 July 1891 – Summer 1942) Yiddish writer
 * Dina Shayevitsh (1891–1942?) Yiddish Actor

Twin cities

 * 🇩🇪 Gaggenau, Germany
 * 🇫🇷 Annemasse, France
 * 🇧🇬 Yambol, Bulgaria

title: Sieradz


text:
Zduńska Wola

Zduńska Wola is a city in central Poland with 40,730 inhabitants (2021). It is the seat of Zduńska Wola County in the Łódź Voivodeship. The city was once one of the largest cloth, linen and cotton weaving centres in Poland and is the birthplace of Saint Maximilian Kolbe as well as Maksymilian Faktorowicz, the founder of Max Factor cosmetics company.

Early history
The city was first mentioned and documented in 1394. Zduńska Wola was then part of an important trade route which crossed through Poland and connected Eastern and Western Europe. Administratively, it was located in the Sieradz Voivodeship in the Greater Poland Province of the Kingdom of Poland. Over the course of its history, the town was owned by nobles or industrialists and eventually transformed into a shtetl. At the beginning of the 18th century, Zduńska Wola was purchased by the aristocratic Złotnicki family.

The development of the village is closely linked with the rapid influx of Silesian weavers and textile workers. In 1817, with the contribution and effort of Stefan Złotnicki, the village flourished and became populated with migrants from Silesia, German states and Bohemia. In 1824 the town's population reached 1,400 people, including 150 professional textile laborers in 125 private workshops. Following rapid development, Zduńska Wola received town rights in October 1825.

In 1827 the population had reached 2,758 people and the town possessed 320 buildings, however, only 30 were made of brick or stone. Due to the lack of available space for incoming weavers, the town was expanded and new districts were established by incorporating nearby villages and settlements.

Industrial development
The end of the 19th century was a period of dynamic development, which eventually transformed the rural town into a small industrial centre. In 1909 the population was already 22,504 people. Over 50 new industrial enterprises or textile corporations were set up, which employed 5,200 workers. Zduńska Wola gained the nickname "City of Weavers" and out of the 1,360 buildings now standing, approximately 600 were made of brick. In 1892 the first steam brewery was constructed, which contributed to the town's importance in the region. Under the patronage of the Złotnicki family and local business owners, Zduńska Wola was completely remodelled and urbanized; new housing estates were built for the workers and the first city park was opened during this period.

In 1903 the region was connected with Kalisz and Łódź by rail. In 1902 Zenon Anstadt, a member of a wealthy family of brewers from Łódź, was responsible for the continuous development of the town's infrastructure. Shortly before the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the population of the city was 28,437 people. Under the Imperial German occupation during World War I, the town's population fell to just 12,000 in 1918.

After Poland regained independence in 1918, the city with its industries was rebuilt from the devastation of war. Alongside the former textile industry, new metallurgical enterprises, power plants, public schools, gymnasiums, city hospital and a fire station were established. In 1930 Zduńska Wola became an important transport hub, when it was connected by rail with the Polish port of Gdynia on the Baltic Sea. By 1939 Zduńska Wola was the largest city in the western part of Łódź Voivodeship (province).

World War II
During the joint German-Soviet invasion of Poland, which started World War II, Germany invaded the town in 6 September 1939, and then the Einsatzgruppe III entered the town to commit various crimes against the populace. The German occupiers incorporated the town directly into the newly formed Wartheland province of Nazi Germany, and changed the town's name to Freihaus to erase traces of Polish origin.

In November 1939, the Germans carried out a public execution of six Polish hostages from nearby Sieradz, and in December 1939 they carried out the first expulsions of 420 Poles. During the Intelligenzaktion, the Germans arrested 169 members of the local Polish intelligentsia already in 1939, and further 187 in 1940–1941. Among the victims were local officials, activists, members of the Polish underground resistance movement and Catholic priests. In total several thousand Poles were deported to forced labour, expelled or arrested. As local Nazi German governor Arthur Greiser expressed during a meeting with the townspeople, Poles were supposed to be servants for the Germans. Germany operated a transit camp for German settlers, who were resettled in occupied Poland as part of the Lebensraum policy. Nevertheless, several Polish resistance organizations operated in the town and among their activities were secret trainings, intelligence, distribution of underground Polish press, sabotage actions and secret schooling.

Nearly all members of the prominent and large Jewish population of Zduńska Wola of around 8,000 at the beginning of the war were murdered as part of the Holocaust On arrival of the German troops in September 1939, local ethnic Germans and Poles looted Jewish property. The Germans shot several Jews at that time and burned the synagogue. Over the next several months, the Jewish community was robbed, brutalized, and confined to a ghetto area. In 1940 and 1941, Jews from other locations were moved into the ghetto which population increased to around 11,000, crowded together and may without means of support. In August 1942, the Jewish population were gathered together. Several hundred were sent to the Łódź ghetto. Hundreds were shot in the Zduńska Wola cemetery. More than 6,000 and perhaps as many as 9,000 were sent to the Chełmno extermination camp where they were immediately gassed.

About 60 of Zduńska Wola's Jewish population are thought to have survived the war. The German administrator who oversaw the final selection, Hans Biebow, was tried, convicted, and executed after the war for his crimes in Lodz and Zduńska Wola. In contrast, the head of the Jewish council in the town was lauded for his uprightness. Murdered by Biebow after the selection in August, he had refused to collaborate with the Germans or betray his fellow Jews.

The town was captured by the Soviets in January 1945, and then restored to Poland, however with a Soviet-installed communist regime, which then stayed in power until the Fall of Communism in the 1980s. The town also suffered heavy destruction in the war.

Modern times
Under socialism, between 1945 and 1989, Zduńska Wola and Łódź regained their pre-war importance as the textile industrial centres of central Poland. Since 2014, the town has seen many opportunities and investments, and continues to flourish in the service sector.

It was administratively located in the Sieradz Voivodeship from 1975 to 1998.

Culture
The museums of Zduńska Wola are the Museum of the History of Zduńska Wola, the railway museum in the Karsznice district and a museum dedicated to Saint Maximilian Kolbe located at his birthplace.

Primary schools

 * Tadeusz Kościuszko Primary School

High schools

 * Casimir the Great High School

Sports
The local football team is. It competes in the lower leagues.

Twin towns - Sister cities
Zduńska Wola is twinned with:
 * 🇱🇹 Zarasai, Lithuania
 * 🇮🇹 Pietrasanta, Italy
 * 🇱🇻 Valmiera, Latvia

Notable people

 * Rafał Augustyniak (born 1993), professional footballer
 * Danuta Dudzińska-Wieczorek (born 1966), opera singer
 * Max Factor Sr. (1877–1938), Polish-American businessman, beautician, entrepreneur and inventor; founder of the Max Factor & Company
 * Magda Femme (born 1971), pop singer and songwriter
 * Riwka Herszberg, victim of German Nazism
 * Maximilian Kolbe (1894–1941), Catholic priest and saint, Conventual Franciscan friar who volunteered to die in place of a stranger in the German death camp of Auschwitz
 * Lazar Lyusternik (1899–1981), mathematician
 * Justyna Majkowska (born 1977), singer

title: Zduńska Wola


text:
Wieluń

Wieluń (Velun) is a town in south-central Poland with 21,624 inhabitants (2021). The town is the seat of the Gmina Wieluń and Wieluń County, and is located within the Łódź Voivodeship. Wieluń is a capital of the historical Wieluń Land.

Wieluń has a long and rich history. In the past, it used to be an important urban trade centre of the Kingdom of Poland. Several Polish kings and notables visited the town, but following the catastrophic Swedish Deluge (1655–1660), Wieluń declined and never regained its status. In September 1939, during the invasion of Poland, it was heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe. The Bombing of Wieluń is considered to be the first World War II bombing in Europe. It killed at least 127 civilians, injured hundreds more and destroyed the majority of the town.

Origin of the name
Wieluń was first mentioned in a 1282 document as the town of Velun (in 1283: Vilin). The exact origin of the name has not been explained. Historians claim that either it comes from a Slavic word "vel" (which means a wetland), or from a given name Wielisław. Jan Długosz wrote that Wieluń was located in the area abundant with water, which may mean that the former theory is correct.

Middle Ages
The Land of Wieluń (ziemia wieluńska, Terra Velumensis) was a historic land of the Kingdom of Poland and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, which for centuries was part of Sieradz Voivodeship, Greater Poland Province.

It was based on the medieval Castellany of Ruda (located some 4 km from Wieluń), which was established in the 10th or 11th century. Ruda was the seat of a castellan and a Roman Catholic archdeacon, which made it the center of local administration. In the mid-13th century, however, the importance of Ruda diminished, at the expense of Wieluń, which was located in a more convenient spot. In 1281, the castellan's office was moved to Wieluń, and by 1299, the term Land of Ruda (Ziemia rudzka) had been replaced in documents by Land of Wieluń (Ziemia wieluńska).

The medieval Castellany of Ruda, which was established in the 10th or 11th century. The Castellany of Ruda was first mentioned in the 1136 Bull of Gniezno, and during the period known as Fragmentation of Poland (see Testament of Bolesław III Wrymouth), it was part of the Seniorate Province. As a result of ongoing power struggles in the districts during Fragmentation of Poland, Mieszko III the Old regained Greater Poland in 1181 and incorporated the Wieluń Land into it. In the late 12th century, the Castellany was acquired by Duke Władysław Odonic, and in 1217 it became property of Władysław III Spindleshanks. Later on, it was ruled by the Dukes of Silesia from the Duchy of Opole, and in the second half of the 13th century, was in Duchy of Greater Poland. In 1281, the castellany was moved from Ruda to Wieluń, and since then, it has been called the Land of Wieluń.

The settlement of Wieluń was founded probably in c. 1220 by Duke Władysław Odonic. It was first mentioned in documents in 1282, and probably in the same year it received a town charter. In the mid-14th century King Casimir III the Great built a castle here, which was part of defensive system protecting the border between the Kingdom of Poland and Czech-ruled Silesia. The castle itself was remodeled several times, due to frequent fires and wars. Currently, there is a Classicistic palace in its location.

In both Kingdom of Poland and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Land of Wieluń as part of Sieradz Voivodeship had its own civil servants, offices and courts, and the Castellan of Wieluń was one of Senators of Poland. The land had four starostas – at Wieluń itself, Ostrzeszów, Bolesławiec and Grabów nad Prosną. Two deputies to the Sejm were elected at Wieluń's Sejmiks, furthermore, the Voivode of Sieradz (of the Sieradz Voivodeship) was obliged to appoint his deputy from Wieluń.

In 1370, following the last will of Casimir the Great, King Louis I of Hungary handed the Land of Wieluń to Duke of Opole, Władysław Opolczyk. In the same period, the Archbishop of Gniezno, Jarosław of Bogoria and Skotnik built a manor house in Wieluń. The town remained in the hands of Władysław Opolczyk until 1395, when it was returned to Poland. Wieluń quickly developed, in the 1390s a Paulists church together with an abbey were built, and in 1413, Archbishop Mikołaj Trąba moved the ancient collegiate church from Ruda to Wieluń. In the 1440s and 1450s, Wieluń was frequently destroyed in raids of Silesian dukes. By that time, it had already been an important center of commerce and government.

The Land of Wieluń had its own coat of arms, established between 1410 and 1434. It can be found on the tomb of King Władysław II Jagiełło, together with coats of arms of Poland, Lithuania, Ruthenia, Greater Poland, and the Dobrzyń Land. Historically, the Land of Wieluń covers current counties of Wieluń, Ostrzeszów, Kępno and Wieruszów, as well as some locations in the counties of Olesno and Pajęczno.

Modern era
Wieluń prospered in the 16th century, the so-called Polish Golden Age. It was a royal city of Poland and capital of the Land of Wieluń, part of the Sieradz Voivodeship in the Greater Poland Province. At the beginning of the 17th century, the mother of future Grand Crown Hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski, one of the greatest commanders in Polish history, founded a Renaissance monastery of the Bernardine nuns in Wieluń, now housing a museum dedicated to the town's history. The town was devastated in the War of the Polish Succession, as the Battle of Byczyna took place near Wieluń. Good times ended in the catastrophic Swedish invasion (1655–1660), when the town was ransacked and burned both by the Swedish invaders, and by Polish troops, who took revenge on its Protestant residents for their support of the Lutheran Swedes. Finally, in 1707–1711, Wieluń's population was decimated by a plague (see miasma theory), which killed 2,000. Following the Second Partition of Poland in 1793, Wieluń briefly belonged to the Kingdom of Prussia, in 1807 it became part of the newly formed, but short-lived, Polish Duchy of Warsaw, and in 1815 it became part of Russian-controlled Congress Poland, where it remained until World War I. The town burned twice (1791, 1858), and after the second fire, it was rebuilt in a new shape. After World War I, Poland regained independence in 1918, and in the interbellum Wieluń was a county seat in the Łódź Voivodeship.

World War II
On 1 September 1939, the city was bombed by the German Luftwaffe in the first action of World War II (apart from the Jabłonków Incident on 25/26 August). In the Bombing of Wieluń, German planes destroyed most of the town centre, including a clearly marked hospital, a synagogue, and the historic Gothic church, and killed at least 127 civilians. According to Norman Davies, the bombings destroyed three quarters of the town. Thousands were injured and many fled. No Polish military units were present in Wieluń at that time (31 August – 1 September 1939).

By decision from September 5, 1939, one of the first three German special courts in occupied Poland was established in the town; it was eventually moved to Piotrków Trybunalski on September 22, 1939. On September 6–8, 1939 the Einsatzgruppe II entered the town, and mass searches of Polish offices and organizations were carried out. Already on September 8, 1939, inhabitants of Wieluń were among the 30 Poles massacred by German troops in Chechło near Pabianice. Wieluń was annexed to Nazi Germany on 8 October 1939 and placed under the administration of Reichsgau Wartheland. The Germans instigated a reign of terror against the Jewish population of Wieluń, which had lived there since the 1500s and amounted to around 4,000 people at the beginning of the war. Jews were kidnapped for forced labour with little pay.

Around 40 Poles from Wieluń were murdered by the Soviets in the large Katyn massacre in April to May 1940. In June 1940, the Germans expelled around 200 Poles, owners of villas, which were handed over to new German officials or converted to German offices. During the German occupation, a transit camp was operated in the town for Poles expelled from the region, who were then either deported to the so-called General Government in the eastern part of German-occupied Poland or to forced labour in Germany and German-occupied France or sent as slave laborers to new German colonists in the town's vicinity. The Germans also established and operated a Nazi prison in the town, and looted the local historical numismatic collection, which they sent to a newly established German museum in occupied Poznań. In 1941, Jews were forced into a ghetto. Many were then sent away to labour camps. In January 1942, the German publicly hanged ten Jews. Later that year, the 2,000 Jews still remaining in the city and others brought to Wieluń were rounded up and confined for several days in a church building without food or water. Several died there of exhaustion, others were murdered and 900 were then selected and sent to the Łódź ghetto. The rest were sent to the Chełmno extermination camp, where they were immediately gassed. Seventy to one hundred Wieluń Jews survived the war, and many returned to the city although most left soon afterward.

The city was liberated on 19 January 1945 by troops of the Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front in the course of the Sandomierz–Silesian Offensive.

Climate
Wieluń has an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification: Cfb) using the -3 C isotherm or a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification: Dfb) using the 0 C isotherm.

Sights
Cultural heritage sights of Wieluń include the Town Hall, medieval defensive town walls, the former Piarist college, and several historic churches such as the Gothic Corpus Christi Collegiate church, the Gothic-Baroque Church of St. Nicholas, and Baroque churches of Saint Joseph and of the Annunciation of Mary.

The Museum of Wieluń Land (Muzeum Ziemi Wieluńskiej), located in the Renaissance Bernardine monastery, is the town's primary museum, dedicated to the history of Wieluń and its surroundings. It contains archaeological, ethnographic, historical and art collections. Displayed artifacts include jewelry and weaponry from the Bronze Age and Middle Ages, weapons and memorabilia from the 19th-century Polish national liberation uprisings, religious paintings and traditional folk sculptures, and Biblia Brzeska, one of the oldest Polish translations of the Bible. There is also an exhibition dedicated to the German bombing of Wieluń at the start World War II.

There are monuments to notable people such as Witold Pilecki and Pope John Paul II in Wieluń. There are also several World War II memorials, dedicated to the victims of the German bombing of 1939, to local Poles murdered by the Soviets in the Katyn massacre, to local Jews murdered by the German occupiers in the Holocaust, etc.

Demographics
The majority of the population are Catholic.
 * Number of inhabitants in years
 * 1900: 7,361
 * 1909: 9,095; incl. 3,444 Jews (37.8%), 352 Protestants (3.9%) and no Mariavites.
 * 1931: 13,220
 * 2006: 24,347

Roads
Wieluń is an important transportation hub. Main roads stemming from Wieluń include connection with Warsaw (to the north-east) and Wrocław (to the west), via the National Road. There are also two national roads: number to Częstochowa and  to Opole and Łódź. Furthermore, there are two voivodeship (local) roads starting from Wieluń: road number 481 (going north-east) to Łask and road number 486 (going south-east) to Radomsko. The biggest communication problem in Wieluń is huge traffic (including transit) in the center of the town, due to lack of bypasses. A bypass of National Road was fully completed and opened in March 2017, later additional bypasses will be built. The first section of the eastern bypass has already been finished. In the area of Wieluń there is also expressway S8 (it is located near the northern outskirts of the town). Additionally, there is a plan to build the 70 km-long Kalisz-Wieluń Road in the future.

Railways
Rail connection links Wieluń to Poznań and Katowice. The line was built in the 1920s, as the junction of Kluczbork remained within borders of Weimar Germany and direct rail communication between Polish part of Upper Silesia and Poznań was impossible. Therefore, it was crucial to construct a brand new line, which runs from Herby Nowe to Kępno. The line was one of the most important connections in the Second Polish Republic, but after World War II, when Kluczbork was annexed by Poland, it lost its importance.

Also, until the end of the 1980s, there was a narrow gauge railroad, which connected Wieluń with nearby Praszka. Currently, the town has two operating railway stations: Wieluń Dąbrowa and Wieluń Miasto. Wieluń is directly connected by rail with such cities as Tarnowskie Góry, Katowice, Poznań, Szczecin and Kępno. Once there was also a direct connection to Częstochowa and Lubliniec. Another means of communication with the surroundings and the entire country are buses. There is a modern (though built in 1976) bus station, which also handles international communication.

===Public transport === Wieluń, like most cities, has a municipal communications. In Wieluń runs 8 lines operated by a local transport company – PKS Wieluń. Public transportation has existed since 1988.
 * Line A: Wieluń-Dąbrowa Railway Station – Rychłowice
 * Line B: Gas bottling plant – Ruda
 * Line C: Wieluń-Dąbrowa Railway Station – Olewin
 * Line D: Kurów – Wierzchlas
 * Line D – BIS: Wieluń-Dąbrowa Railway Station – POW street
 * Line E: Gas bottling plant – Stare Sady housing estate
 * Line G: Gas bottling plant – Częstochowska street
 * Line H: Masłowice – Stare Sady housing estate

Sports
The town has a sports club WKS Wieluń, established in 1957 after a merger of two earlier clubs. In the past, WKS Wieluń had several departments, such as track and field, basketball, table tennis, handball and association football. Currently, the only remaining department is football. Another notable club is, volleyball team, which competes in the lower leagues, but in the past played in the PlusLiga, Poland's top division, most recently in the 2010–11 season.

Notable residents

 * Teresa Janina Kierocińska (1885–1946), nun
 * Piotr Paweł Morta (born 1959), political activist, dissident, economist, co-inventor, activist in underground "Solidarity"
 * Jan Wątroba (born 1953), bishop of Rzeszów
 * Mariusz Wlazły (born 1983), volleyball player, World Champion

Districts

 * Downtown
 * Armii Krajowej housing estate
 * Bugaj housing estate
 * Kopernika housing estate
 * Stare Sady housing estate ("Old Orchards" housing estate )
 * Wyszyńskiego housing estate
 * Wojska Polskiego housing estate
 * "Za szpitalem" (Behind Hospital housing estate)
 * Niedzielsko
 * Chrusty
 * Berlinek
 * Stodolniana housing estate
 * Moniuszki housing estate
 * Podszubienice
 * Kijak
 * Błonie

Twin towns – Sister cities
Wieluń is twinned with:
 * 🇩🇪 Adelebsen, Germany
 * 🇩🇪 Osterburg, Germany
 * 🇩🇪 Ochtrup, Germany

title: Wieluń