Concentration German Nazi Camps in Poland

KL Auschwitz was the largest of the German Nazi concentration camps and extermination centers. Over 1.1 million men, women and children lost their lives there. All over the world, Auschwitz has become a symbol of terror, genocide, and Holocaust. It was built in 1940, in the suburbs of a Polish City Oświęcim, later renamed Auschwitz. The camp was established as a direct result of the mass arrests of Poles, as the existing ‘local’ prisons could no longer accommodate them. The first group of Polish prisoners arrived at KL Auschwitz from Tarnów prison on 14 June 1940. The Germans isolated all the camps and sub-camps from the outside world and surrounded them with barbed-wire fencing. All contact with the outside world was forbidden. Initially, Auschwitz was supposed to be yet another concentration camp of the kind that the Nazis had been building since the early 1930s. It served this purpose throughout its existence, even after it became the largest extermination centre in 1942. In March 1941, it was decided to expand the Auschwitz concentration camp to accommodate 30,000 prisoners and to build Auschwitz II, a camp for 100,000 prisoners of war, in the village of Brzezinka (Birkenau). The construction of the Birkenau camp began in October 1941. It was to become a place of mass extermination of Jews. From March to June 1943, four huge gas chambers with crematoria were built and immediately put into operation. Hundreds of thousands of Jews from all over Europe died in these chambers. On 27 January 1945, the Red Army liberated more than 7,000 prisoners from Auschwitz. The history of this concentration and extermination camp, which lasted 1,689 days, finally came to an end. Nowadays, there are several ways to reach KL Auschwitz and you can choose a guided tour in several languages. The easiest option is to travel to Auschwitz when visiting Krakow. In this article, we have described in detail how to get to the Auschwitz Museum, how to buy tickets and how to visit the former camp for free.

The German concentration camp in Lublin, called Majdanek, was established by order of Heinrich Himmler. The camp was to be a source of free labour for the expansion of the Third Reich in the East. The initial plans for the size of the camp were modified several times, each time increasing the size of the camp and the planned number of prisoners. The so-called ‘general construction plan’ for Majdanek was approved on 23 March 1942. According to the plan, the camp was to hold 150,000 prisoners. Majdanek was thus supposed to become the largest camp in German-occupied Europe. However, economic difficulties and the Wehrmacht's setbacks on the Eastern Front prevented the SS from fully realising this plan. The camp, located in the south-eastern suburbs of Lublin, on the road to Zamość and Lviv, covered an area of 470 hectares. It consisted of three sectors: an SS sector, an economic sector and a prisoner camp (Schutzhaftlager), which consisted of five prisoner camps with wooden barracks as accommodation for the prisoners. From the very beginning, the prisoners were inevitably accompanied by hunger, fear, backbreaking work, and diseases. The prisoner's lives were constantly in danger. They died as a result of the miserable living conditions, they were shot and murdered in gas chambers. According to the latest research, 80,000 of the approximately 130,000 prisoners who ended up in Majdanek died in the camp. The largest number of victims were Jews from various countries (approx. 60,000), Poles, Belarusians, Ukrainians and Russians. To remove evidence of the crimes, the corpses of the victims were burned on bonfires or in crematoria. The history of the German Nazi concentration camp in Lublin came to an end on 22 July 1944. Soon after, a Soviet NKVD camp for members of the Polish resistance (soldiers of the Home Army and Peasants' Battalions) was set up on the Majdanek site. German prisoners of war were also imprisoned in the former camp barracks for a period of time. Today, the grounds of the former camp at Majdanek can be visited free of charge, either on your own or with a guide. While being in the beautiful city of Lublin (we highly recommend it!), it is worth visiting Majdanek as it is located in the city so the visit will not take more than 3 hours. You can find information about opening hours here.

The concentration camp Gross-Rosen was established in August 1940. Its prisoners were forced to work in the local granite mine owned by the SS company DEST. The first transport of prisoners arrived on 2 August 1940. On 1 May 1941, the labour camp at Gross-Rosen was given the status of a concentration camp. For the first two years, Gross-Rosen was a small camp. The exhausting 12-hour work shifts in the quarries, the starvation rations, the lack of medical care, the constant abuse of the prisoners by both the SS and the prisoner functionaries led to a high mortality rate. Gross-Rosen was considered one of the most brutal concentration camps. The camp was significantly expanded in 1944. In addition to the main camp, numerous subcamps (around 100) were set up in Lower Silesia, mainly in the Sudetenland and the Central Upper Oder Province. The largest subcamps were: AL Breslau, AL Fünfteichen, AL Dyhernfurth, AL Landeshut and the complex of camps located in the Owl Mountains (RIESE complex). A total of approx. 125,000 prisoners passed through Gross-Rosen, including those who were not registered and those who were transported to the camp for execution, such as 2,500 Russian prisoners of war. Nowadays, the visit of the former concentration camp in Gross-Rosen and exhibitions in the Museum takes 2-3 hours. It is located in Rogoźnica, 7 km from Strzegom. In the village there is a railway station, and a bus-stop. The Gross-Rosen camp is located around 70 km from the beautiful city of Wrocław and it's recommended to go there from Wrocław by car or hire a guide. The trip should take no more than 5 hours in total, including the transportation!

The German concentration camp in Sztutowo (Konzentrationslager Stutthof) existed from 2 September 1939 to 9 May 1945. Initially, it was a place of deportation for the population of Pomerania (coastal region), but from the beginning of 1942, it began to receive transports of prisoners from all over occupied Europe. Almost all the buildings in the camp were built by prisoners. Between September 1939 and May 1940, the so-called Old Camp (10 barracks) was built on an area of approximately 4 hectares, surrounded by a fence with guard towers and the so-called Gate of Death. Outside the camp area, there were pigsties, stables and a slaughterhouse. In 1940-1941, the camp authorities' buildings were built, including the headquarters, offices, guardhouse and commandant's villa. In the summer of 1942, a crematorium (soon replaced by two new ones) and a gas chamber were built on the eastern side of the Old Camp. On 21 January 1945, the camp was closed and the prisoners were evacuated. The camp was liberated on 9 May 1945. 110,000 prisoners were imprisoned in Stutthof, 65,000 of whom were murdered. The museum of the former concentration camp in Sztutowo is nowadays usually visited in combination with a trip to Gdansk. The museum is located about 50 kilometres from Gdansk and is easily accessible by car. Below you will find some important information regarding the visit to the museum.

.

Sightseeing – general information

• Entry to the Stutthof Museum is free of charge

• Groups should arrive at the Museum at least 15 minutes before the start of the tour

• Children under 13 can visit the museum only under adult supervision.

• The Stutthof State Museum does not provide cloakrooms or luggage storage.

• Approximate time needed for the tour of the Museum: Guided tours - up to 1.5 hours basic version and up to 2 hours extended version. Individual tour – approx. 2 hours.