Jaworzno

 


Jaworzno was first established in 1943 and was later converted into a labour camp by the Soviet NKVD. It was subsequently operated by them and then by other facets of the Polish communist regime from 1945 to 1956.

The Nazis operated the camp under the name SS-Lager Dachsgrube or Arbeitslager Neu-Dachs from 15th June 1943. It was evacuated by them in January 1945. The prisoners mainly worked in coal mining and in the construction of the nearby power plant, for Albert Speer's company EnergieVersorgung Oberschlesien AG (EVO). British prisoners of war from Stalag VIII-B at Lamsdorf (Lambinowice), helped to build the camp. The guards were mainly drawn from ethnic German (Volksdeutche) members of the SS. The commandant was Bruno Pfutze and his deputy was Paul Weissman.

At any one time, the camp held up to 5,000 inmates, mostly European Jews, but also included Poles and Soviet POWs. 14 prisoners managed to escape, but there were many deaths from starvation, disease, hard labour and brutality. Every month, those prisoners deemed unfit to work were taken by truck to the gas chambers at Auschwitz main site.

The camp was bombed by the Soviet Air Force on 15th January 1945 and it was evacuated (to Gross-Rosen) two days later. However, the SS executed around 40 prisoners regarded as unfit for transportation. Hundreds died on this death march, including around 300 who were shot dead on the second night of the march. The camp was finally liberated on 19th January by the local Polish resistance. 350 prisoners remained there until the Red Army arrived a week later.

The site is now occupied by an apartment building, although there is a memorial to the camp inmates nearby.



Fence posts on the power plant site








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