Neufahrwasser civil prison camp

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Image of the barracks (around 1900)

The Neufahrwasser civil prisoner camp was a transit camp for around 10,000 Poles in the first months of the Second World War . The camp was set up in 1939 in barracks in Neufahrwasser , a district of what is now the Polish city ​​of Gdańsk .

From September 7, 1939 to March 31, 1940, the barracks in Neufahrwasser were the headquarters of all civil prisoners' camps for the annexed Danzig Free State and the Polish corridor under the direction of SS-Obersturmbannführer Max Pauly . The Stutthof concentration camp emerged from them.

history

Barracks of the Gdansk Infantry Regiment No. 128

The barracks buildings were built between 1883 and 1885 in the historicist style. At first she was the garrison of the fusiliers of Grenadier Regiment No. 5 . Since 1890 the 2nd Battalion of Infantry Regiment No. 128 (from 1902: Danzig Infantry Regiment No. 128 ) has its accommodations here. Since 1901 the III. Battalion proven.

After the end of the First World War , the regiment was demobilized in Danzig from December 16, 1918 . In the spring of 1919, the Volunteer Infantry Regiment 128 was set up from parts. In June 1919, parts of the newly formed Reichswehr Infantry Regiment 34 of the Provisional Reichswehr went on.

Free City of Gdansk

With the entry into force of the Versailles Treaty , Danzig became a free city and demilitarized in 1920 . The Polish state had owned the barracks in Neufahrwasser since March 1922 . Apartments and a primary school were set up here for Polish citizens who worked for extraterritorial institutions like the Polish post office or in the port. Facilities also included a gymnasium, scouting quarters and a chapel.

Second World War

"Polish franc tireers caught in Neufahrwasser ." (Photo-Sönnke M 110)

With the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, mass arrests began in the Free City of Danzig. On the first day of the war, around 1,500 people were arrested, around 1,000 were taken to the Viktoriaschule civilian prison camp in Gdansk, others to the Schießstange prison, and 150 had to expand the Stutthof civilian prisoner camp (later Stutthof concentration camp) from September 2nd . The victims of the arrests were mostly Poles, who were actively involved in the life of the small state, including teachers, doctors, priests and members of Polish organizations in Gdansk. In addition to the Polonia associations , these were above all the Polish Post and the Port of Danzig. The Danzig National Socialists had drawn up the lists of “undesirable Polish elements” since 1936.

The building complex in Neufahrwasser was surrounded by police troops, SS and SA on the night of September 1st. The prisoners were brought to the Viktoriaschule camp, as the world war began in Neufahrwasser with the battle for the Westerplatte .

From September 7th to 15th there were extensive evacuations of prisoners from the Viktoriaschule to Neufahrwasser, but also to other camps. The Viktoriaschule camp was disbanded on September 15th. The SS guard Eimann was responsible for the guard . Many of the prisoners, including the priest Robert Wohlfeil , were forced to clean up the Westerplatte . In the following weeks, more Poles were brought in from the corridor. Arrests were made there as part of the Tannenberg company .

Around 10,000 Poles, up to 3,000 at the same time, were imprisoned in Neufahrwasser. Transports were carried out to camps in Danzig-West Prussia , to mass executions near Piasnitz and, when it was dissolved in March 1940, mainly to Stutthof and its satellite camps. The camp administration under Max Pauly was also moved to Stutthof.

present

Image of the barracks (present)

Today, the headquarters of the Morski Oddział Straży Granicznej ( Coast Guard ) of the Straż Graniczna (Polish Border Guard ) are located in the building complex .

Prominent prisoners

Other internment camps

literature

  • Andrzej Gąsiorowski: Hitlerowskie przygotowania do agresji i eksterminacji Polaków na Pomorzu Gdańskim iw Wolnym Mieście Gdańsku w: Stutthof: hitlerowski obóz koncentracyjny . Warszawa, Interpress 1988. ISBN 83-223-2369-7
  • Danzig and its buildings. 1908

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Karin Orth : The system of the National Socialist concentration camps. 2002, p. 138

Coordinates: 54 ° 24 ′ 15.5 ″  N , 18 ° 39 ′ 32.3 ″  E