WW2-Poland-2015

Operation
Period September 2, 1939 – May 9, 1945
Prisoners
110,000 with 85,000 dead victims
Stutthof was a Nazi German concentration camp in operation from September 2, 1939 following the invasion of
Poland in World War II. It was set up in a secluded, wet, and wooded area west of the small town of Stutthof (Sztutowo)
in the former territory of the Free City of Danzig, 34 km (21 mi) east of the city of Gdańsk. It was the first camp outside
German borders, and the last camp liberated by the Allies, on May 9, 1945. More than 85,000 victims died in the camp
out of as many as 110,000 inmates deported there.
German concentration camps in occupied Poland (marked with black squares)
The Nazi authorities of the Free City of Danzig were compiling material about known Jews and Polish intelligentsia as
early as 1936 and were also reviewing suitable places to build concentration camps in their area. Originally, Stutthof
was a civilian internment camp under the Danzig police chief. In November 1941, it became a "labor education" camp,
administered by theGerman Security Police. Finally, in January 1942, Stutthof became a regular concentration camp.
The original camp (known as the old camp) was surrounded by barbed-wire fence. It comprised eight barracks for the
inmates and a "kommandantur" for the SS guards, totaling 120,000 m². In 1943, the camp was enlarged and a new
camp was constructed alongside the earlier one. It was also surrounded by electrified barbed-wire fence and contained
thirty new barracks, raising the total area to 1.2 km² (0.5 sq mi). A crematorium and gas chamber were added in 1943,
just in time to start mass executions when Stutthof was included in the "Final Solution" in June 1944. Mobile gas
wagons were also used to complement the maximum capacity of the gas chamber (150 people per execution) when
needed.
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