Timeline
•August, 1939
-Stutthof established
•situated on the Danzig-Elbing highway
-began as civilian internment camp
-initial construction began under commander Kurt Eimann to "solve the Polish question"
-a detachment under commander Max Pauly organized the camp
-the camp was surrounded by water, making escape impossible
-the ground was saturated with lack-limed water, which was deadly to many of the prisoners
•August 31- September 1 1939
-1,500 people classified as "undesirable" arrested
•socially and politically active Poles
-the following day the first transport of 250 people was sent to Stutthof
-official beginning of the camp
•by March 1940 the camp had been expanded to hold about several thousand prisoners
•was not immediately granted state concentration camp status -for three years it was a camp for civil prisoners, then a labor education camp •called Sonderlager Stutthof•Heinrich Himmler refused to upgrade the status of the camp until after his November 23 visit in 1941 -became an official concentration camp January of 1942 -began to expand rapidly
•before the expansion, the "Old Camp" contained 8 barracks, a workshop, stores, baths
•the "New Camp" was set to be completed by 1944
•One and a half kilometers away, a new camp was built (Sonderlager)
-the prisoners were called Haudegens
•End of 1944
-large transports of Jews, along with Gypsies started coming in
•most being transported from Auschwitz, and many other camps
-destined for extermination
•influx of Jews=more barracks needed
•conditions were dismal and many died from typhus
•work was considered a form of extermination
-prisoner worked in commando's, or groups, led by a Kapo
•12 hour work days, with one hour break for a meal
-the most difficult job was Waldkolonne
•cleared land for new installations
-only allowed 1,000 calories a day
-only way to survive was escape
•prisoners were executed either by gas chamber, shooting, or hanging
-gas chamber was built in 1943 to disinfect clothes
•1944-used to murder prisoners using Zyklon-B gas
•Maria Suszynska gave an eyewitness account of the conditions of the transports
“They arrived in a horrifying physical state, usually from other camps mainly Auschwitz to die here. They plodded on and on fatigued, with black faces, hair growing from their skin in bristle. They plodded on and on staring with their huge black eyes with what seemed to be an inhuman expression. They wore neither sweaters or jackets only torn summer dresses, through the tears in which their grey bodies could be seen. They were without vests, gaunt with their pointed shoulders, sunken chests – they were more like some weird ugly birds. In their hands they gripped pieces of bread, but were unable to eat. Were they aware where they were once more being taken?” (Stutthof Concentration Camp)
•about 50,000 Jews passed through Stutthof in 1944 alone
-most were immediately killed
•1942-crematorium built to burn the bodies
-1944-so many bodies that the crematorium couldn't keep up
•began burning bodies in piles
•January 12, 1945
-Germans double guards and burn incriminating evidence
•Russian army starting offensive
•End of January-Russian army closing in
-Stutthof prisoners sent on death marches
•January 25, 1945- official evacuation
-25,000 prisoners sent on the death march
•lasted for 10 days with only two days worth of food rations
•War trials held after the war
-Max Pauly tried and executed
-Paul Werner Hoppe, Pauly's successor, tried and sentenced to 9 years
-6 members of camp personnel and 5 kapos were hanged as well
•October 1947-second trials
-9 SS officer and one kapo sentenced to death
(Stutthof Concentration Camp)
-Stutthof established
•situated on the Danzig-Elbing highway
-began as civilian internment camp
-initial construction began under commander Kurt Eimann to "solve the Polish question"
-a detachment under commander Max Pauly organized the camp
-the camp was surrounded by water, making escape impossible
-the ground was saturated with lack-limed water, which was deadly to many of the prisoners
•August 31- September 1 1939
-1,500 people classified as "undesirable" arrested
•socially and politically active Poles
-the following day the first transport of 250 people was sent to Stutthof
-official beginning of the camp
•by March 1940 the camp had been expanded to hold about several thousand prisoners
•was not immediately granted state concentration camp status -for three years it was a camp for civil prisoners, then a labor education camp •called Sonderlager Stutthof•Heinrich Himmler refused to upgrade the status of the camp until after his November 23 visit in 1941 -became an official concentration camp January of 1942 -began to expand rapidly
•before the expansion, the "Old Camp" contained 8 barracks, a workshop, stores, baths
•the "New Camp" was set to be completed by 1944
•One and a half kilometers away, a new camp was built (Sonderlager)
-the prisoners were called Haudegens
•End of 1944
-large transports of Jews, along with Gypsies started coming in
•most being transported from Auschwitz, and many other camps
-destined for extermination
•influx of Jews=more barracks needed
•conditions were dismal and many died from typhus
•work was considered a form of extermination
-prisoner worked in commando's, or groups, led by a Kapo
•12 hour work days, with one hour break for a meal
-the most difficult job was Waldkolonne
•cleared land for new installations
-only allowed 1,000 calories a day
-only way to survive was escape
•prisoners were executed either by gas chamber, shooting, or hanging
-gas chamber was built in 1943 to disinfect clothes
•1944-used to murder prisoners using Zyklon-B gas
•Maria Suszynska gave an eyewitness account of the conditions of the transports
“They arrived in a horrifying physical state, usually from other camps mainly Auschwitz to die here. They plodded on and on fatigued, with black faces, hair growing from their skin in bristle. They plodded on and on staring with their huge black eyes with what seemed to be an inhuman expression. They wore neither sweaters or jackets only torn summer dresses, through the tears in which their grey bodies could be seen. They were without vests, gaunt with their pointed shoulders, sunken chests – they were more like some weird ugly birds. In their hands they gripped pieces of bread, but were unable to eat. Were they aware where they were once more being taken?” (Stutthof Concentration Camp)
•about 50,000 Jews passed through Stutthof in 1944 alone
-most were immediately killed
•1942-crematorium built to burn the bodies
-1944-so many bodies that the crematorium couldn't keep up
•began burning bodies in piles
•January 12, 1945
-Germans double guards and burn incriminating evidence
•Russian army starting offensive
•End of January-Russian army closing in
-Stutthof prisoners sent on death marches
•January 25, 1945- official evacuation
-25,000 prisoners sent on the death march
•lasted for 10 days with only two days worth of food rations
•War trials held after the war
-Max Pauly tried and executed
-Paul Werner Hoppe, Pauly's successor, tried and sentenced to 9 years
-6 members of camp personnel and 5 kapos were hanged as well
•October 1947-second trials
-9 SS officer and one kapo sentenced to death
(Stutthof Concentration Camp)