Muzeum Stutthof w Sztutowie

Public Domain

In January 1945, the Red Army approached within 50 km of the Stutthof camp. At that point, the German authorities decided to evacuate the camp and its subcamps. On January 25, 1945, after the morning roll call at 4 a.m., about 37,000 prisoners were led out of the main camp. They marched for a week to finally reach makeshift camps west of Gdańsk. In harsh winter conditions, with virtually no access to food, many prisoners died of exhaustion, and those who were unable to continue walking were killed by German guards. After being placed in the new camps, the prisoners continued to suffer from hunger and disease. It is estimated that around 20,000 people lost their lives during the death marches.Approximately 5,000 prisoners from the Stutthof subcamps were taken to the coast of the Vistula Lagoon. There, they were forced to enter the icy water, after which mass shootings took place. About 12,000 prisoners were left in the subcamps and the main camp, where a typhus epidemic broke out. On April 25 and 27, 1945, the next stages of the evacuation of prisoners began, with the aim of transporting them across the sea to Flensburg and Lübeck in Germany. Half of those evacuated were killed or died during transport, and their naked bodies were thrown into the Baltic Sea. As the barges carrying the prisoners approached Lübeck, the local German authorities did not allow the prisoners on board to disembark. As a result, almost all of them were killed. In total, about 7,000 prisoners died in this part of the evacuation. When the Red Army liberated the Stutthof camp on May 9, 1945, there were only about 150 prisoners left alive.

Poland

Nervous about the approaching Soviet Army, the Germans decided to evacuate the Stutthof concentration camp in January 1945. The prisoners, already hungry and weak, had to walk for days in severe winter conditions, almost without food. Thousands of them died from exhaustion or were killed by the German guards.

In January 1945 the Soviet Army approached the Stutthof concentration camp to a mere 50 kilometres. Therefore the Germans decided to evacuate the camp and its subcamps. On 25 January 1945, after a morning roll call at four o’clock, about 37.000 inmates were marched out of the main camp. They walked for a week to reach camps to the west of Gdansk/Danzig. In horrible winter conditions and virtually without food, many prisoners died of sheer exhaustion. The German guards killed those who weren’t able to follow. In their new camps, the evacuees continued to suffer from hunger and disease. About 20.000 people died during these death marches. Some 5000 prisoners from Stutthof’s subcamps were taken to the Baltic coast. There they were forced to walk into the freezing water to be machine-gunned.

Some 12.000 prisoners were left behind in Stutthof, where a typhus epidemic struck the camp. On 25 and 27 April 1945 a new evacuation, by sea to Flensburg and Lübeck, was initiated. Half of the evacuees died during transport. Their naked bodies were thrown in the Baltic Sea. On approaching Lübeck, the local German authorities there did not allow the prisoners to come ashore. Nearly all were killed. Around 7.000 prisoners lost their lives.

When, on 9 May 1945 the Red Army liberated the Stutthof camp, they found only 140 surviving prisoners.

Dodenmarsen

Foto's