Stutthof
O
n September 2,1939, Stutthof was established as a civilian internment camp under SS jurisdiction. It was also named Sztutowo.
The Nazis selected a site for its easy access by highways and railroad, its unfavorable situation for escape, and its unhealthy weather. From the day of its founding
until liberationi on May 9,1945, about 120,000 men and women passed through its gates, among whom 85,000 died. It was there the
Polish people were exterminated and incarcerated, according for Hitler's plan, to create "living space" for Germany's population.
Stutthof began as a small, primitive camp for the work exterimation of regional Poles. Later the camp was enlarged to include thirty
large barracks and a separate section of ten buildings identified as workshops for a German weapons establishment. Those included
locksmith, gunsmith, saddle, tailor, and shoemaker workshops.
Labor was a more serious feature of Stutthof than most Polish camps. At first, inmates were assigned to three main tasks: clearing
the forest, fencing the camp, and contructing barracks. As the camp grew, the most important ones employed were craftsmen,
electricians, carpenters, locksmiths, masons, and cooks. The most exhausting and damaging work was done by the forest group.
They cleared the trees and leveled the ground in preparation for the enlargement of the camp. The SS forced the inmates to work as
horses, driving them to pull carts and drag trees.
After July 1944 Jews formed about 70 percent of the population and were put into a separate group for special treatment. However, all
inmates were beaten, tortured, killed, and exterminated. Those not killed by torture and punishment died from contagious diseases.
The mass sickness of the prisoners was caused by insufficient food, lack of vitamins, and water without calcium. In addition,
prisoners suffered through many typhus epidemics. As though the inmates did not die fast enough, the SS tortured them in a variety
of ways. They hanged the prisoners in the trees, drowned them in the mud, killed them by hitting their heads with a stick, broke their
ribs, and jumped on their breasts. They also drowned the inmates in sinks and burning them alive in wood furnaces.
Stutthof posssessed a gas chamber that had a normal wagon exterior look. Often the guards told the prisoners that they were going
to another work area while their destination is the river of death. The crematorium was not big enough to handle the bodies. Thus the
prisoners dug mass graves and burned the corpses in thoses graves. Another gruesome aspect of Stutthof was the manufacturing of
soap. The Nazis actually made soap out of the fat of dead Jews. The recipe of making the human soap frightened everyone during
testimony after the war.
Stutthof did not escape the horrible evacuation. One the day of evacuation the register showed 25,000 to 30,000 persons in the main
camp, about half of whom were Jewish women. The death march lasted ten long days during which prisoners died from hunger, cold,
blows, and dirt. Diarrhea, typhus, and lice also increased the number of dead. The commandant finally surrendered the camp and on
May 10 a detachment of the Soviet Army entered Stutthof.
