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| Plaszow – Krakow Forced Labour Camp |
Plaszow
This page is dedicated to the memory of Joseph & Cyla Bau
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The construction of the camp commenced in the Podgorze area immediately after the deportations from the Krakow ghetto on 28 October 1942. There were two Jewish cemeteries on the chosen territory located next to each other. The first, established in 1887, belonged to the community of Podgorze; the other was a newly established cemetery belonging to the Jewish community of Krakow. The entrance to the Podgorze cemetery was from Jerozolimska Street. The cemetery for the Krakow community was established in 1932, when there were no further burial places available in the cemetery at Miodowa Street. Its entrance was from Abraham Street, where there stood a beautiful Ohel (a pre- funeral home), built in the Byzantine style, designed by the architect Siodmak and opened in the same year, 1932.
Plaszow Main Entrance
The building site of the camp included both cemeteries and was approximately 25 acres in size. Originally the camp was planned for 2,000-4,000 prisoners, mostly Jews from the Krakow ghetto. The terrain was very uneven, hilly, filled with stones, and for a large part marshy. Construction of the camp required the enormous task of relocating many cubic yards of dirt and demanded significant engineering ingenuity. The area required many barracks for living quarters and industrial activities, as well as roads, and water and sewer services, all of which had to be operational in order to house the rapidly increasing number of prisoners.
A group named Barrackenbau was created after 28 October 1942, which marked the second deportation action in the Krakow ghetto. Jews in this working group left the ghetto every morning under armed guard and returned to the ghetto in the evening. From the beginning their situation was desperate. The prisoners were often kept overnight in the unfinished barracks, without light or sanitary facilities. This group was located in Liban, an abandoned limestone quarry in proximity to the camp, where a prison was established some time later.
One of the first tasks assigned to the prisoners was the levelling of the cemeteries. The headstones from the graves were removed and used as paving in front of the offices and residences belonging to German officers. Bodies uncovered during the destruction of the cemetery were removed and thrown into mass graves. Most of the work had to be performed very quickly; prisoners ran, whilst the SS shouted, screamed orders, and threatened to shoot them.
Read the full article here: http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/othercamps/pl aszow/plaszow.html
The Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team
www.HolocaustResearchProject.org
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