Death Valley
The Pomeranian Crime of 1939 is a term that refers to the mass crimes committed in Gdańsk Pomerania in the first months of World War II. One of the approximately 400 execution sites, where people such as the intelligentsia, the mentally ill and Jews were murdered, was the northern outskirts of Chojnice, known today as the Death Valley.
The mentally ill who resided in the so-called National Social Welfare Institutions in Chojnice constituted the second group of people murdered near Chojnice. All the residents – at least 218 people were murdered between 20 and 23 October 1939. In the surrounding fields, 15 representatives of the local Jewish community were also murdered. Entire families were murdered at that time – including children.
A column of several hundred Polish prisoners was brought to Chojnice at the end of January 1945. They were all murdered and their bodies were then burned to cover up the traces of the crime. After the war, exhumations were carried out. As a result, the remains of 168 people were extracted, of whom families and loved ones recognized 53 victims.
The Pomeranian Crime was a planned extermination campaign on the Polish civilian population carried out by the Germans in the pre-war Pomeranian Voivodeship in over 400 towns. Based on exhumation documentation and name lists, approximately 16,000 victims were identified. In historiography, it is assumed that, according to various estimates, from 20 to even 40,000 people were murdered. The so-called Piaśnica Forests, where at least 10,000 people died is the largest place of execution. The full number of victims is unknown because the Germans destroyed the documentation and burned the bodies.
Dr Dawid Kobiałka (photo: Mateusz Kowalski, Faculty of Philosophy and History, University of Lodz)
The exhibition will feature 60 photos documenting 5 years of investigation conducted in the Death Valley, as reported by Dr Dawid Kobiałka from the Institute of Archaeology at the University of Lodz.
We should remember that there is no such thing as eternal oblivion and a perfect crime. This is demonstrated by the activities of the Institute of National Remembrance, the prosecutor's office and the archaeological research that was conducted in the Death Valley
– said Dr Dawid Kobiałka.
Discovery of victims' remains
The remains of approximately 700 victims of German crimes from World War II were found on the northern outskirts of Chojnice. The discovery was made during exhumation work conducted in the years 2021-2024 by the Branch Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation in Gdańsk.
Eagle from an official's cap found in a mass grave in the Death Valley (photo by D. Frymark)
The investigation by the Institute of National Remembrance was initiated after a team of archaeologists led by Dr Dawid Kobiałka discovered mass graves in the area during archaeological works conducted between 9 May and 15 December 2020.
About the exhibition
The opening of the exhibition will be held on 3 April 2025 (Thursday) at 12:00 p.m. in the Council Room of the Faculty of Philosophy and History of the University of Lodz (room 103), Kamińskiego 27a – Institute of History, University of Lodz.
During the first part of the event the results of archaeological works conducted in the Chojnice Death Valley will be presented. After the official part, there will be a presentation of the exhibition in front of the building of the Institute of History of the University of Lodz.
The exhibition will be available for viewing from 3 April of the current year until the end of June 2025.
The project is financed by the National Science Centre under contract no. UMO-2021/43/D/HS3/00033.
Organisers of the exhibition include:
- University of Lodz
- Faculty of Philosophy and History, University of Lodz
- Institute of Archaeology, University of Lodz
- IPN Branch in Gdansk
Information: Dr Dawid Kobiałka