Did you know that this mound is more than just earth? It is a testament to unspeakable suffering. This is Kopiec Męczenników KL Warschau. It commemorates the victims of KL Warschau.
KL Warschau was a Nazi concentration camp. It operated from 1943 to 1944 in Warsaw. Heinrich Himmler ordered its creation. The camp stood on the ruins of the Warsaw Ghetto.
Imagine the Warsaw Ghetto reduced to rubble. The Nazis planned to erase it. They wanted to build a park over the remains. KL Warschau prisoners were forced to clear the debris. They dismantled the ghetto brick by brick.
The camp was officially named Waffen-SS Konzentrationslager Warschau. Locals often called it “Gęsiówka”. This was after a pre-war prison nearby. KL Warschau initially functioned as an independent camp. Later it became a subcamp of Majdanek.
At least 7,250 prisoners passed through KL Warschau. Most were Jews from across Europe. They were forced to work. They demolished ruins and salvaged materials. The Nazis also used the camp for executions. Polish political prisoners died here. Jews caught on the “Aryan side” were murdered. Roughly 20,000 people died in KL Warschau. About 10,000 were Polish.
In late July 1944 the Nazis began evacuating KL Warschau. They marched nearly 4,000 prisoners to Kutno. Survivors were then sent to KL Dachau. On August 5 1944 soldiers from the “Zośka” battalion liberated the camp. They freed 348 Jews.
The exact location of KL Warschau was between several streets. These included Gęsia, Zamenhofa and Okopowa. The camp had two main sections. Lager I was the “old camp”. It included the Gęsiówka prison complex. Lager II was the “new camp”. It had brick barracks along Gęsia Street.
Living conditions were brutal in KL Warschau. Prisoners suffered hunger disease and exhaustion. Epidemics were common. Guards and functional prisoners often beat and murdered inmates. Executions were frequent.
After the war parts of KL Warschau became a Soviet NKVD camp. It held German prisoners and Polish resistance fighters. Later the communist Ministry of Public Security used the site. They held German prisoners and political prisoners. The area was a prison until 1956.
Today no trace of KL Warschau remains. The area is now a square and residential buildings. The Museum of the History of Polish Jews stands nearby.
Remember the suffering that occurred here at Kopiec Męczenników KL Warschau. It serves as a stark reminder of the atrocities. It ensures that their stories are not forgotten.