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106-465: Mogilno is one of the oldest settlements along the border of the Greater Poland and Kuyavia historical regions. Since the turn of the 8th and 9th century until the 10th century an early-medieval settlement existed there, at the long narrow headland surrounded by waters of Mogilno Lake from the west and south and marshes from the east. In 1065, a Benedictine abbey was founded there by Bolesław

212-557: A Cell Block for the punishment, interrogation, and torture of prisoners. Important people confined there included Martin Niemöller and Georg Elser . From 1939 until 1943, over 600 homosexual prisoners were killed. In November 1940, the SS executed 33 Polish prisoners by firing squad. In April 1941, over 550 prisoners were killed under Action 14f13 . In the autumn of 1941, over 10,000 Soviet prisoners of war were shot. In May 1942,

318-542: A German court ruled that Formanek was unfit to stand trial, though an appeal is likely. In spite of the German case against Formanek, it has also been acknowledged that Formanek had previously served 10 years of a 25 year prison sentence in a Soviet prison after being captured by Red Army forces in 1945. After the Soviets vacated the site, it was used for some years by East Germany's " Kasernierte Volkspolizei ", notionally

424-415: A camp kitchen and a camp laundry. The camp's capacity became inadequate and the camp was expanded in 1938 by a new rectangular area (the "small camp") northeast of the entrance gate and the perimeter wall was altered to enclose it. There was an additional area ( Sonderlager ) outside the main camp perimeter to the north; this consisted of two huts Sonderlager 'A' and 'B' built in 1941 for special prisoners that

530-603: A few months after the founding of the GDR , the last Soviet camps were dissolved. About 8,000 prisoners were released from Special Camp No. 1, and a smaller group was transported to the Soviet Union . The NKVD transferred 5,500 prisoners to the GDR authorities. Among them were 1,119 women and about 30 children born in the camp (so-called "Landeskinder") were transferred to the GDR women's prison at Hoheneck/Stollberg . The injustice of

636-477: A few months. In 1956, those who were still alive were released and sent back to Germany. The Dutch sought the extradition from Czechoslovakia of Antonín Zápotocký , who became President of Czechoslovakia, for his alleged role in the murder of Dutch prisoners during his time as a kapo at the camp. In the GDR, various subsequent trials took place against members of the SS guards of Sachsenhausen concentration camp, such as Roland Puhr and Arnold Zöllner. Puhr

742-527: A high mortality rate. On the order of Heinrich Himmler , most of the camps were dissolved in 1943, and its surviving prisoners were sent to ghettos and death camps. Germany operated several prisoner-of-war camps , including Stalag XXI-B, Stalag XXI-C , Stalag XXI-D , Stalag XXI-E, Stalag 302, Oflag II-C , Oflag XXI-A, Oflag XXI-B , Oflag XXI-C and Oflag 64 , for Polish, French , British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealander, Belgian, Dutch, Serbian, American, Italian , South African and other Allied POWs in

848-736: A larger area than the Greater Poland region itself, also taking in Masovia and Royal Prussia . (This division of Crown Poland into two entities called Greater and Lesser Poland had its roots in the Statutes of Casimir the Great of 1346–1362, where the laws of "Greater Poland" – the northern part of the country – were codified in the Piotrków statute, with those of "Lesser Poland" in the separate Wiślica statute.) In 1655, Greater Poland

954-515: A plan to undermine the British and American economies, courtesy of Sicherheitsdienst (SD) chief Reinhard Heydrich . The Germans introduced fake British £5, £10, £20 and £50 notes into circulation in 1943: the Bank of England never found them. Plans had been made to drop British pounds over London by plane. Today, these notes are considered very valuable by collectors. An industrial area, outside

1060-561: A police division and in reality a precursor of the country's own National People's Army , which was formally established in 1956. In 1956, planning began for the adaptation of the concentration camp site as a national memorial. This was inaugurated four years later on 23 April 1961 by Walter Ulbricht , First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party (SED). The first director of the renamed "Sachsenhausen National Memorial Site" ( "Nationale Mahn- u. Gedenkstätte Sachsenhausen" )

1166-495: A public hanging in front of the assembled prisoners. Prisoners of war were made to run up to 40 km (25 mi) a day with heavy packs, sometimes after being given performance-boosting drugs like cocaine, to trial military boots in tests commissioned by shoe factories. Wolfgang Wirth  [ de ] did experiments using the lethal sulfur mustard gas. There have also been allegations of an experimental drug tested upon unwilling inmates in 1944 designated " D-IX " at

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1272-426: A training centre for Schutzstaffel (SS) officers (who would often be sent to oversee other camps afterwards). Initially, the camp was used to perfect the most efficient and effective execution method for use in the death camps . Given that, executions obviously took place at Sachsenhausen, especially of Soviet prisoners of war . During the earlier stages of the camp's existence, the executions were done by placing

1378-682: A year before being executed in February/March 1945. Survivors of Operation Checkmate , a 1942 commando anti-shipping operation in Norway, including their leader, John Godwin , RN, were held at Sachsenhausen until February 1945, when they were executed. Godwin managed to wrestle the pistol of the firing party commander from his belt and shot him dead before being himself shot. The Zellenbau of about 80 cells held some of World War II's most persistent Allied escapees as well as German dissidents, Nazi deserters and nationalists from East Europe such as

1484-474: Is Pogoń Mogilno . Greater Poland Greater Poland , often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska ( pronounced [vjɛlkɔˈpɔlska] ; Latin : Polonia Maior ), is a Polish historical region of west-central Poland . Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed by Kalisz , the oldest city in Poland. The boundaries of Greater Poland have varied somewhat throughout history. Since

1590-724: Is Poznań , near the centre of the region, on the Warta. Other cities are Kalisz to the south-east, Konin to the east, Piła to the north, Ostrów Wielkopolski to the south-east, Gniezno (the earliest capital of Poland) to the north-east, and Leszno to the south-west. An area of 75.84 square kilometres (29.28 sq mi) of forest and lakeland south of Poznań is designated the Wielkopolska National Park ( Wielkopolski Park Narodowy ), established in 1957. The region also contains part of Drawa National Park , and several designated Landscape Parks . For example,

1696-629: Is first recorded in the Latin form Polonia Maior in 1257 and in Polish w Wielkej Polszcze in 1449. Its original meaning was the Older Poland to contrast with Lesser Poland (Polish Małopolska , Latin Polonia Minor ), a region in south-eastern Poland with its capital at Kraków that later became the main centre of the state. Greater Poland comprises much of the area drained by

1802-527: Is produced in various places, especially in the Noteć and Warta river valleys in the north and west. Notable centers of honey production include Pszczew , Wałcz , Tuczno , Lubiszyn and Stare Drawsko in northern and western Greater Poland and Kopaszewo and Witosław in southern Greater Poland. The Saint Michael's Honey Fair is held annually in Gorzów Wielkopolski . Grodzisk Wielkopolski

1908-472: Is suspected that prisoners had sabotaged them. Other firms included AEG and Siemens . Prisoners also worked in a brick factory. Overall, at least 30,000 inmates died in Sachsenhausen from causes such as exhaustion, disease, malnutrition and pneumonia, as a result of the poor living conditions. Many were executed or died as the result of brutal medical experimentation. In 1937, the SS constructed

2014-427: Is the most accomplished speedway team in Poland, and other accomplished teams in the region are Stal Gorzów Wielkopolski and Polonia Piła . Main handball clubs are MKS Kalisz , KPR Ostrovia Ostrów Wielkopolski , Nielba Wągrowiec , Stal Gorzów Wielkopolski , Grunwald Poznań and KPR Wolsztyniak Wolsztyn . Field hockey enjoys less popularity, however, the region is dominant in the sport in Poland, with 80 of

2120-641: Is the place of origin of the Grodziskie beer style. Other traditional Polish beers , officially protected by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland, are produced in Bojanowo , Czarnków , Miłosław , Nakło nad Notecią and Wschowa . Football and speedway enjoy the largest following in Greater Poland. The most accomplished football teams are Lech Poznań and Warta Poznań . 18-times Team Polish Champions (as of 2023), Unia Leszno ,

2226-666: The Lebensraum policy. From 1941 to 1943, the Germans operated a forced labour camp for Jewish men in the town. The Polish resistance movement was active in Mogilno, including local units of the Wielkopolska Organizacja Wojskowa , Wojskowa Organizacja Ziem Zachodnich , Grey Ranks , Union of Armed Struggle and Home Army . Two Polish underground newspapers were printed in the town. In 1940,

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2332-786: The Drzymała's wagon became a regional folk hero . In the Russian Partition, Russification policies were enacted, and Polish resistance was also active. The largest uprisings in Russian-controlled eastern Greater Poland were the November Uprising of 1830–31 and January Uprising of 1863–64. During World War I , Germany also occupied eastern Greater Poland, and in August 1914, the German Army carried out

2438-512: The Gestapo carried out arrests of Polish activists, teachers and entrepreneurs, closed various Polish organizations and enterprises and seized their funds. The Poles tried to resist German persecution, but some were forced to escape German arrest and thus fled to Poland. In September 1939, Germany invaded Poland starting World War II . During the attack the German army, Einsatzgruppen and Selbstschutz perpetrated various crimes against

2544-537: The Intelligenzaktion , the Gestapo carried out mass arrests of local Poles , who were then imprisoned in the local prison. Further expulsions of 491 Poles, including disabled and ill people, were carried out by the German police in 1941. Poles were deported to the General Government in the more-eastern part of German-occupied Poland, while their houses were handed over to Germans as part of

2650-629: The Late Middle Ages , Wielkopolska proper has been split into the Poznań and Kalisz voivodeships . In the wider sense, it also encompassed Sieradz , Łęczyca , Brześć Kujawski and Inowrocław voivodeships, which were situated further east, and the Santok Land , located to the northwest. The region in the proper sense roughly coincides with the present-day Greater Poland Voivodeship ( Polish : województwo wielkopolskie ). Like all

2756-580: The Polish 2nd Infantry Division . According to an article published on 13 December 2001 in The New York Times : "In the early years of the war the SS practiced methods of mass killing there that were later used in the Nazi death camps. Of the roughly 30,000 wartime victims at Sachsenhausen, most were Soviet prisoners of war". After the last of the liberated concentration camp prisoners had left

2862-580: The Polish–Teutonic War of 1431–1435 . In the reunited kingdom, and later in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , the country came to be divided into administrative units called voivodeships . In the case of the Greater Poland region these were Poznań Voivodeship and Kalisz Voivodeship . The Commonwealth also had larger subdivisions known as prowincja , one of which was named Greater Poland . However, this prowincja covered

2968-489: The Rogalin Landscape Park is famous for about 2000 monumental oak trees growing on the flood plain of the river Warta , among numerous ox-bow lakes . Greater Poland formed the heart of the 10th-century early Polish state , sometimes being called the "cradle of Poland". Poznań and Gniezno were early centres of royal power and the seats of Poland's first Catholic diocese, est. in Poznań in 968, and

3074-589: The Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ; the wife and children of the crown prince of Bavaria ; Ukrainian nationalist leader Stepan Bandera ; and several enemy soldiers and political dissidents. Sachsenhausen was a labour camp, outfitted with several subcamps, a gas chamber, and a medical experimentation area. Prisoners were treated inhumanely, fed inadequately, and killed openly. After World War II, when Oranienburg

3180-604: The Warta River and its tributaries, including the Noteć River . The region is distinguished from Lesser Poland with the lowland landscape, and from both Lesser Poland and Mazovia with its numerous lakes. In the strict meaning, it covers an area of about 33,000 square kilometres (13,000 sq mi), and has a population of 3.5 million. In the wider sense, it has almost 60,000 square kilometres (23,000 sq mi), and 7 million inhabitants. The region's main metropolis

3286-620: The destruction of Kalisz . Germany planned the annexation of eastern Greater Poland as part of the so-called " Polish Border Strip " and expulsion of its Polish inhabitants to make room for German colonization in accordance with the Lebensraum policy. Following the end of World War I , the Greater Poland uprising (1918–19) ensured that most of the region became part of the newly independent Polish state, forming most of Poznań Voivodeship (1921–1939) . Northern and some western parts of Greater Poland remained in Germany, where they formed much of

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3392-656: The expulsion of Poles , now also in pre-war Polish territory, with the Special Staff for the Resettlement of Poles and Jews ( Sonderstab für die Aussiedlung von Polen und Juden ) established in Poznań in November 1939, soon renamed to Office for the Resettlement of Poles and Jews ( Amt für Umsiedlung der Polen und Juden ), and eventually to Central Bureau for Resettlement (UWZ, Umwandererzentralstelle ). The place of

3498-546: The "Sachsenhausen salute" where a prisoner would squat with his arms outstretched in front. There was a marching strip around the perimeter of the roll call ground, where prisoners had to march over a variety of surfaces, to test military footwear; between 25 and 40 kilometres (16 and 25 mi) were covered each day. Prisoners assigned to the camp prison would be kept in isolation on poor rations and some would be suspended from posts by their wrists tied behind their backs ( strappado ). In cases such as attempted escape, there would be

3604-519: The 1980 strikes in various cities and towns, which led to the foundation of the Solidarity organization, which played a central role in the end of communist rule in Poland. With the reforms of 1975 it was divided into seven provinces, partially or wholly located in Greater Poland (the voivodeships of Bydgoszcz , Gorzów , Kalisz , Konin , Leszno , Piła and Poznań ). The present-day Greater Poland Voivodeship , again with Poznań as its capital,

3710-442: The 86 men's Polish Championships won by local teams (as of October 2023). The following table lists the cities in proper Greater Poland with a population greater than 25,000 (2015): Sachsenhausen concentration camp 52°45′57″N 13°15′51″E  /  52.76583°N 13.26417°E  / 52.76583; 13.26417 Sachsenhausen ( German pronunciation: [zaksn̩ˈhaʊzn̩] ) or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg

3816-893: The Generous . North of the abbey a town later developed, which in 1398 was granted a town charter by King Władysław II Jagiełło , and which was the abbey's property until 1773. Administratively it was located in the Gniezno County in the Kalisz Voivodeship in the Greater Poland Province of the Kingdom of Poland. After the First Partition of Poland in 1772 the town became a part of the Kingdom of Prussia . In local baptism records from 1792,

3922-422: The German army, rescued Polish children kidnapped by the Germans, and facilitated escapes of Allied prisoners of war from German POW camps. The Germans cracked down on the resistance several times, and even kidnapped children of the resistance members and sent them to a camp for Polish children in Łódź , nicknamed "little Auschwitz " due to its conditions, where many died. From August 1944 to January 1945,

4028-526: The German military, the nature and use there of D-IX specifically (especially experimentation upon Sachsenhausen prisoners) lacks enough substantiation to be considered credible, though experiments by the Nazis upon unwilling prisoners utilizing psychoactive compounds is far from myth, and could hardly be ruled outside the realm of plausibility. Seven men of the British Army's No. 2 Commando, captured after

4134-605: The German police and Einsatzgruppe VI carried out mass public executions of some 300 Poles in various towns in the region, i.e. Gostyń , Kostrzyn , Kościan , Kórnik , Krobia , Książ Wielkopolski , Leszno , Mosina , Osieczna , Poniec , Śmigiel , Śrem , Środa and Włoszakowice , to terrorize and pacify the Poles. The Polish and Jewish population was classified by Nazis as subhuman and subjected to organized genocide, involving mass murder and ethnic cleansing, with many former officials and others considered potential enemies by

4240-537: The Germans arrested the leaders of the local unit of Wojskowa Organizacja Ziem Zachodnich , who were then imprisoned in various Nazi prisons and eventually sentenced to death and beheaded in Poznań in 1942. Bogdan Friedrich, commander of the local unit of the Union of Armed Struggle was arrested by the Gestapo in mid-1942 and died in the Rawicz prison after a brutal interrogation, whereas Stanisław Szperka, commander of

4346-441: The Germans used hundreds of thousands of Poles as forced labour to build fortifications in the region ahead of the advancing Eastern Front . In January 1945, before and during their retreat, the Germans committed several further massacres of Polish civilians, prisoners and Polish and other Allied POWs, including at Pleszew , Marchwacz , Żabikowo, Łomnica and Kuźnica Żelichowska and perpetrated several death marches . Poznań

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4452-479: The Munich II Regional Court. In March 2009 Josias Kumpf, 83 was deported from Wisconsin back to Austria after having been found to have been a SS Guard at KZ Sachsenhausen and Trawniki . In May 2022, a trial began in Germany against a SS guard at KZ Sachsenhausen of SS-Rottenführer Josef Schütz age 101. The next month, Schütz would be convicted and sentenced to five years in prison, becoming

4558-779: The Museum of Polish State Origins in Gniezno, and the National Museum and Wielkopolska Museum of Independence in Poznań. Several castles and palaces house museums, such as those in Dobrzyca, Gołuchów , Jarocin , Kołaczkowo , Koźmin Wielkopolski , Kórnik, Poznań , Rogalin and Śmiełów . Poland's largest church, the Basilica of Our Lady of Licheń , is located in the region. The oldest preserved European signpost beyond

4664-586: The Nazis being imprisoned or executed, including at the notorious Fort VII concentration camp in Poznań. Major sites of massacres of Poles in the region included Dopiewiec , Dębienko , Winiary , Mędzisko , Paterek , Łobżenica , Górka Klasztorna , Kobylniki and Bukowiec . During Aktion T4 , the SS-Sonderkommandos gassed over 2,700 mentally ill people from the psychiatric hospitals in Owińska , Dziekanka and Kościan . The Germans continued

4770-560: The Nazis from the prisoners), scale models of the camp, pictures, documents and other artifacts illustrating life in the camp. The administrative buildings from which the entire German concentration camp network was run have been preserved and can also be seen. As of 2015 , the site of the Sachsenhausen camp, at 22, Strasse der Nationen in Oranienburg, is open to the public as a museum and a memorial. Several buildings and structures survive or have been reconstructed, including guard towers,

4876-579: The Pious issued the Statute of Kalisz in the region. It was a unique protective privilege for Jews during their persecution in Western Europe , which in the following centuries made Poland the destination of Jewish migration from other countries. From the late 13th century, the region experienced first German invasions and occupations. In the late 13th century, the northwestern part of Greater Poland

4982-420: The Poles was taken by German colonists in accordance with the Lebensraum policy. Many Poles were also enslaved as forced labour and either sent to forced labour camps or German colonists in the region or deported to Germany and other German-occupied countries. Over 270,000 Polish children aged 10–18 were subjected to forced labour in Greater Poland, which, in addition to German profits of 500 million marks ,

5088-647: The Polish people in the occupied areas, whereas the persecution of Poles of northern and western Greater Poland reached its climax with mass arrests of Polish activists, who were detained in temporary camps in Piła and Lipka , and then deported to concentration camps , expulsions and closure of Polish schools and enterprises. The invading troops committed multiple massacres of Polish civilians and prisoners of war , including at Kłecko , Zdziechowa , Mogilno , Trzemeszno , Niewolno , Winiary , Wągrowiec , Mielno , Jankowo Dolne , Podlesie Kościelne and Obora . Afterwards,

5194-702: The Prussian Partition, western Greater Poland became the Grand Duchy of Posen (Poznań), which theoretically held some autonomy. Following an unrealized uprising in 1846 , and the more substantial but still unsuccessful uprising of 1848 (during the Spring of Nations ), the Grand Duchy was replaced by the Province of Posen . The authorities made efforts to Germanize the region, particularly after

5300-522: The Sachsenhausen National Memorial Site was politically instrumentalised in the GDR, especially during the celebrations for the liberation of the concentration camp. After German reunification , the former camp was entrusted to a foundation that opened a museum on the site. So since 1993, the "Gedenkstätte und Museum Sachsenhausen" ( Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum ) has been responsible for exhibitions and research on

5406-487: The Sachsenhausen facility. Designed to increase stamina and endurance, this drug, supposedly consisting of a cocktail of cocaine, methamphetamine ( Pervitin ), and oxycodone ( Eukodal ), was designed to see use from members of the Wehrmacht, Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe to enhance mission performance where endurance and exhaustion become pertinent issues. While these drugs were used in their individual forms by all branches of

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5512-612: The Sachsenhausen memorial, where the official celebrations of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) were held, was located in the former concentration camp. It was controlled by the Ministry of Culture, and as the National Memorial Sites Buchenwald and Ravensbrück, Sachsenhausen served as place of identification and legitimisation of the GDR. The government of East Germany emphasised the suffering of political prisoners over that of

5618-753: The Ukrainian leader Taras Bulba-Borovets whom the Nazis hoped to persuade to change sides and fight the Soviets. Over the course of its operation, over 100 Dutch resistance fighters were executed at Sachsenhausen. Dutch Freemasons were also sent to the camp including the Grand Master of the Grand Orient of the Netherlands , Hermannus van Tongeren sr.  [ nl ] , who died there in March 1941, after being arrested by Klaus Barbie . At

5724-456: The boundaries of the former Roman Empire is located in Konin . In addition to traditional nationwide Polish cuisine , Greater Poland is known for its variety of regional and local traditional foods and drinks, which include especially various meat products (incl. various types of kiełbasa ), cheeses , honeys , beverages and various dishes and meals, officially protected by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland . Among

5830-502: The camp doctor Heinz Baumkötter , as well as two Kapos , were brought to trial on 23 October 1947 before a Soviet Military Tribunal in Berlin. On 1 November 1947, all sixteen of them were found guilty. Fourteen defendants were given life sentences with hard labor, including Kaindl and Baumkötter, and two others were sentenced to fifteen years in prison with hard labor. They served their time under harsh conditions in Siberian labor camps. Six of them, including Kaindl, died in custody within

5936-489: The camp entrance, crematory ovens and the camp barracks. With the fall of communist East Germany, it was possible to conduct excavations in the former camps. At Sachsenhausen, the bodies of 12,500 victims were found; most were children, adolescents and elderly people. Following the discovery in 1990 of mass graves from the Soviet period, a separate museum was opened documenting the camp's Soviet-era history. Between 1945 and 1950, 12,000 people died of hunger and disease in

6042-401: The camp eventually grew to cover 400 hectares (990 acres). Designed by Bernhard Kuiper, Himmler called Sachsenhausen a "completely new concentration camp for the modern age, which can be extended at any time." In practice, however, extending the design proved impractical. There was an infirmary inside the southern angle of the perimeter and a camp prison within the eastern angle. There was also

6148-423: The camp's SS staff ordered 33,000 inmates on a forced march northwest. Most of the prisoners were physically exhausted and thousands did not survive this death march; those who collapsed en route were shot by the SS. The march ended near Raben Steinfeld in early May, after liberation by the Red Army and US Army. On 22 April 1945, the camp's remaining 3,400 inmates were liberated by the 1st Belorussian Front and

6254-441: The camp's history on the grounds of the former Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. The educational work of the institution focuses on the history of the Oranienburg concentration camp , various aspects of the history of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, the Soviet special camp and the history of the memorial itself. The museum features artwork created by inmates and a 30-centimetre (12 in) high pile of gold teeth (extracted by

6360-573: The continued use of the National Socialist concentration camps by the Soviet occupying power and the renewed agonising deaths of thousands of people associated with it were concealed or played down by the SED regime. During the Waldheim trials , some survivors of the Soviet camp in Sachsenhausen were sentenced to imprisonment in Bautzen or Waldheim . Many women were among the inmates of Sachsenhausen and its subcamps. According to SS files, more than 2,000 women lived in Sachsenhausen, guarded by female SS staff ( Aufseherin ). Camp records show that there

6466-436: The end of 1944, Himmler ordered the execution of every prisoner. Sick inmates were executed in the industrial yard, including at least 2,000, or transferred to death camps. In February 1945, more than 1,300 prisoners were executed during the evacuation of the Lieberose forced labor camp , a subsidiary of Sachsenhausen. With the advance of the Red Army in the spring of 1945, Sachsenhausen was prepared for evacuation. On 21 April,

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6572-460: The extermination facility, almost all buildings from the former concentration camp were used again (especially the wooden barracks, the camp prison and the utility buildings). Towards the end of 1945, the camp was again fully occupied (12,000 people). In the following year, up to 16,000 people were imprisoned in the camp at times. About 2,000 female prisoners lived in a separate area of the camp. By 1948, Sachsenhausen, now renamed "Special Camp No. 1",

6678-423: The first archdiocese, est. in Gniezno in 1000, but following devastation of the region by pagan rebellion in the 1030s, and the invasion of Bretislaus I of Bohemia in 1038, the capital was moved by Casimir I the Restorer from Gniezno to Kraków . In the Testament of Bolesław III Wrymouth , which initiated the period of fragmentation of Poland (1138–1320), the western part of Greater Poland (including Poznań)

6784-500: The first hangings commenced from gallows in the roll-call area. These continued until 1945. In May 1942, 71 Dutch resistance fighters and 250 Jewish hostages were executed. In May 1942, "Station Z" was completed in an industrial yard outside the camp walls. It included prisoner killing rooms, four crematoria, and a gas chamber after 1943. In 1941, an adjacent sand pit was enlarged and made into an "execution trench". Camp punishments could be harsh. Some would be required to assume

6890-457: The founding of Germany in 1871, and from 1886 onwards the Prussian Settlement Commission was active in increasing German land ownership in formerly Polish areas. The Germans imposed Germanisation and Kulturkampf policies, and the Poles organized resistance . In the early 20th century, the Września children strike against Germanisation started, which quickly spread to other places in Greater Poland and beyond, whereas Michał Drzymała with

6996-488: The highly successful Operation Musketoon , were executed at Sachsenhausen. They were shot on 23 October 1942, five days after Adolf Hitler issued his Commando Order calling for the killing of all captured members of commando units. Four SOE agents led by Lt Cdr Mike Cumberlege RNR, who took part in the 1943 Operation Locksmith in Greece intended to blow up the Corinth Canal and were captured in May 1943, were held in Sachsenhausen's Zellenbau isolation cells for more than

7102-469: The historical regions of Poland, i.e Pomerania , Warmia , Silesia , Mazovia or Lesser Poland and others, the Greater Poland region possesses its own folk costumes, architecture, cuisine, that make the region touristically and culturally interesting. Due to the fact that Greater Poland was the settlement area of the Polans and the core of the early Polish state , the region was at times simply called "Poland" (Latin Polonia ). The more specific name

7208-445: The leading and fastest developing regions of Poland, with municipal rights modeled after Poznań and Kalisz becoming the basis of municipal form of government for several towns in the region, as two of five local Polish variants of medieval town rights. The region came under the control of Władysław I the Elbow-high in 1314, and thus became part of the reunited Poland of which Władyslaw was crowned king in 1320. In 1264, Duke Bolesław

7314-428: The local Home Army unit, was arrested by the Gestapo in August 1944; he died during his deportation from a prison in Żabikowo to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp . Several organizers of the local resistance units were also arrested in 1942–1944 and either murdered during Gestapo interrogations or sentenced to death and executed. The town is home to the Mogilno Film Academy as well as a cinema. The film Voodoo Dad

7420-445: The most known local snacks are the St. Martin's croissant from Poznań and Kalisz andruts . Notable centers of traditional meat production include Grodzisk Wielkopolski , Krotoszyn , Kruszewnia , Nowy Tomyśl , Rawicz , Trzcianka and Złotniki , whereas centers of traditional cheese and quark production include Wągrowiec , Gniezno , Oborniki , Witkowo , Witoldzin and Września . A plethora of traditional Polish honey

7526-456: The northwestern and northern outskirts remained part of Prussia. However, following the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Greater Poland was again partitioned, with the western part (including Poznań) going to Prussia. The eastern part (including Kalisz) joined the Russian-controlled Kingdom of Poland , where it formed the Kalisz Voivodeship until 1837, then the Kalisz Governorate (merged into the Warsaw Governorate between 1844 and 1867). Within

7632-666: The occupiers launched the Intelligenzaktion genocidal campaign against the Polish population, and annexed the entire region into Nazi Germany . Administratively, most of Greater Poland was included within the Reichsgau Posen , later renamed Reichsgau Wartheland ( Warthe being the German name for the Warta river), whereas northern and western parts were located in the provinces of Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia , Pomerania and Brandenburg . On 20–23 October 1939,

7738-522: The oldest surviving Nazi fugitive to be convicted. In August 2023, charges were brought against a former SS guard who served in Sachsenhausen Guard Battalion, Gregor Formanek. Despite the possibility that Formanek may also be the potentially last former Sachenshausen Nazi officer to stand trial, it was acknowledged that his ability to stand trial was unlikely, due to limited capacity for understanding and will. In June 2024,

7844-537: The other groups detained at Sachsenhausen. The memorial obelisk contains eighteen red triangles, the symbol the Nazis gave to political prisoners, usually communists. There is a plaque in Sachsenhausen built in memory of the Death March. This plaque has a picture of malnourished male prisoners marching, all of whom are wearing the red triangle of a political prisoner. Based on reporting in the newspaper Neues Deutschland , historian Anne-Kathleen Tillack-Graf shows how

7950-444: The prisoners had erected prisoners' barracks and SS guards' quarters, and SS officers' families housing. The "protective custody" internment camp was laid out in an isosceles triangle with sides 600 m (2,000 ft) long. Tower A was at its central control point, linked to the SS troop camp outside along the central axis. The entire camp could be viewed by the SS command staff from Tower A. Initially 18 hectares (44 acres) in area,

8056-570: The prisoners in a small room, often even with music playing, called the Genickschussbaracke (English: Shot in the neck barrack ) and told they were to have their height and weight measured but were instead shot in the back of the neck through a sliding door located behind the neck. This was found to be far too time-consuming, so they then trialled a trench, killing either by shooting or by hanging. While this more easily enabled group executions, it created too much initial panic among

8162-450: The prisoners, making them harder to control. Then small scale trials of what would go on to become the large scale, death camp gas chambers were designed and carried out. These trials showed the authorities that this method facilitated the means to murder the largest number of prisoners without "excessive" initial panic. So by September 1941, when they were conducting the first trials of this method at Auschwitz , Sachsenhausen had already been

8268-790: The province of Posen-West Prussia (1922–1938), whose capital was Schneidemühl ( Piła ). To maintain contact with the Poles of German-controlled northern and western Greater Poland, Poland opened a consulate in Piła in 1922. From 1933, the Polish Głos Pogranicza i Kaszub newspaper was issued in Złotów . Under the Nazi government , repressions of Poles intensified. In January 1939, Germany resumed expulsions of Poles and many were also forced to flee. The Sturmabteilung , Schutzstaffel , Hitler Youth and Bund Deutscher Osten launched attacks on Polish institutions, schools and activists. In mid-1939

8374-686: The province of South Prussia . It remained so in spite of the first Greater Poland uprising (1794) , part of the unsuccessful Kościuszko Uprising directed chiefly against Russia . More successful was the Greater Poland Uprising of 1806 , which led to the bulk of Greater Poland becoming part of the Napoleonic Duchy of Warsaw (forming the Poznań Department and parts of the Kalisz and Bydgoszcz Departments), whereas

8480-479: The regime wished to isolate. The neutral zone was located between the camp wall and the prisoners' camp. Between the zone and the wall was a trip wire , cheval de frise , barbed-wire obstacles, an electrified barbed-wire fence, and a sentry path. Sachsenhausen was the site of Operation Bernhard , one of the largest currency counterfeiting operations ever recorded. The Germans forced inmate artisans to produce forged American and British currency, as part of

8586-832: The region. There were also multiple forced labour subcamps of the Stalag II-B , Stalag II-D and Stalag XX-A POW camps in the region, a subcamp of the Gross-Rosen concentration camp in Owińska, a subcamp of the Stutthof concentration camp in Obrzycko , a subcamp of the Ravensbrück concentration camp in Kalisz Pomorski , and a camp for Sinti and Romani people in Piła. A particularly notorious prison camp

8692-758: The remainder of Brandenburg-annexed northwestern Greater Poland, which in 1373 became part of the Bohemian (Czech) Crown , ruled by the House of Luxembourg . In 1402, Poland and the Luxembourgs reached an agreement, according to which Poland was to buy and re-incorporate the afforementioned territory, but eventually the Luxembourgs sold it to the Teutonic Order. Allied Poles and Czech Hussites captured several towns of Teutonic-held northwestern Greater Poland, including Dobiegniew and Strzelce Krajeńskie , during

8798-662: The scene of "some gassings in conjunction with the development of gas vans ". The prisoners were also used as a workforce, with a large task force of prisoners from the camp sent to work in the nearby brickworks to meet Albert Speer 's vision of rebuilding Berlin. In July 1936, the Esterwegen concentration camp and Columbia concentration camp were closed and those prisoners moved to the Oranienburg concentration camp . That summer, those prisoners began clearing an 80 hectares (200 acres) of triangular forested area. By 1937,

8904-463: The site in the summer of 1945, the camp was used as a special camp by the Soviet military administration from August 1945 until 1950. Nazi functionaries were held in the camp, as were political prisoners and inmates sentenced by Soviet Military Tribunals . In the beginning, 150 prisoners from NKVD special camp Nr. 7 Weesow near Werneuchen arrived in Sachsenhausen. Apart from the crematorium and

9010-465: The so-called Speziallager . The compound has been vandalized by neo-Nazis several times. In September 1992, barracks 38 and 39 of the Jewish Museum were severely damaged in an arson attack. The perpetrators were arrested, and the barracks were reconstructed by 1997. However, it is important to note that the decision was taken that no buildings built during the Nazi regime will be rebuilt on

9116-457: The town is spelled Mogillno. After the successful Greater Poland uprising of 1806 , it was regained by Poles and included within the Duchy of Warsaw , and after its dissolution, it was re-annexed by Prussia in 1815. In 1918, Poland regained independence, and shortly afterwards the Greater Poland uprising broke out, which goal was to reunite the town and region with the reborn Polish state. The town

9222-429: The war, while the fate of many remains unknown to this day. Jews from the region were also expelled and deported to other locations, including to Nazi ghettos , concentration camps and forced labour camps. From 1940, the occupiers also operated several forced labour camps for Jews in the region. Due to poor feeding and sanitary conditions, epidemics spread in those camps, which, combined with frequent executions, led to

9328-476: The western camp perimeter, contained SS workshops in which prisoners were forced to work; those unable to work had to stand at attention for the duration of the working day. Heinkel , the aircraft manufacturer, was a major user of Sachsenhausen labour, using between 6,000 and 8,000 prisoners on their He 177 bomber. Although official German reports claimed the prisoners were "working without fault", some of these aircraft crashed unexpectedly around Stalingrad and it

9434-474: Was Christian Mahler , at one time a senior police officer , who back in the Nazi period had been an inmate at Sachsenhausen between 1938 and 1943. The plans involved the removal of most of the original buildings and the construction of an obelisk, statue and meeting area, reflecting the outlook of the government of East Germany of that time. Other than the memorial sites in Buchenwald and Ravensbrück ,

9540-641: Was invaded by Sweden , and several battles were fought in the region, including at Ujście , Kłecko and Kcynia . In the 18th century kings Augustus II the Strong and Augustus III of Poland often resided in Wschowa , and sessions of the Senate of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth were held there, thus the town being dubbed the "unofficial capital of Poland". In 1768 a new Gniezno Voivodeship

9646-657: Was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg , Germany , used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners throughout World War II. Prominent prisoners included Joseph Stalin 's oldest son, Yakov Dzhugashvili ; assassin Herschel Grynszpan ; Paul Reynaud , the penultimate prime minister of the French Third Republic ; Francisco Largo Caballero , prime minister of

9752-487: Was aimed at the children's biological destruction. The Germans also operated Germanisation camps for Polish children taken away from their parents in Kalisz, Poznań, Puszczykowo and Zaniemyśl . The children were given new German names and surnames, and were punished for any use of the Polish language, even with death. After their stay in the camp, the children were deported to Germany; only some returned to Poland after

9858-471: Was created in 1999, however, parts of Greater Poland are located in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian , Lubusz , Łódź and West Pomeranian voivodeships. The region is rich in historical architecture of various styles from Romanesque and Gothic through Renaissance and Baroque to Neoclassical and Art Nouveau . Greater Poland boasts 13 Historic Monuments of Poland : Major museums include

9964-532: Was declared a fortress in the closing stages of the war, being taken by the Red Army in the Battle of Poznań , which ended on 22 February 1945. After the war, Greater Poland was fully reintegrated with Poland, although with a Soviet-installed communist regime, which stayed in power until the 1980s. The region experienced several waves of anti-communist protests and strikes, including the 1956 Poznań protests and

10070-454: Was established in Poznań. Activities included secret Polish schooling , secret Catholic services, printing and distribution of Polish underground press , sabotage actions, espionage of German activity, military trainings, production of false documents, preparations for a planned uprising, and even secret football games. The Polish resistance provided aid to people in need, including prisoners, escapees from camps and ghettos and deserters from

10176-610: Was executed in 1964, while Zöllner was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Rostock District Court in 1966. In the Federal Republic of Germany, there were also various follow-up trials against guards members, such as the Sachsenhausen trials in Cologne in the 1960s. In 1960, a trial against SS-Hauptscharführer and Blockführer Richard Bugdalle for the murder of concentration camp inmates took place before

10282-521: Was formed out of the northern part of Kalisz Voivodeship. However more far-reaching changes would come with the Partitions of Poland . In the first partition (1772), northern parts of Greater Poland along the Noteć (German Netze ) were taken over by Prussia , becoming the Netze District . In the second partition (1793) the whole of Greater Poland was absorbed by Prussia, becoming part of

10388-571: Was granted to Mieszko III the Old . The eastern part, with Gniezno and Kalisz , was part of the Seniorate Province centered in Kraków , granted to Władysław II . However, for most of the period the two parts were under a single ruler, and were known as the Duchy of Greater Poland (although at times there were separately ruled duchies of Poznań, Gniezno, Kalisz and Ujście ). It was one of

10494-557: Was in the Soviet Occupation Zone , the structure was used by the NKVD as NKVD special camp Nr. 7 . Today, Sachsenhausen is open to the public as a memorial. The camp was established in 1936. It was located 35 kilometres (22 mi) north of Berlin, which gave it a primary position among the German concentration camps: the administrative centre of all concentration camps was located in Oranienburg, and Sachsenhausen became

10600-405: Was liberated by Polish insurgents on 1 January 1919. Since 1898 until his death in 1910 a parish priest in Mogilno's other church St. Jacob (Św. Jakuba) was Piotr Wawrzyniak . During the German invasion of Poland at the start of World War II , it was the site of fierce Polish defense. On 18 September 1939, German forces incited by members of Mogilno German minority killed 40 Poles, one of whom

10706-623: Was occupied by the Margraviate of Brandenburg . In 1331, during the Polish–Teutonic War of 1326–1332 , the Teutonic Knights invaded central and eastern Greater Poland, however, the Poles defeated the invaders at Kalisz and an indecisive battle was fought at Konin . The Teutonic Knights soon retreated. King Casimir III the Great regained parts of northwestern Greater Poland, including Drezdenko in 1365 and Wałcz , Czaplinek and Człopa in 1368. Poland still attempted to recover

10812-491: Was of Jewish descent. The victims were picked out by local Volksdeutsche with Polish citizenship for execution. The oldest victim was 75, the youngest 17. The first expulsions of Poles , mainly families of massacred Polish defenders and families of Poles who were murdered or deported to concentration camps during the Intelligenzaktion , as well as owners of larger houses, shops, workshops and barbershops, were carried out in November and December 1939. On 14–19 April 1940, during

10918-514: Was one male SS soldier for every ten inmates and for every ten male SS there was a woman SS. Several subcamps for women were established in Berlin, including in Neukölln . Sachsenhausen female guards included Ilse Koch , and later Hilde Schlusser. Anna Klein is also known to have worked at the camp. Fourteen of the concentration camp's officials, including former commandant Anton Kaindl and

11024-625: Was operated in Żabikowo , where mostly Poles were imprisoned, but also Luxembourgers, Dutch, Hungarians, Slovaks, Americans, Russians and deserters from the Wehrmacht , and many were tortured and executed. The Polish resistance movement was active in the region, including the Union of Armed Struggle , Bataliony Chłopskie , Gray Ranks and Home Army . The Polish Underground State was organized, and in July 1940, even an underground Polish parliament

11130-490: Was set and shot entirely in the town. There is a local museum dedicated to the local area, a local cultural institute, and several organisations dedicated to cultural activities and local venues. It is also a focal point of many tourist trails and nature walks, most notably the Piast Trail . The scenic location also attracts a number of tourists looking to relax in the nearby forests and lakes. The local football team

11236-478: Was the largest of three special camps in the Soviet Occupation Zone. The 60,000 people interned over five years included 6,000 German officers transferred from Western Allied camps. Others were Nazi functionaries, anti-Communists and Russians, including Nazi collaborators. By the time the camp was closed in the spring of 1950, at least 12,000 had died of malnutrition and disease. In spring 1950,

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