On the former Old Cemetery of the Podgórze Jewish Community SS of the Nazi Germany established one of its largest concentration camps in. They destroyed the cemetery completely in the Podgórze suburb in southern Kraków.
Płaszów Concentration Camp was populated with prisoners during the liquidation of the Kraków Ghetto, which took place on 13–14 March 1943. Later in 1943 the camp was expanded and integrated into the Nazi concentration camp system as a main camp. At this time Kraków was under the General Governorate of German-occupied Poland.
The camp was notorious for its terrors. Amon Göth of SS was the camp commandant during most of the camp´s existence. He was sadistic in his treatment and killing of prisoners. "Witnesses say he would never start his breakfast without shooting at least one person." When Göth received notice of a new shipment of inmates, he would set up deportations for Auschwitz.On 14 May 1944 Göth ordered all children to be sent to the "kindergarten". This was only be a precursor to deportation to Auschwitz on 15 May where the children were all gassed.
Jewish police were recruited by the camp personnel and involved in sadistic treatment of the prisoners. They were provided with double rations of thick soup, as opposed to the standard soup which was watered and also and a full loaf of uncontaminated bread. In order to achieve these benefits they had to whip inmates with the whips that the Nazis provided.
During July and August 1944, most of the prisoners left Płaszow for Auschwitz, Stutthof, Flossenburg, Mauthausen, and other camps. In January 1945, the last of the remaining inmates and camp staff left the camp on a death march to Auschwitz The camp was evacuated shortly after, before the Red Army's liberation of the area 20 January.
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Płaszów Concentration Camp. Kraków. ©Bjørn Joachimsen.