Executions in the Valley of Death

In the initial months of the German occupation, Pomerania was the region of Poland where Nazi terror took its most brutal form. Even against this background, the German repressions against the population of Bydgoszcz were exceptionally severe, making the city one of the symbols of German atrocities committed in occupied Poland. Arrests and executions during the early days of the occupation, carried out by Wehrmacht soldiers and members of Einsatzgruppen, initially occurred in a chaotic atmosphere and served as acts of revenge for the so-called Bloody Sunday of 1939 (Bromberger Blutsonntag) and for the resistance put up by the local Civic Guard against the advancing German forces. These repressions later evolved into an organized extermination campaign aimed at eliminating the Polish intelligentsia and leadership class in Bydgoszcz. This was, in fact, only one element of the widespread extermination actions that the German occupiers carried out across Pomerania as part of the so-called Intelligenzaktion. From late September 1939, a series of German "cleansing operations" took place in Bydgoszcz, targeting specific professional groups, such as teachers and Catholic clergy, as well as social circles and members of organizations and associations promoting Polish culture, including the , the Maritime and Colonial League, and the Union of Insurgents and Soldiers. Jews were also a primary target of the occupiers. On 14 October 1939, a roundup of Polish teachers resulted in the arrest of 186 educators. On October 19, a roundup of members of the Polish Western Union led to the arrest of 91 individuals, including 21 women. On October 20, a large roundup near Kujawska Street captured approximately 1,200 people, among whom 27 were identified based on proscription lists, police files, or denunciations by local Volksdeutsche. In November, arrests of Catholic priests began. A wide-reaching "pacification action" (Befriedungsaktion) was conducted on November 11, coinciding with Poland's National Independence Day. This operation, involving 115 groups of Gestapo, Kripo, Schutzpolizei officers, and members of Selbstschutz, resulted in 3,800 detentions. The 20-person group of Gdańsk SS officers was led by criminal counselor (Kriminalrat) . He worked with a small SD unit within EK 16, led by SS-Sturmbannführer Dr. Rudolf Oebsger-Röder. Lölgen's commission decided which prisoners would be released, deported to the General Government, sent to concentration camps, or executed on the spot. German women would occasionally visit the camp to select individuals for execution by falsely claiming they had participated in Bloody Sunday. Those sentenced to death were executed without trial in secluded areas near Bydgoszcz. Initially, executions took place in , the woods near Borówno Lake, areas around Otorowo, and especially in trench lines near the village of Tryszczyn. The choice of execution sites depended on factors such as accessibility, proximity to the city, and terrain features. The murders were typically carried out by members of Selbstschutz, a paramilitary formation composed of ethnic Germans living in pre-war Poland. == Crime in the Valley of Death ==

Due to the mass graves in Tryszczyn being filled with bodies, the Germans began searching for a new location for carrying out mass executions. Their choice fell on a valley approximately northeast of Bydgoszcz, near Fordon – now a district of Bydgoszcz, but at the time an independent town. This location was selected mainly for its isolation from human settlements and the terrain, which muffled the sounds of gunfire and made observing the executions difficult. This narrow and winding valley, located between the second and third elevations of the Miedzyń Hills, became known as the Valley of Death. In early October 1939, before the arrival of the first transports of condemned prisoners, a unit of the German Arbeitsdienst appeared in the valley to dig several long trenches, 3 meters wide and 2.5 meters deep. The work lasted several days. Fordon had already experienced Nazi terror earlier, carried out mainly by members of the local Selbstschutz unit led by Friedrich Walther Gassmann. On 2 October 1939, a public execution was held near the wall of the Fordon church, where Mayor , Prelate , Vicar Hubert Raszkowski, and five other residents were executed. Subsequently, the local Jewish population was exterminated in two executions carried out in the Valley of Death on October 12 and October 19, with an estimated 26 people killed. Alongside the Jews, nurse Stanisława Stawska and her 10-year-old son were executed. Another victim was the four-member Kulpiński family, local merchants, who were shot on October 15. Following their execution, Gassmann took over the Kulpiński residence. The first execution of Bydgoszcz residents in the Valley of Death took place on 10 October 1939, with subsequent executions continuing until November 11, or, according to some sources, until 26 November 1939. In a hangar belonging to the former Bydgoszcz Aeroclub, the condemned were stripped of their outer clothing, valuables, and personal belongings. They were then led to the previously dug trenches, where they were executed with gunshots to the back of the head, using pistols or rifles. Machine guns were used relatively rarely. The wounded were finished off with gunshots, rifle butts, or, in some cases, buried alive.''I saw two trucks stopping near the German farmer Lawrenz's property, where about a hundred Poles, men and women, were unloaded and led to the hills of the Miedzyń estate. Shortly after, I heard volleys of rifle fire. Executions often took place even at night. After the volleys, the groans of the wounded and dying could be heard.The execution squads primarily comprised members of Selbstschutz from Bydgoszcz (led by SS-Sturmbannführers Spaarmann and Meier) and Fordon (under the command of Friedrich Walther Gassmann), as well as SS personnel from Einsatzkommando 16'''s Bydgoszcz branch. and 1,600 bodies still lie in undiscovered graves in the Valley of Death. Stanisław Bator and estimated the number of victims at 2,000, while Maria Wardzyńska of the Institute of National Remembrance suggested the number might be as high as 3,000. As a result of the executions in the Valley of Death, 48% of teachers from Bydgoszcz secondary schools, about 33% of clergy, 15% of primary school teachers, and nearly 14% of doctors and lawyers were killed. Among the victims was , the prewar mayor of Bydgoszcz, who was executed on 11 November 1939. Fordon's Valley of Death remains the largest mass grave in Bydgoszcz and symbolizes the martyrdom of the city's residents. == After the war ==

After the extermination campaign ended, the Germans tried to conceal evidence of their crimes by planting trees and shrubs over the mass graves. They also maintained constant surveillance of the Valley of Death, making it impossible to commemorate the victims during the war. Although the execution site was searched as early as 1945, the mass graves were not located until 1947. The exhumation in the Valley of Death was conducted hastily and unexpectedly halted by the Security Office. It was never resumed. This may have been related to the fact that the Security Office also carried out executions in this location after the war (on German prisoners). Following World War II, interest in the Valley of Death execution site was significant. The parson of St. Nicholas Church, Father Alfons Sylka (who had ties to the Home Army during the war), erected a stone obelisk to commemorate the genocide committed there. == Responsibility of the perpetrators ==

The majority of those responsible for the crimes in the Valley of Death escaped post-war criminal accountability. Only a few perpetrators faced justice in Polish courts. Proceedings against the leaders of Bydgoszcz Selbstschutz, (head of the inspectorate) and Josef Meier (known as "Bloody Meier", commander of local structures), were discontinued in May 1963. In 1966, Jakob Lölgen and his deputy, Horst Eichler, were tried in the Federal Republic of Germany. The indictment accused them of causing the deaths of 349 people in Bydgoszcz during extermination operations, including 74 teachers, 3 doctors, and the mayor, Leon Barciszewski. However, both defendants were acquitted by a jury, which ruled that they acted under orders from superiors. == References ==