Sixty miles east of Krakow lies the small city of Debica, the closest city to the village of Pustkow. But it is the village itself that is the site of the former Pustkow Nazi labour camp, where village authorities have uncovered the remains of camp prisoners this weekend. The remains are believed to be those of executed prisoners of the camp, whose bodies were burned by the Nazis in the early 1940s. In total, some 15,000 people were killed in the Pustkow labour camp during World War II, the majority of whom were Poles, Jews, and Russians. The remains found have not yet been identified. Village authorities have proposed building a glass memorial to the victims over the site.
The small village of Pustkow was to originally become an SS training camp, but first a labour camp was set up in the area in 1940 to build the training facility. Nearby villages were razed to the ground and the first prisoners were often Jews, many of whom died in the first months of the camp due to the terrible conditions facing them. In 1941 the camp was expanded to include Russian prisoners of war, most of whom didn't survive the following winter, due to lack of barracks or any protection. In 1942, Polish workers were brought into a third camp established in the area, and were forced to work under similarly harsh and deadly conditions. Polish workers who were building a V2 rocket for the Nazis even managed to sneak one out intact and transport it to Warsaw, from which it later reached London on an English plane. In the summer of 1944, the three camps were completely evacuated and destroyed, with the survivors transferred to other camps. In the light of larger camps in the area like Auschwitz and Birkenau, Pusktow is often forgotten, and yet as the place of over 15,000 deaths it should be remembered. Perhaps this new find will inspire the memorial the site dearly needs. |