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The Stutthof Concentration Camp was the first Nazi camp built outside of Germany and was the last camp liberated by Allied forces. It lies 34km outside Gdansk and was the place of death for 85,000 people according to official figures, although the actual number killed is assumed to be much greater. Originally a small prison for Poles and P.O.W’s, the camp would become the site of some of the worst atrocities of the war.
Between 1939 and 1945, 127,000 prisoners were officially registered in the camp, but those who were immediately singled out for execution were not registered at all, so there is no way of knowing the exact number of people brought to Stutthof. The camp was managed by an SS officer named Max Pauli, who would later be sentenced to death for the crimes committed here. 
While there was a gas chamber here, as well as a number of wagons which were converted into gas chambers, the most shocking and disturbing facility was invented and operated by a man named Rudolf Spanner. He had discovered a way to use the fat of murdered prisoners in the production of soap, and hundreds of victims of the Stutthof camp were used to make ‘Reines Judische Fett’ or ‘pure Jewish fat.’ After the war, Spanner escaped arrest, despite the severity of his crimes.
Finally liberated on May 10, 1945 by the Soviet Army, the camp was shut down and its prisoners were released. People from 26 different nations had been kept there, a testament to the scale of the Nazi war effort.
Today there is a museum at Stutthof, open Monday through Friday from May 1st until September 30th: 8:00 - 18:00, and from October 1st to April 30th from: 8:00 - 15:00, with free admission. On Mondays there are no guide services, and no film shows. It should also be noted that, in accordance with Polish law, children under the age of 13 are not admitted.
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 | | "My family just returned from a visit to the Stuutthof Concerntration Camp. A long time wish as a parent was for my daughter see this with her own eyes vs. reading about it in a history book. The grounds are a sacred place. We had a local private guide, car and driver. We will never forget this sobering & horrifing experience. The piles of shoes, the gas chamber, and the pictures of the prisoners will always be in my mind and heart. " | Jim
United States
Aug.22.2010
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "Good afternoon! What is the easiest/fastest way to travel from gdansk to the concentration camp?
Thanks in advance for your help!" | tammy
United States
May.24.2010
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "God bless all who were sent there and forgive all who did their miltary service in this place" | robert
United Kingdom
May.22.2010
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "I agree. To see people be so rude is heart breaking. A Camp like this should be honored and NOT diluted. Even an elementary school child could identify the difference in a time to goof around and a time to shut your trap. " | Megan Duren
United States
May.11.2010
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "So sad that people make offensive comments on this site, god bless all those who died at Stutthof Concentration Camp" | stewart alexander
United Kingdom
May.01.2010
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "So sad that people make offensive comments on this site, god bless all those who died at Stutthof Concentration Camp" | stewart alexander
United Kingdom
May.01.2010
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "fags :) " | Fred
South Africa
Apr.30.2010
rates this page 1/5 |
| | "jewfish :)" | bob
Haiti
Apr.28.2010
rates this page 1/5 |
| | "your gay! "doin your mom im doin your mom"" | J.A.C.E.
Colombia
Apr.28.2010
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "i think this sarah person needs to get a life i will write what i want on this soooo STFU !! :) thx" | bob
Canada
Apr.28.2010
rates this page 1/5 |
| | "this is weird " | bob
Canada
Apr.27.2010
rates this page 1/5 |
| | "A Polish friend of mine took me to see the camp at Stuttoff some time ago and I can still sense the silence and the atmosphere. Seeing the names of some lost souls on some posts was very sad for me to see. My friend said after he has never known me to be so quiet. Despite learning about history at school the sense of horror only hit me on this visit and I think on it often." | Lorna McElnay
Ireland
Apr.10.2010
rates this page 3/5 |
| | " Hello,
I am searching for information of a SS-hauptsturmfuhrer With the name Haupt.he has something to do in the history of my friends mother.He was hauptsturmfuhrer in the envirement of Nurnberg and played trombone.
do you have any information of such.
gratefully, monique wolters" | monique wolters
Netherlands
Apr.09.2010
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "I have been there twice, you don't speak as you look, only see and listen. It is a sobering reminder of what we are capable of. I pray it never happens again. I take anyone I can there." | Mark Schaufler
United States
Mar.23.2010
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "When I Read This It Felt Like I Was Really There. Me And My Friend Were About To Cry. ]:" | Nalliana
United States
Mar.15.2010
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "I have to do a research for this at school and i cry everytime i have to read about this cause its very sad" | Amanda
United States
Feb.26.2010
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "you pppl need to realize this is for research not for making stupid commmentns about something you know othing about!! get a life!!!!" | Sarah
United States
Feb.22.2010
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "You people below me are ridiculous and disrespectful..." | Intellectual
United States
Feb.18.2010
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "IM FAT AND LOVE OTHER FAT PEOPLE!" | Harry Berry
United States
Jan.26.2010
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "I will save you HIPPY!!!!" |
Egypt
Jan.26.2010
rates this page 3/5
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| | "HELP ME IM LOCKED IN MY HOUSE AND CANT GET OUT! I HAVE TO EAT MY MOMS COOKING!!!" | Hippy pepi
Austria
Jan.25.2010
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "this site is relaible
" | felipe
Mexico
Jan.25.2010
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "screw hitler and his damn nazis, they all suck! what jerks and murderers, how dare they!!! =''( stupid evil germans " | katy perry
United Kingdom
Jan.25.2010
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "I like small people like me because they make me feel good eveywhere!" | Lee chang
Hong Kong
Jan.25.2010
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "i am a survivor of the holocaust and i dont see how this could possibly offensive. this is just stating facts of a sad story....p.s.....i love orlando bloom" | phillip
Israel
Jan.25.2010
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "dylon is gay" | DoMondo
United Kingdom
Jan.25.2010
rates this page 1/5 |
| | "Don't you want me?" | John Rainbow
United Kingdom
Jan.25.2010
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "im jewish and i find all these comments offensive >=(" | dylon hoke
United States
Jan.25.2010
rates this page 1/5 |
| | "im jewish and i find all these comments offensive >=(" | dylon hoke
United States
Jan.25.2010
rates this page 1/5 |
| | "ello govna! " | manguy
United States
Jan.25.2010
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "i have to write a 1st person letter for school, so ima try to get into the prisoner's heads" | 3oh!3
United States
Jan.25.2010
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "I also have to do a project and its seems so sad X'((" | Max
United States
Jan.02.2010
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "I visited this camp back in the early seventies.I can vividly remember the pile of shoes taken from the prisoners it was about 6ft high.My imagination ran riot in the prison blocks which also incorporated a surgery a room about 10ft x 8ft.I think more used for experimental purposes than the welfare of the prisoners.I will never forget the tranquility of the whole area of the camp i never heard a bird whistle." | john richards
United Kingdom
Nov.30.2009
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "i have to do a project on stutthof for school and waht i have learned is verrrrrrrrrrry sad and depressing" | bri
United States
Nov.22.2009
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "wow i hate to think that things like this ever happened to ppl!!!! so forgeet hitler and his stupid nazi's" | cami
United States
Nov.09.2009
rates this page 2/5 |
| | "Mon père a été interné dans le vieux camp de Stutthof . Il s' en est évadé en hiver 42, après y avoir perdu 30 kg . Il a vu les prisonniers russes arriver par villages entiers . Et puis on les enterrait vivants, car la chambre à gaz n' existait pas encore . Je peux témoigner de beaucoup de choses sur ce camp .J' irai le visiter,bien sûr . Je serais très ému de découvrir que mon père a laissé une trace dans les archives ." | Claude AUBERT
Belgium
Oct.21.2009
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "having visited this camp with some colleagues we were horrified tot see first hand the depths to which the German depravity descended. They were nand are Nazis" | roger whitehead
United Kingdom
Sep.01.2009
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "We visited Stutthof last Sunday but now reading these pages I realise how much deeper the horror was than I did when there. One sign perhaps of the beginnings of healing was a bird nest in one hut with the babies being fed. Other than that I could neither see or hear bird life." | Sue Olanczuk
United Kingdom
Aug.08.2009
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "My wife and I were on a Cruise recently and went to visit Stutthof. It is hard to beleive what happened to people at the camp. Please do not close your Museum because generations need to know the terrable things that appened in that camp. It is heart breaking but very impressive." | robert Parrish
United States
Jul.15.2009
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "I am taking a great interest in the camps during ww2, having been to several, Auschwitz- Berkanau, Bergen Belsen,Treblinka, Soribor, Dachau to name but a few, Stutthof is on my list and I find that those who help retain the camps for this generation to see do a great job, we must ALL help towards this sort of crime against humanity NEVER happens again, I am an ex forces and I am unable to bring myself to understand WHY other human beings could do such things to other humans and WHY was it permitted to go on, I will find the answers I am looking for, the main one WHY?. God bless those who suffered and perished, at the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them." | Chas H
United Kingdom
Jun.29.2009
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "
My Aunt is actually going to visit this camp on July the second. I can't believe that human beings could do this to other human beings, these serial killers, that is what they were, couldn't have suffered enough for their sick,twisted and sadistic crimes." | John
United States
Jun.24.2009
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "Thank you Poland for keeping the Stutthuf memory alive. We must never forget and you must preserve the camp for others to witness for all time." | Tim
United States
Jun.14.2009
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "I have been a visitor to Poland many times. I have many friends in Poland and know it to be a proud country. My father and mother worked in production of war goods in the United states during world war II , and my father in law was in the U.S. Army. He fought in many battles against the germans, and also was there in liberate the Polish People and the jews . The atrocities committed against the people were horrific. The German people at this time were the worst. These things whould never be forgotten, and atrocities such as this never allowed to happen again......I have been to many places in Poland and have viewed so much. I have to say to the Polish people God Bless you, You are a couragous and proud People. It is an honor to be your friend." | Gary Marsala
United States
May.13.2009
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "my father and his brother and cousins were put here on sept 9th 1939 to construct the camp i believe the germans cleared the whole village of all the men aged 15 and over to do this job,i visited the camp with my family in 2001 and i cannot believe that these things happened to the people of poland,my father never sp0ke about the war and i have been trying to find things out since his death in 1977, i think the polish people are all heros and should speak out to let every generation know what happened the writings in the history books do not do the people of poland justice GOD BLESS POLAND" | john nagiel
United Kingdom
May.11.2009
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "wow yaeh i am in middle school too and i am doing research on this and its crazy " | stacy
United States
May.05.2009
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "Thats Crazy!" | dave
United States
May.04.2009
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "im only in midel school but i love learning about the holocoast, we hade to do a famious land mark research paper and i choose stutthof, all i have to say to the person that said that mr.rudolf spanner didnt make soap out of inosent people is that that definetly happend, thers pics at jewisgen.org " | sam
United States
Apr.15.2009
rates this page 2/5 |
| | "There was no mass production of soap! Get that straightened out." |
United States
Apr.06.2009
rates this page 3/5
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| | "What was done in these camps was horrible...No one should ever have to go through those horrible events" | Necci
United States
Mar.11.2009
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "OMG this is so upseting a class is going to the holacost mueseum" | susan clemans
United States
Feb.20.2009
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "I visited Stutthof in August 2008. We were driven there by a private taxi and did not realise until we were there that our driver's grandfather and grandmother had been there, one died there and one survived. It was an experience i will never forget. I did not know much about the holocaust before but this knocked me off my feet. It was a very sad place but a place where if you get the chance you must visit.
I think every school child should be told about the holocaust in school." | chris edwards
United Kingdom
Feb.03.2009
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "In 1976, I toured this concentration camp between my jr. and sr. year in high school. I was a southern baptist, dating a jewish girl, so I was sensitive to the situation. My girlfriend's brother was along on the trip of a US soccer team touring the country. Many things I witnessed here rose every hair on my body; however, none so much as to see the family name of a family that I was doing summer yard work for, of dear friends of the very girl I was dating. To have a leader of a country (Iran) deny the existence of these atrocities, is as evil as those who perpetrated them. Put me in a room with him, and justice will prevail, or die... the latter is unlikely.
America should awaken...concentration camps are already built here in the US...Google it...and it has nothing to do with race or ethnicity...just money.
Get ready people...and God Bless..." | Joseph F. Hamilton, III
United States
Jan.30.2009
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "i heard that this camp made soap from people's fat... i feel disgusted as to how the nazis could do this" | gabe baglan
United States
Sep.18.2008
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "I'm not sure what "John" meant when his review said "I loved it". This is a testament to man's inhumanity to man. Maybe the Polish government should reverse its policy about no children under 13 permitted. This lesson should be learned as early as possible in life. " | Gerald Silverman
Canada
Aug.04.2008
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "Having visited stutthof last week(30th may 2008)I felt obliged to encourage anyone who gets the chance to visit the camp and pray that we can make sure that this murder and humiliation never again be allowed to happen.Poland is a beautiful country and the polish one of the friendliest nations i have met." | david everton
United Kingdom
Jun.01.2008
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "it was a sad time for everyone . i hope that it will never happen agian.there needs to be more information on this page." | katie shoulders
United States
Mar.28.2008
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "i loved it " | john
United States
Mar.06.2008
rates this page 5/5 |
| | "I visited the camp in September 2007. I was also aware of the silence and the lack of birds, however I was struck by the amount of butterflies, especially those flying in pairs. Each time I went into one of the huts I experienced nausea and headaches. The museum is a reminder of all those who suffered and are still suffering. May we never forget." | Patricia Mullen
United Kingdom
Jan.31.2008
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "I remember upon entering the camp in 1986, the immediate sickly feeling in the base of my stomach,i also recall the eerie silence,no birds were singing all you could hear was wind russtling in the trees.You could feel the dead around you, welcoming you in.To this day i remember it all as if it was yesterday." | lucy komorek
United Kingdom
Dec.28.2007
rates this page 3/5 |
| | "There is so little written about Stutthof concentration camp that it is nice to see that it is being mentioned. My stepfather was born in this camp, so we have visited on several occasions. Each time is striking. We should support these museums so that this history will never be wiped away and forgotten!" | Sandra Rath
United States
Nov.15.2007
rates this page 4/5 |
| | "this place is a must see if you have any thoughts for those who perished" | clifford hardie
United Kingdom
Nov.06.2007
rates this page 3/5 |
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