Selbstschutz Soldau - działdowskie komando śmierci (wrzesień 1939 - lipiec 1940)
Selbstschutz Soldau: The Działdowo Death Squad (September 1939 - July 1940)

Summary/Abstract: The Volksdeutscher Selbstschutz (Ethnic German Self-Defence) networks were active in the Działdowo area from September 1939 to July 1940. Over the near-eleven-month existence of this organization, the Działdowo Volksdeutsche perpetrated numerous atrocities against the Polish civilian population. Mass executions took place at the Soldau extermination center (in the main block's basements and the roll-call square), in the countryside around Działdowo (Komorniki, Malinowo, Białuty, Bursz, Narzym), and within Działdowo proper (Jewish cemetery and Zwierski Grove), resulting in a death toll of at least 1,683. Among the victims were the residents of Działdowo and the surrounding areas (including Iłowo, Kisiny, Kurki, Skurpie, Wysoka), Terra Dobrinensis (Lipno), Terra Lomzensis (Łomża) and Mazovia (Ciechanów, Kisielewo, Maków Mazowiecki, Mława, Ostrołęka, Płock, Przasnysz, Sierpc, Warsaw). Given the fragmentary nature of the surviving evidence, the death toll documented in the study should be understood as the lowest possible estimate. This line of research will be continued in future work.

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