Biskupia Górka Explained

Biskupia Górka
Settlement Type:Neighbourhood of Gdańsk
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name: Poland
Subdivision Type1:Voivodeship
Subdivision Name1:Pomeranian
Subdivision Type2:County/City
Subdivision Name2:Gdańsk
Subdivision Type3:District
Subdivision Name3:Śródmieście
Coordinates:54.3436°N 18.6383°W
Population Density Km2:auto
Timezone:CET
Utc Offset:+1
Timezone Dst:CEST
Utc Offset Dst:+2
Registration Plate:GD

Biskupia Górka (German: Bischofsberg, sometimes Bischofshügel) is a neighbourhood and hill in Gdańsk, Poland, located in the Śródmieście district. Historically, Biskupia Górka had important strategic meaning, since it is a hill close to the main city.

History

As part of the Kingdom of Poland it was a possession of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Włocławek, administratively located in the Gdańsk County in the Pomeranian Voivodeship.[1] Fortifications were built on the hill in the 17th century. After the Partitions of Poland, Polish insurgents of the November Uprising were imprisoned by the Prussians in the fortifications.[2]

Following the German invasion of Poland, which started World War II in 1939, the Germans established a subcamp of the Stalag XX-A prisoner-of-war camp, in which Polish POWs were held.[3] It was later converted into a subcamp of the Stalag XX-B camp, and its prisoners were mostly the French.[3] Some 1,200 POWs were held there as of December 31, 1940.[4]

On July 4, 1946, eleven guards and kapos of the Stutthof concentration camp were publicly hanged for what was described as "sadistic abuse of prisoners." Among those hanged were five women: Gerda Steinhoff, Wanda Klaff, Jenny-Wanda Barkmann, Ewa Paradies and Elisabeth Becker, all of whom had been convicted during the first Stutthof Trial, at Gdańsk between April 25 and May 31, 1946.

The former Mennonite church is located in Biskupia Górka.

See also

References

About the execution (in German)

Notes and References

  1. Book: Biskup. Marian. Tomczak. Andrzej. 1955. Mapy województwa pomorskiego w drugiej połowie XVI w.. pl. Toruń. 91.
  2. Book: Kasparek, Norbert. Katafiasz. Tomasz. 2014. Na tułaczym szlaku... Powstańcy Listopadowi na Pomorzu. pl. Koszalin. Muzeum w Koszalinie, Archiwum Państwowe w Koszalinie. 177. Żołnierze polscy w Prusach po upadku powstania listopadowego. Powroty do kraju i wyjazdy na emigrację.
  3. Book: Daniluk, Jan. Grudziecka. Beata. Stalag XX B: historia nieopowiedziana. pl. Malbork. Muzeum Miasta Malborka. 8. Stalag XX B Marienburg: geneza i znaczenie obozu jenieckiego w Malborku-Wielbarku w latach II wojny światowej. 2021 . 978-83-950992-2-9.
  4. Daniluk. Jan. 2012. Wykorzystanie siły roboczej jeńców wojennych w XX Okręgu Wojskowym w latach II wojny światowej (zarys problemu). Łambinowicki rocznik muzealny. Opole. pl. 35. 26–27.