The buildings which housed Radogoszcz prison were originally constructed in the 1930s, built at the behest of the industrialist Samuel Abbe. On the outbreak of WWII the red brick factory complex was requisitioned by the Polish army, before passing into the hands of the victorious Germans on September 8th. For the first month it functioned as a Wehrmacht barracks, before being turned into a transit camp for Polish political prisoners and other individuals deemed a threat to Nazi ideology. As time marched on the camp grew to operate as a prison and labour camp, processing an estimated 40,000 inmates throughout the duration of the war –a quarter of which are thought to have been killed. From the outset conditions were harsh; Radogoszcz was a factory first and foremost, and this was reflected in the facilities. Beds, kitchens and bathrooms took months to be added, and while it’s hard to put an exact figure on the number who died disease, maltreatment and executions were standard. However, the grimmest chapter of Radogoszcz’s history was to come on the night of January 18, 1945. With the Red Army approaching, and liberation just hours away, Nazi wardens embarked on the summary execution of all prisoners. The inmates rose in spontaneous rebellion, forcing the guards to flee the premises; but not before locking the prisoners into the factory and setting fire to the grounds – an estimated 1,500 people died in the ensuing inferno, with only thirty people surviving to see peace.

‘Hundreds of human bodies were scattered around. Faces of victims were distorted by terrible pain and frozen in a shriek of terror; and no-one who saw their eyes would ever be able to forget that hell on earth’. Arkadiusz Sitek