The Zamość Rotunda (, also known as the Museum of Martyrdom of the Zamość Region - Rotunda (), is a Polish museum devoted to remembering the atrocities committed at the former Rotunda Zamość Nazi German camp located in Zamość near Lublin. The Nazi German Gestapo camp was set up in occupied Poland during World War II, as part of the Polish extermination program known as the German AB-Aktion in Poland, Ethnic cleansing of Zamojszczyzna by Nazi Germany....The Rotunda. Information. zamosc.pl
History
The rotunda was built between 1825 and 1831 in accordance with the design of General Jean-Baptiste Mallet de Grandville as part of the fortifications of the Zamość Fortress. During World War II and German AB-Aktion in Poland in 1940 it was taken over by the German Gestapo precinct. It served as a prison, holding camp and a place of mass execution.
Eight thousand people died in the Gestapo Rotunda camp in Zamość.The Rotunda. Information. zamosc.pl Nobody was tried for those crimes. During Generalplan Ost and the Ethnic cleansing of Zamojszczyzna by Nazi Germany, German forces resettled 297 villages, including roughly 110,000 Polish people, with 16,000 being sent to Majdanek concentration camp, and 2,000 to KL Auschwitz-Birkenau. Additionally, 30,000 children were resettled, with 4,500 Polish children from the Zamosc Region being deported to Germany to undergo Germanisation.Maria Rzeźniak, The Zamojska Rotunda. Rotunda Zamojska., Zamość 2007, .
The gate which leads to the yard has the original doors with an inscription in German which reads: The temporary camp for the prisoners of Security Police. In German: Gefangenen-Durchgangslager Sicherheitspol.
The last execution took place on 20 and 21 July 1944, when 150 people were shot.Maria Rzeźniak, The Zamojska Rotunda. Rotunda Zamojska., Zamość 2007, .
A stone plaque In the center of the courtyard commemorates the site of the cremation of human bodies. Here Nazi criminals burnt the bodies of the victims they had murdered, prisoners of the Rotunda. May they rest in peace.
The cemetery around the Rotunda contains the ashes of more than 45 thousand people.The Rotunda. Information. zamosc.pl
Rotunda. War cemetery. Quarter of Soldiers of the Polish Army killed in September 1939 in Invasion of Poland Quarter of the Soldiers of the Home Army Quarter of the Victims of Nazi Genocide Quarter of the Soldiers of the Red Army Quarter of Jewish Victims The Grave of the Victims of Stalin's Genocide
Prisoners of Rotunda included Dr Zygmunt Klukowski,Zygmunt Klukowski, Zamojszczyzna I. 1918-1943 and Zamojszczyzna II. 1944-1953, Karta, Warszawa 2007. blessed Stanisław Kostka Starowieyski, 16 year-old schoolgirl scout Grażyna Kierszniewska, 17 year-old schoolgirl Danuta Sztarejko, Celina Sztarejko, count Aleksander Szeptycki, Michał Nowacki (Vice Mayor of Zamość), Wacław Bajkowski (president of Lublin), colonel Zdzisław Maćkowski (Home Army Soldier), his sons Zdzisław and Jan, his wife Pelagia Maćkowska, Michał Wazowski (Mayor of Zamość), priest Antoni Gomółka (chaplain of scouts), farmer Władysław Szala, his 19-year-old son Jan Szala, and notary Henryk Rosiński.Maria Rzeźniak, The Zamojska Rotunda. Rotunda Zamojska., Zamość 2007, . It is estimated that over 50,000 people passed through the camp.
Gallery
See also Home Army Ethnic cleansing of Zamojszczyzna by Nazi Germany Expulsion of Poles by Nazi Germany Forced labour under German rule during World War II German AB-Aktion in Poland General Government German camps in occupied Poland during World War II History of Zamość Intelligenzaktion Invasion of Poland Museum of Zamość Nazi crimes against the Polish nation Occupation of Poland (1939–1945) War crimes in occupied Poland during World War II
Notes
References J. Kowalczyk, Zamość. Przewodnik, Zamość, Zamojski Ośrodek Informacji Turystycznej, 1995. Zygmunt Klukowski, Zamojszczyzna I. 1918-1943 and Zamojszczyzna II. 1944-1953, Karta, Warszawa 2007. Maria Rzeźniak, The Zamojska Rotunda. Rotunda Zamojska., Zamość 2007, . Virtual Shtetl, Rotunda – niemieckie więzienie śledcze (1940–1944)
External links
Rotunda & Martyrdom Museum at lonelyplanet.com The Rotunda - Martyrs' Museum at travelguide.michelin.com ROTUNDA – Zamojszczyzna Martrys Mausoleum at poland.travel THE ROTUNDA at zamosc.pl Old City of Zamość at whc.unesco.org