Dziemiany ( csb, Dzemiónë; formerly german: Dzimianen, (1942-5): ''Sophienwalde'') is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

Kościerzyna County __NOTOC__ Kościerzyna County ( csb, Kòscérsczi kréz, pl, powiat kościerski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland. It came into being on 1 January 1999 as a result of ...

Pomeranian Voivodeship Pomeranian Voivodeship, Pomorskie Region, or Pomerania Province ( Polish: ''Województwo pomorskie'' ; (Kashubian: ''Pòmòrsczé wòjewództwò'' ), is a voivodeship, or province, in northwestern Poland. The provincial capital is Gdańsk. The ...

, in northern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called

Gmina Dziemiany __NOTOC__ Gmina Dziemiany ( csb, Dzemiónë) is a rural gmina The gmina (Polish: , plural ''gminy'' , from German ''Gemeinde'' meaning ''commune'') is the principal unit of the administrative division of Poland, similar to a municipality. , ther ...

. It lies approximately south-west of

Kościerzyna Kościerzyna (Kashubian and Pomeranian: ''Kòscérzëna''; formerly german: Berent, ) is a town in Kashubia in Gdańsk Pomerania region, northern Poland, with some 24,000 inhabitants. It has been the capital of Kościerzyna County in Pomeranian ...

and south-west of the regional capital

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

. It was the location of the Nazi concentration camp ''Dzimianen'' - ''Sophienwalde'', a subcamp of the concentration camp

Stutthof Stutthof was a Nazi concentration camp established by Nazi Germany in a secluded, marshy, and wooded area near the village of Stutthof (now Sztutowo) 34 km (21 mi) east of the city of Danzig (Gdańsk) in the territory of the German- ...

. Here the '' SS-Truppenübungsplatz Westpreußen'' was located during the

occupation of Poland Occupation commonly refers to: * Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, t ...

in World War II. The village has a population of 1571.

History

Dziemiany was a royal village of the

Polish Crown The Crown of the Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Korona Królestwa Polskiego; Latin: ''Corona Regni Poloniae''), known also as the Polish Crown, is the common name for the historic Late Middle Ages territorial possessions of the King of Poland, includi ...

, administratively located in the Tczew County in the

.Marian Biskup, Andrzej Tomczak, ''Mapy województwa pomorskiego w drugiej połowie XVI w.'', Toruń, 1955, p. 110-111 (in Polish)

World War II

Dziemiany was overrun on the second day of the Nazi German

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week af ...

of September 1939. Several weeks later on 26 October 1939 by a decree of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

the region was annexed into the Reich as ''Reichsagau Danzig Westpreussen''. Dziemiany was renamed Sophienwalde, population: 4,428 ethnic Poles. Deportations and expulsions of all prominent citizens followed. Polish schools and all institutions were shut down. In the fall of 1943 during

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named afte ...

the Germans began constructing military range called the ''Truppenübungsplatz Westpreußen'' in Dziemiany and neighbouring villages on an area of . All farmers were deported to

Potulice concentration camp Potulice concentration camp (german: UWZ Lager Lebrechtsdorf– Potulitz) was a Nazi concentration camps, concentration camp established and operated by Nazi Germany during World War II in Potulice near Nakło in the territory of occupied Poland. U ...

. The range was designed for training of the new SS Sturm brigades including

Waffen-SS The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both occupied and unoccupied lands. The grew from th ...

, as well as rocket testing. It was built by around 1,000 international prisoners kept at the barracks of a temporary camp in

Brusy Brusy (Kashubian: ''Brusë''; formerly german: Bruß) is a town in northern Poland, located in the Pomeranian Voivodeship. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 5,201. History Brusy was a royal village of the Polish Crown, adminis ...

, the 300 inmates of KL Potulice, and about 400–500 prisoners of KL Stutthof. Notable group of about 400 slave workers arrived in the fall of 1944, captured in the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occurred in the summer of 1944, and it was led ...

. Also notable was the group of about 500 Jewish women kept at the sub-camp in Dziemiany (''Sophienwalde'') employed to service the ''SS'' soldiers. In total, the range was built by about 3,000 prisoners. The first trainees arrived from Latvia, Romania and Hungary. Average training lasted from two to six weeks. The range was never fully completed, because of the Soviet advance.

Notable people

* Łukasz Chyła (born 1981 in Dziemiany) a track and field sprint athlete who competes internationally for Poland

References

{{Authority control Villages in Kościerzyna County Holocaust locations in Poland

History

World War II

Notable people

See also

References