Stutthof Concentration Camp

he Stutthof concentration camp began as civilian internment camp run by the Danzig police. On January 13, 1942, Stutthof became a concentration camp with most prisoners being non-Jewish Poles. Stutthof had more than 100 subcamps and was an industrial hub in northern and central Poland. Inmates worked in SS-owned businesses as forced laborers as well as in local industries. When the Soviet Army got close to the camp, SS officials took thousands on a death march and boarded many on barges destined for German concentration camps. The evacuation process killed nearly one in two prisoners. Many inmates died from the harsh winter or were drowned on the voyage to Germany, but several thousands were also marched into the Baltic Sea and shot. When Soviet forces liberated the camp, they only found about 100 inmates who hid during the evacuation process.