• Memorial to Murdered Patients
A memorial in Świecie (German: Schwetz), which lies on the banks of the Vistula River, commemorates the murder of about 1,300 mental ward patients by the SS in 1939 as well as the killing of thousands of Polish civilians and Jews, who were shot here between 1939 and 1945.
Image: Świecie, undated, Administrative building of the psychiatric hospital, Szpital dla Nerwowo i Psychicznie Chorych w Świeciu
Świecie, undated, Administrative building of the psychiatric hospital, Szpital dla Nerwowo i Psychicznie Chorych w Świeciu

Image: Mniszek, 2006, Signpost pointing to the memorial complex, T4 ResearchTeam
Mniszek, 2006, Signpost pointing to the memorial complex, T4 ResearchTeam
Following the First World War, the German town of Schwetz in Pomerania became part of Poland in 1920 and has since been called Świecie. When the German Wehrmacht attacked Poland in September 1939, the army units were followed by SS Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing units), whose main task was the persecution of Polish civilians and Jews. Members of the Polish intelligentsia were arrested and later shot. Yet among the first victims of the SS killings were about 200 patients of the Świecie psychiatric hospital. The psychiatric ward was evacuated between mid-September and October 1939 on orders of the SS. Members of an SS-commando from Danzig (Polish: Gdańsk) brought the patients to a remote gravel pit close to the village of Mniszek, where they shot the patients. In total, about 1,300 mental patients from Świecie and Pomerania were shot at the Mniszek gravel pit because the occupiers had deemed them »useless eaters«. Similar executions took place in all of Poland. The evacuated psychiatric ward in Świecie served as a prison for the German occupying authorities from October 1939 on. The SS mainly incarcerated members of the Polish intelligentsia at the prison: teachers, catholic priests and Jews were considered enemies. The SS shot several thousand Polish civilians from the whole region as part of the »Intelligenzaktion«. The victims of the gravel pit killings were buried in a mass grave. It is among the largest mass graves in Poland.
Image: Świecie, undated, Administrative building of the psychiatric hospital, Szpital dla Nerwowo i Psychicznie Chorych w Świeciu
Świecie, undated, Administrative building of the psychiatric hospital, Szpital dla Nerwowo i Psychicznie Chorych w Świeciu

Image: Mniszek, 2006, Signpost pointing to the memorial complex, T4 ResearchTeam
Mniszek, 2006, Signpost pointing to the memorial complex, T4 ResearchTeam
Members of the SS shot about 10,000 Polish civilians at the Mniszek gravel pit. Most of the victims were members of the Polish elite, intellectuals, catholic priests and Jews from Pomerania. Among the first victims were 1,300 mental patients, of whom about 200 came from the Świecie psychiatric hospital.
Image: Świecie, undated, Patients and nurses of the psychiatric hospital before World War II, Szpital dla Nerwowo i Psychicznie Chorych w Świeciu
Świecie, undated, Patients and nurses of the psychiatric hospital before World War II, Szpital dla Nerwowo i Psychicznie Chorych w Świeciu

Image: Mniszek, undated, Memorial plaque and remains of victims at the mass grave, Szpital dla Nerwowo i Psychicznie Chorych w Świeciu
Mniszek, undated, Memorial plaque and remains of victims at the mass grave, Szpital dla Nerwowo i Psychicznie Chorych w Świeciu
A memorial complex at the mass grave near Mniszek commemorates the 10,000 Polish civilians who were shot here between 1939 and 1945. Among them were approximately 1,300 mental patients from all of Pomerania; 200 patients from Świecie comprised the first victims. The psychiatric hospital in Świecie has since 1959 been named after its former director Józef Bednarz, who was murdered in the fall of 1939. A memorial plaque at the hospital honours him and the murdered patients.
Image: Mniszek, undated, Mass grave and memorial complex near the former gravel pit, Szpital dla Nerwowo i Psychicznie Chorych w Świeciu
Mniszek, undated, Mass grave and memorial complex near the former gravel pit, Szpital dla Nerwowo i Psychicznie Chorych w Świeciu

Image: Świecie, 2003, Memorial plaque to the victims and director Józef Bednarz, Szpital dla Nerwowo i Psychicznie Chorych w Świeciu
Świecie, 2003, Memorial plaque to the victims and director Józef Bednarz, Szpital dla Nerwowo i Psychicznie Chorych w Świeciu
Name
Pamięc zamordowanych pacjentów
Address
ul. Sądowa 18 [the Mniszek Memorial is located about 15 km outside of Świecie]
86-134 Świecie
Open
The memorial complex near Mniszek is accessible at all times.