In 1979, the Martyrs' Museum of Poznań-Żabikowo (Polish: Muzeum Martyrologiczne w Żabikowie) was opened in Luboń, a suburb of the Polish city of Poznań. It is dedicated to the victims of the forced labour camp, which was located there between 1941 and 1943, as well as the inmates of the police prison and labour education camp, which was on the site in the years 1943 to 1945.
Following the dismemberment of Poland in the 18th century, the region of Poznań was under Prussian rule; after the First World War, it belonged to newly independent Poland. After the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, the region was once again annexed by Germany and henceforth administered as the »Warthegau«. The German administration set up up to 20 forced labour camps in the city now called Posen. A majority of those deployed in backbreaking forced labour at the camps were Jews. The Germans established several forced labour camps along the construction site for the extension of the »Reichsautobahn« (highway) from Frankfurt/Oder via Posen to Łódź and Warsaw – the so-called »Reichsautobahn camps«. One of these camps was set up in the village of Żabikowo (from 1939 on Poggenburg) near Luboń (from 1939 Lobau, from 1943 Luban), a suburb of Posen. About 300 Jewish men had to perform strenuous labour constructing the highway. Ill prisoners or those deemed unfit for labour were deported to the Chełmno extermination camp. In mid-1942, the German administration suspended construction and the camps were gradually dismantled. The camps' inmates were deported to other camps. In 1943, the Gestapo established a police prison and the »Labour education camp Posen-Lenzingen« on the premises of a former brick yard in Żabikowo. The majority of prisoners held here were Poles, many of whom had been transferred from the labour education camp at Fort VII, which had been dissolved in 1944.
The Martyrs' Museum in Poznań-Żabikowo is dedicated to the Jewish forced labourers of the Reichsautobahn camp Poggenburg as well at the prisoners of the labour education camp Posen-Lenzingen. It is not known how many prisoners passed through the camp in Żabikowo. The prisoners in Poggenburg mostly came from Poland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the Soviet Union. Only Polish Jews were imprisoned at the Reichsautobahn camp (1941 and 1943).
After the war, between 1945 and 1948, the camp premises served as an internment camp for Germans.
On November 4, 1956, a memorial entitled »Nigdy Wojny« (English: »Never War«) by artist Józef Gosławski was unveiled at the site. Located on the approximately three-hectare large area of the former camp are remains of camp buildings as well a further memorials in honour of prisoner groups from various countries. A museum was opened in 1979.
On November 4, 1956, a memorial entitled »Nigdy Wojny« (English: »Never War«) by artist Józef Gosławski was unveiled at the site. Located on the approximately three-hectare large area of the former camp are remains of camp buildings as well a further memorials in honour of prisoner groups from various countries. A museum was opened in 1979.
- Name
- Muzeum Martyrologiczne w Żabikowie
- Address
-
ul. Niezłomnych 2
62-031 Poznań - Phone
- +48 (0)61 813 068 1
- Fax
- +48 (0)61 810 341 1
- Web
- http://www.zabikowo.eu
- muzeum@zabikowo.eu
- Open
- Tuesday to Friday: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Closed on Mondays - Possibilities
- Guided tours, educational offers, events, archive, special exhibitions