Obóz karny SS i policji w Maçkowach pod Gdaƒskiem1
The SS and the police penal camp in Maćkowy near Gdańsk

Summary/Abstract: The article presents the establishment and operations of the SS and police penal camp in the town of Maćkowy near Gdańsk in the years 1941-1945, as well as the role played by the camp in the years 1939-1941. In addition, the article outlines the special judiciary system of the SS and the police, and the system for establishing military and police units consisting of convicted SS and police officers. The camp was set up in 1939 to serve as the barracks of a new SS unit established in Gdańsk, which played an active role in the battle of Westerplatte and the attack on the Polish Post Office. From October 1940 to July 1941, Maćkowy was the site of a Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle camp for Volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans) as well as German settlers from Lithuanian territories. When the camp was taken over by the Main Judiciary Office of the SS, the center was reconstructed and modernized (new guard towers, fencing, and barrack were added). In January 1942, the first convicts brought from KL Dachau were admitted to the camp. As of March 1942, the Maćkowy camp served as the Third Reich’s central penal camp for the SS and the police.

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