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Poland, People's Republic of Poland (1952-1989), Poznań. Plaque 1983, Poznań Fort VII 1939-1944
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Poland, People's Republic of Poland (1952-1989), Poznań. Plaque 1983, Poznań Fort VII 1939-1944, cast Bronze 100 x 100 mm, weight 323,97 g., signed, Condition aUNC
One of the 18 forts of the Poznan fortress, it was built between 1876 and 1880, and underwent modernization between 1887 and 1888. At first it bore only the designation Fort VII, and since 1902, this 14-hectare fortification has been called Fort Colomb. Until 1918, it played an important role in Prussian plans to defend the city and the eastern border of the Second Reich. In the interwar period it served as a storage facility.
The Nazi occupation brought a significant change in the history of the Fort. Nazi authorities chose the site for the first concentration camp on Polish soil. When choosing Fort VII as the site of the concentration camp, its location was taken into account - located far from human settlements, between camouflaging vegetation and earthen ramparts characteristic of forts, it also had good access to the center of Poznań. After the Polish population was displaced from the vicinity of Fort VII and the families of camp functionaries and Gestapo employees were settled there, the facility was tightly isolated from the rest of the city.
The exact date of the start of the camp's operation cannot be determined. October 10, 1939 saw the official takeover of the facility from the Wehrmacht by the Security Police. Fort VII was subordinated to SS-Oberführer Erich Neumann, head of Einsatzgruppe VI. SS-Sturmbannführer Herbert Lange became the first commander of the camp. By April 25, 1944, Fort VII served as the location of some 18,000 prisoners. As a rule, about 2-2.5 thousand were imprisoned at a time, with an SS guard staff of 400.
Officially, Fort VII was a prison and transit camp for civilians, but in reality - primarily an extermination camp.
source: poznan.pl
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Poland, People's Republic of Poland (1952-1989), Poznań. Plaque 1983, Poznań Fort VII 1939-1944, cast Bronze 100 x 100 mm, weight 323,97 g., signed, Condition aUNC