Detention Camp Bereza Kartuska

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Miejsce Odosobnienia "Bereza Kartuska" was a name of Polish detention camp operated in 1934-1939 in Bereza Kartuska in Polesie Voivodeship (today in Belarus).

Following the Polish legislative election, 1930, and the OUN terrorist campaign in the early 1930s, which included the assassination of the Polish Minister of Internal Affairs, Bronisław Pieracki, and the deputy head of BBWR organisation Tadeusz Hołówko, the former tsarist barracks and prison were turned into an internment camp for Polish Communist activists. Polish right wing extremists from the ONR, Ukrainian separatists from the OUN and later criminals, members of opposition parties or journalists critical of the government were detained there as well. The basic term of detention was 3 months but this could have been (and routinely was) prolonged.

The legal basis for opening and the existence of the camp were openly criticized by all the opposition to the Sanacja movement, which, since its inception called it a "concentration camp". This term was later popularized by the post-war Communist propaganda, which depicted it as a proof that the government of Poland was a Fascist regime.

The inmates were sent there for up to three months without any decision of the courts, based solely on the administrative decision of the police or the voivod. The camp was headed by Police Inspector Bolesław Greffner from Poznań. Depending on the period it usually housed 300-500 inmates at a time, the total number of people who were imprisoned there was about 16 thousand. Three of the inmates died during its operation (including one suicide). The number of deaths was kept artificially low by releasing the prisoners in severe health condition.

During the Polish Defensive War of 1939 the camp was closed, all of its inmates were liberated and it was turned into a Prisoner of War camp for German soldiers.[citation needed] Also, approximately 12 German diversants and spies were court martialled there, found guilty of espionage and high treason and executed.

Some of the better known inmates of the camp included:

  • (Polish) Śleszyński, Wojciech (2003). "Obóz odosobnienia w Berezie Kartuskiej 1934-39". BENKOWSKI. ISBN 83-918161-0-9. 
  • (Polish) Siekanowicz, Piotr (1991). "Obóz odosobnienia w Berezie Kartuskiej 1934-39". 


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