Barbarka

About five kilometers north of Torun lies an area called Barbarka. There in a forest between October 1939 and January 1940 the Nazis killed between 600 – 1200 poles. The murders were carried out by Nazi Einsatzkommandon and local units consisting of ethnic Germans, called Selbstschutz. Those who were murdered were largely educated people and other prominent people who immediately became targets for the Nazis when Poland was occupied. These poles were considered a threat to German supremacy and a germanization of Poland and must therefore be eliminated.