Fordon
Fordon is a district in eastern Bydgoszcz where the Nazis in october and november 1939 murdered about 5000 poles in a ravine. These were murdered within what was called Aktion AB (Ausserordentliche Befriedungsaktion), which aimed to murder Polish citizens who the Nazis considered could be potential leaders of a Polish resistance movement. Before the war, the Nazis had compiled lists of intellectuals and educated people who would be murdered after Poland was occupied. Those murdered had been rounded-up by the Nazis and imprisoned in Bydgoszcz before being taken to the ravine and murdered. After the war, the place was named Valley of Death (polish Dolna smierci).
Current status: Monument (2012).
Location: 53° 9' 23" N, 18° 8' 5" E
Get there: Car.
Follow up in books: Lukas, Richard C: Forgotten Holocaust: The Poles Under German Occupation 1939-1944 (2008).
The valley of death is a hilly hiking area located next to Fordon itself. It consists of both forest and meadows where the locals go for walk. The place is well-kept and there are a number of monuments, both large and small, that honor the victims. Execution sites like Fordon, however, have received less attention than similar places where Jews were the majority of victims.