| Wielka Piaśnica | |
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| — Village — | |
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Wielka Piaśnica
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Poland |
| Voivodeship | Pomeranian |
| County | Puck |
| Gmina | Gmina Puck |
| Population | 64 |
Wielka Piaśnica [ˈvjɛlka pjaɕˈnit͡sa] (German: Groß Piasnitz; Kashubian: Wiôlgô Piôsznica) is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Puck, within Puck County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland.[1] It lies approximately 14 kilometres (9 mi) west of Puck and 46 km (29 mi) north-west of the regional capital Gdańsk. The village has a population of 64.
After the 1939 Invasion of Poland, German SS from Danzig (Gdańsk) and local Selbstschutz members executed about 12,000 civilians, mainly Polish and Kashubian intelligentsia from the Pomeranian Voivodeship, in the Darżlubska forest next to the village. Among the victims were approximately 1,200 mentally ill persons from local hospitals,[2] killed in the course of the Action T4.
The mass executions began in October 1939 and lasted until April 1940. An exhumation of mass graves was carried after World War II in 1946. Out of total number of 35 graves, 30 were localised of which 26 were exhumed. Only 305 bodies (in two mass graves) were found, the rest of the bodies was burnt by Germans in August–September 1944. Sonderkommandos (forced prison labourers) from Stutthof concentration camp were used to cover up the tracks and were later executed.[3]
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