A Camp in the City: KL Plaszow Then and Now

KL Plaszow is the only concentration camp ever located in the city centre. What was it, who were its prisoners, and how is it remembered today?

The Plaszow concentration camp was part of the policy of the General Government and the Third Reich. On the one hand, it served the purpose of the forced labour exploitation of people from the occupied territories, particularly Jews. On the other hand, it was part of the extermination machine.

Dr. Edyta Gawron and Monika Bednarek talk about the history of this place. They attempt to answer the following questions: why was KL Plaszow established on the grounds of two Jewish cemeteries? Who were the people imprisoned here? And why was the camp commandant Amon Göth – called the "master of life and death" of the prisoners – so feared?

The discussion about KL Plaszow must also include the reasons for the collective oblivion surrounding the camp as a place of genocide and the plans to commemorate its victims.