Criminal activity of the Selbstschutz in Toruń’s Podgórze district and nearby villages

Abstract

In the autumn of 1939, hundreds of towns in Pomerania flowed with the blood of many of their inhabitants, often constituting the pre-war intellectual and patriotic elite. The Selbstschutz was a formation that largely contributed both to the capture of those considered enemies of the Third Reich and their murder. Toruń, including Podgórze, which was incorporated into its boundaries shortly before the outbreak of war, was one of the localities where the criminal organisation left its mark. However, the district is distinguished by the fact that it was the only one to become the area of activity of a suburban Selbstschutz group. This article is an attempt to describe the territorial range of this formation, its personnel, and above all the criminal activity of the Germans who were part of it. The text is concluded with a list of arrested inhabitants of Podgórze and the surrounding area, whose names and further fates have been established.