The album and camp documents which were taken away in the winter of 1945 were found by former prisoners in the summer of 1945 and transferred to the Polish Red Cross, and subsequently to the Prosecutor's Office of the Special Criminal Court in Gdańsk. It served as evidence at the 1947 trial of the SS men from Stutthof. It returned to Stutthof after the Museum was established in the late 1960s. It is a unique source, which, as the latest book proves, should not be read exclusively in the visual layer. The perfectly clean and symmetrical camp depicted in the photos did not reflect reality. Only a few shots in the distance show people who had been turned into slaves and prisoners in Stutthof. They stood in the background but were the subject of this story. The experience of a concentration camp for prisoners was not a nice short walk, a conversation or a snack over coffee...
If one were to mark a symbolic chapter in the history of this place and the influence of individual decisions on the fate of thousands, then H. Himmler's seemingly one-off and episodic visit to Stutthof camp would be an example of an event beyond which nothing was as it was before. It is worth recalling how seemingly small things and events can affect the fate of communities and individuals.
Marcin Owsiński, Two hours in November..., Heinrich Himmler's visit to Stutthof camp on 23 November 1941: the background, the course and the consequences, Stutthof Museum Publishing House, Sztutowo 2020, p. 112, ISBN 978-83-958670-0-2.
A team of waiters - SS-men from the Stutthof camp crew - attending to the party in honour of Himmler on 23 November 1941. One can see details of the room decoration with a portrait of Hitler and flags, breakfast tableware and prepared food. SS-Unterscharführer L. Wanniger, then Rapportführer, standing first from the right.
Source: AMS, file no. I-IF-1, p. 46.