“The earth has spoken”
Katarzyna Krawczyk, Ewa Malinowska, Stutthof Memorial
The Stutthof Museum in Sztutowo was established on 12 March 1962, thanks to the efforts of former prisoners. Currently, it covers an area of 20 hectares of the former camp, which covered 120 hectares of land. A considerable part of the former German Nazi concentration camp is covered by forests belonging to the neighboring forest district office. In the autumn of 2015, the remains of leather shoes and belts were discovered in the forest.
The arrangement and archaeological prospection of an area of over 100 hectares was not an easy task due to the difficult and extensive forest land beyond the Museum’s administration, high project costs related to field works, conservation and protection of the monuments, as well as existing illegal exploration procedures in the area. In the post-war period, the neighboring community contributed to the devastation of the remains of the former German camp. The equipment was used for private apartments; buildings were demolished for the secondary use of materials. In addition, subsequent afforestation and the accumulation of modern stratification significantly hindered the exploration. In spite of these factors, objects directly associated with the functioning of the KL Stutthof camp were recovered during the exploration works; primarily objects that testify about man and his suffering - camp numbers, prostheses and personal items. A significant group of objects discovered were also decorations and elements of SS uniforms. The works commissioned in December 2015 were implemented as part of a multi-year research plan.
After two seasons of fieldwork, preliminary compilation of historical material, conservation and official receipt of the collection in the form of a deposit, an exhibition was prepared entitled “The Earth has Spoken". It was created in co-operation with the Provincial Office for the Protection of Monuments in Gdańsk, the Museum of the City of Gdynia and the Bowke Foundation. The exhibition was presented twice in the Stutthof Museum. Currently it is presented at the Museum of the City of Gdynia from 23 March to 30 June 2018.
An exhibition of objects recovered during exploration works at the site of the former German Nazi Stutthof concentration camp.