Górka Klasztorna: torture and violence in the Selbstschutz camp

The monastery as a place of violence

According to a study by the Museum of the Second World War, the local Selbstschutz occupied the monastery on 23 October 1939 and set up a detention camp. Harry Schulz became its commandant. The Germans beat and abused clergy; they also destroyed sacred furnishings and burned books. Violence therefore began before some prisoners were taken away for execution. [1]

The IPN exhibition catalogue describes the rape of imprisoned women. It reports that in 1940 a German court sentenced Schulz for rapes classified as “racial defilement”, and that after the war a Polish court imposed the death penalty on him. These facts, however, are not a nominal list of the women harmed. [2]

Anna Jaworska in Jan Topor’s statement

Tomasz Ceran cites a statement by Jan Topor, given on 5 October 1962. The witness claimed that on 24 November 1939 he saw Anna Jaworska killed by having her body torn apart with ropes. According to him, German perpetrators ordered Jewish prisoners to do this, promising release, and then shot them as well. They were people under the perpetrators’ coercion, not a voluntary execution unit. [3]

This is a specific eyewitness account, but it was recorded 23 years after the event. The essay identifies a protocol in the Archive of the Western Institute. We do not present this description as the result of independently reading the original files or as a fact confirmed by several independent witnesses. [3]

Górka Klasztorna is not Paterek

The museum distinguishes the murder on 24 November on the monastery grounds from the transfer of 30 priests and religious brothers, shot in Paterek on the night of 11–12 November. Victims of Paterek are not counted among people killed at Górka Klasztorna itself. Nor do we give one aggregate count for all camp torture and murders. [1]

Limits of the findings

The detailed method of Jaworska’s killing is Jan Topor’s 1962 account, cited by a historian, not the result of our research in the original protocol. The museum publication and the essay use the same account; they are not two independent testimonies. We do not generalise it to all prisoners or add the victims of Paterek to the local count. [1] [2] [3]

Sources and notes

Footnote markers identify the basis for specific findings. Bibliographic records remain in their original language; the notes indicate how each source is used.

The bibliographic record and source-use note are retained in Polish to preserve the original scholarly citation.

1. Tomasz Ceran. Górka Klasztorna – Zbrodnia pomorska 1939. Muzeum II Wojny Światowej w Gdańsku, Polska Hekatomba.

   opracowanie instytucjonalne · Sekcje „Ofiary”, „Sprawcy” i „Okoliczności zbrodni”; odczytano też przytoczoną relację i wykaz źródeł. · Dostęp: 2026-09-05.

   Use of this source: Zajęcie klasztoru, Schulz, bicie duchownych, lokalne ofiary 24 listopada i odrębny los duchownych w Paterku.

2. Izabela Mazanowska, Tomasz Sylwiusz Ceran. Zapomniani kaci Hitlera. „Samoobrona” Niemiecka na Pomorzu Gdańskim (Selbstschutz Westpreussen) w 1939 r. Katalog wystawy. IPN, Bydgoszcz 2015.

   opracowanie instytucjonalne · S. 24, sekcja „Morderca z Łobżenicy”; sprawdzono także metrykę autorstwa. · Dostęp: 2026-09-05.

   Use of this source: Gwałty na uwięzionych kobietach oraz niemieckie i polskie postępowania przeciw Schulzowi.

3. Tomasz Ceran; przytoczone zeznanie Jana Topora. Zbrodnia pomorska 1939. Esej dla nauczycieli. IPN, Bydgoszcz–Gdańsk–Warszawa 2019.

   opracowanie instytucjonalne · 35. strona pliku PDF, sekcja „Pomorze ’39 i Wołyń ’43”, przytoczona relacja i przypis 151: AIZ, Dok III/114, protokół 5 X 1962, k. 1–3. · Dostęp: 2026-09-05.

   Use of this source: Źródło, data i treść zeznania o śmierci Jaworskiej; niemiecki rozkaz i przymus wobec więźniów.