42 studies / 54 · Greater Poland: Kościan and the Jarogniewice forests
Kościan: Patients Taken Away to Gas Vans
January–February 1940 · Killing patients, camp violence and experiments
The Jarogniewice forests contain traces of killings of people taken from care institutions. One group consisted of Polish patients from the psychiatric hospital in Kościan. Their fate is described by combining a Polish investigation notice with a regional study documenting gassing in vehicles. The differing totals must be disclosed rather than replaced with a seemingly precise common sum. [1] [2]
Editorial account based on the sources listed below. Sources checked: 5 September 2026.
- Victims and toll
- 542 Polish patients according to the IPN investigative notice; a study by Emilian Prałat gives 534 people taken away on 15–22 January 1940.
- Perpetrators
- German state functionaries carrying out the liquidation of patients; the notice used does not allocate responsibility among individual perpetrators.
- Documented methods
- forced transport of patients · administration of sedatives before removal · killing in gas vans
Findings of the Polish investigation
In an appeal of 25 July 2016, the Poznań branch of the IPN reported investigation S.37.2016.Zn concerning the killing of 542 Polish patients of the Kościan hospital. The period covered was given as January–February 1940 and the location as the Jarogniewice forests. Investigators had the victims' names, dates of birth and residential addresses. That is more than an anonymous estimate, although the published appeal does not contain the list itself. [1]
A transport that did not lead to treatment
In a study devoted to local memory, Emilian Prałat describes sedatives being given to patients, their removal on 15–22 January and killing by gas in special vehicles. The author gives 534 people transported. The account of the method must be attributed to this study: the brief prosecutorial notice confirms the crime but does not itself set out the killing technique. [2]
Not one group and not one number
Other victims were also buried in the same area, including German patients and female wards of the institution at Osieczna. They must not be added to the number of Polish patients from Kościan without separate explanation. The regional study also describes the restoration of the memorial site in 2022. [2]
The difference between 542 and 534 is not explained in the publications used. We therefore take the number defining the subject of the investigation as the basic reference point, while retaining the regional author's different total. Without access to transport lists and the full case files, it is not possible honestly to determine whether the numbers describe an identical scope of events. [1] [2]
Limits of the findings
The method of killing comes from a regional study, not the brief investigative appeal. The sources give conflicting figures of 542 and 534. The 48 victims from Osieczna are a separate group described separately. [1] [2]
Sources and notes
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Oddziałowa Komisja Ścigania Zbrodni przeciwko Narodowi Polskiemu w Poznaniu. Apel do świadków zbrodni w lasach jarogniewickich koło Stęszewa. IPN.
Use of this source: 542 polskich pacjentów Kościana, datowanie sprawy i stan identyfikacji.
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Emilian Prałat. Memento. Kultura u Podstaw.
Use of this source: Opis sedacji, transportów i gazowania, alternatywna liczba 534 oraz historia upamiętnienia.
How we assess sources
The evidence base consists primarily of Polish scholarly publications, investigative findings, archives, museums and documented witness accounts. Reliability is assessed through the document’s provenance, scholarly method and the ability to check the finding. Statements by perpetrators and family accounts of perpetrators require especially critical comparison with other material. Two pages from the same institution may repeat one finding; they are not automatically treated as independent confirmation.
Full methodology