Kępiny Wielkie (german: Zeyersniederkampen) is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

in the administrative district of

Gmina Elbląg __NOTOC__ Gmina Elbląg is a rural gmina (administrative district) in Elbląg County, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. Its seat is the town of Elbląg, although the town is not part of the territory of the gmina. The gmina cover ...

, within Elbląg County, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. It lies approximately north of

Elbląg Elbląg (; german: Elbing, Old Prussian: ''Elbings'') is a city in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland, located in the eastern edge of the Żuławy region with 117,390 inhabitants, as of December 2021. It is the capital of Elbląg County. ...

and north-west of the regional capital

Olsztyn Olsztyn ( , ; german: Allenstein ; Old Prussian: ''Alnāsteini'' * Latin: ''Allenstenium'', ''Holstin'') is a city on the Łyna River in northern Poland. It is the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, and is a city with county rights. ...

. The village has a population of 120.

History

The village was part of the Kingdom of Poland until the First Partition of Poland in 1772, when it was annexed by

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

. In 1871 it became part of Germany. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, in 1939–1941, it was the location of a subcamp of the Stutthof concentration camp, in which the Germans imprisoned 200 people as

forced labour Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...

at a time. Dead prisoners were constantly replaced by new ones sent from the Stutthof camp. Following Germany's defeat in World War II, in 1945, the village was reintegrated with Poland.

References

Villages in Elbląg County {{Elbląg-geo-stub