Płutowo () is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Kijewo Królewskie, within

Chełmno County Chełmno County ( pl, powiat chełmiński) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, north-central Poland. It came into being on 1 January 1999, as a result of the Polish local governm ...

Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, also known as Cuiavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship or simply Kujawsko-Pomorskie, or Kujawy-Pomerania Province ( pl, województwo kujawsko-pomorskie ) is one of the 16 voivodeships (provinces) into which Poland is divide ...

, in north-central Poland. North of Płutowo village there is the Płutowo Nature Reserve with a total area of , which was established in 1963 for the protection of a rare

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

along a ravine above the

Vistula The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...

river. The length of the ravine is 1.2 km and its depth around 57 metres from the top down to the water level.

World War II

In the fall of 1939 following the

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

the Nazi German occupational authorities set up a temporary concentration camp in Płutowo at a manor once owned by

von Alvensleben von Alvensleben may refer to: * Christian von Alvensleben (born 1941), German photographer * Constantin von Alvensleben (1809–1892), Prussian general * Gustav von Alvensleben (1803–1881), Prussian general * 'Alvo' Gustav Konstantin von Alvens ...

family. The Polish prisoners brought to the camp came from the area of

Ziemia chełmińska Land is a historical unit of administration in Poland and Ruthenia. In the Polish language, the term is not capitalized (''ziemia chełmińska'', Chelmno Land; not ''Ziemia Chełmińska''). All ''ziemias'' are named after main urban centers (or ...

(Chełmno land). Over 200 victims were murdered at a nearby forest by the German ''

Volksdeutscher Selbstschutz The ''Volksdeutscher Selbstschutz'' was an ethnic German self-protection militia, a paramilitary organization consisting of ethnic German (''Volksdeutsche'') mobilized from among the German minority in Poland. The ''Volksdeutscher Selbstschut ...

'' executioners, along the road to Szymborno.

References

Villages in Chełmno County Nature reserves in Poland {{Chełmno-geo-stub