Zajączek 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 Skórcz, within

Starogard County __NOTOC__ Starogard County ( pl, powiat starogardzki, csb, Starogarda kréj) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland. The name is a combination of two terms: stari which is ...

Pomeranian Voivodeship Pomeranian Voivodeship, Pomorskie Region, or Pomerania Province (Polish: ''Województwo pomorskie'' ; ( Kashubian: ''Pòmòrsczé wòjewództwò'' ), is a voivodeship, or province, in northwestern Poland. The provincial capital is Gdańsk. The ...

, in northern Poland. It lies approximately west of

Skórcz Skórcz (german: Skurz, 1942-45: Großwollental) is a town in Starogard County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland, with 3,609 inhabitants (2017). It is located in the ethnocultural region of Kociewie in the historic region of Pomerania ...

, south of

Starogard Gdański Starogard Gdański (; until 1950: ''Starogard''; csb, Starogarda; formerly german: Preußisch Stargard) is a city in Pomeranian Voivodeship in northern Poland with 48,328 inhabitants (2004). Starogard is the capital of Starogard County. It is ...

, and south of the regional capital

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

. It is located in the ethnocultural region of

Kociewie Kociewie is an ethnocultural region in the eastern part of Tuchola Forest, in northern Poland, Pomerania, south of Gdańsk. Its cultural capital is Starogard Gdański, the biggest town is Tczew, while other major towns include Świecie, Pelplin, ...

in the historic region of

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...

History

During the

German occupation of Poland German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

(

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 ...

), the local forest was the site of a massacre of around 100

Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Ce ...

from

and various nearby villages, perpetrated by the German gendarmerie and ''

Selbstschutz ''Selbstschutz'' (German for "self-protection") is the name given to different iterations of ethnic-German self-protection units formed both after the First World War and in the lead-up to the Second World War. The first incarnation of the ''Selb ...

'' in 1939, as part of the ''

Intelligenzaktion The ''Intelligenzaktion'' (), or the Intelligentsia mass shootings, was a series of mass murders which was committed against the Polish intelligentsia (teachers, priests, physicians, and other prominent members of Polish society) early in the ...

''.

References

Villages in Starogard County Massacres of Poles Nazi war crimes in Poland {{Starogard-geo-stub