Hujowa Górka (; sometimes ”Hujarowa Górka” or ''Chujowa Górka, rarely ”Kozia Górka”'') is a place near the site of

Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp Płaszów () or Kraków-Płaszów was a Nazi concentration camp operated by the SS in Płaszów, a southern suburb of Kraków, in the General Governorate of German-occupied Poland. Most of the prisoners were Polish Jews who were targeted f ...

, where in April 1944 the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

exhumed and incinerated the bodies of around ten thousand previously killed

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, to hide the evidence of the crime before retreating from the area. The place took its name from the surname of Unterscharführer Albert Hujar (also Huyar) who committed and directed the executions. It is also a mockery of Hujar's surname, which is pronounced similarly to a vulgar

Polish language Polish (, , or simply , ) is a West Slavic languages, West Slavic language of the Lechitic languages, Lechitic subgroup, within the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, and is written in the Latin script. It is primarily spo ...

expression for "penis" (its English equivalent is " prick"), hence the name is Polish for "Prick Hill", because it could be seen from almost any part of the camp. Before World War II, an old Austrian fortification of the 19th century, dismantled in the 1930s, had been located on a hill. After destroying the fort, a large hexagonal pit remained here, with a circumference of up to 50 meters and a depth of up to 5 meters. Starting from August-September 1943, ”''Chujowa Gorka''” had become the main place of mass executions of prisoners in Plaszow and was used until mid-February 1944, when it was filled with bodies. The prisoners were usually marched to a ditch surrounding Hujowa Gorka and told to lie down. An SS man, a Genickschußspezialist (specialist in shooting in the neck), would then administer a Nackenschuß, a shot in the nape of the neck. A dental technician, usually a Jew, would then pull the gold teeth out of each victim’s mouth. The dead bodies were then covered with a layer of dirt, though once Płaszow became a concentration camp the bodies were burned. The victims’ clothes were sent to the camp’s storehouses and most of the valuables were taken by the executioners. In 1944 the Germans leveled the site and even built some barracks above the mass grave. Immediately after the war, a large wooden cross with barbed wire was erected at the site to commemorate the Christian Poles who died in Płaszów. Albert Hujar was the German officer who offered the place for the mass execution of Jews who arrived from the town of Bochnia (east of Krakow) in the summer of 1943. Albert Hujar, who served in the ''

Schutzstaffel The ''Schutzstaffel'' (; ; SS; also stylised with SS runes as ''ᛋᛋ'') was a major paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II. It beg ...

'' (SS)

Concentration Camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

service, is portrayed in the 1993 drama ''

Schindler's List ''Schindler's List'' is a 1993 American epic historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Steven Zaillian. It is based on the historical novel '' Schindler's Ark'' (1982) by Thomas Keneally. The film follows ...

'' by Norbert Weisser.

References

Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp Amon Göth Holocaust locations in Poland {{Poland-geo-stub