German retribution against people of Bydgoszcz
German retribution against the people of Bydgoszcz (1939) was mass war crimes committed by the German occupiers against the civilian population of Bydgoszcz of Polish and Jewish origin, between September and December 1939.
| German retribution against people of Bydgoszcz | |
|---|---|
Polish hostages moments before execution. Old Market Square in Bydgoszcz. September 9, 1939 | |
| Location | Bydgoszcz, Poland (occupied by Nazi Germany – Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia) |
| Coordinates | 53°07′30″N 18°00′40″E |
| Date | September–November 1939 |
Attack type | execution by firing squad |
| Deaths | 5000 people |
| Perpetrators | Wehrmacht, Einsatzgruppen, Volksdeutscher Selbstschutz |
Mass arrests and executions of Bydgoszcz residents, carried out primarily by Wehrmacht soldiers and Einsatzgruppen officers, initially took place in an atmosphere of chaos and were a retaliation for the events of the so-called "Bloody Sunday" in Bydgoszcz (3–4 September 1939) and for the resistance offered by the local Civic Guard to the advancing Wehrmacht units. The ad hoc reprisals later turned into an organized extermination campaign, aimed at the liquidation of the Polish political and intellectual elite in Bydgoszcz, with the main executor being the paramilitary Selbstschutz. During the first four months of the occupation, the Germans murdered up to 5000 residents of Bydgoszcz and the Bydgoszcz County in secret or public executions, of which probably between 1500 and 1900 victims were from Bydgoszcz itself.