Valley of Death Memorial (Bydgoszcz-Fordon)

The Valley of Death (Dolina Śmierci) in the Fordon district of Bydgoszcz is a wooded ravine where, in the autumn of 1939, German units shot an estimated 1,200 to 1,400 Poles and Jews from the city and its surroundings. Today it is one of the most important memorial sites in Bydgoszcz (say "BID-gosh"), with a 1970s monument, plaques bearing victims' names and a modern Way of the Cross. Visitors come to remember and to understand the first weeks of the German occupation of Pomerania.

Where it is

Bydgoszcz is a city of about 320,000 in north-central Poland, roughly 3 hours by train from Warsaw and 2 from Gdańsk. The valley lies in the Bohaterów ("Heroes") housing estate in Fordon, about 12 km northeast of the city center, on the steep slope above the Vistula River valley and within a protected landscape park.

What happened in 1939

German forces took Bydgoszcz on September 5, 1939. On September 3–4, before they arrived, clashes between Polish troops and local ethnic Germans left dead on both sides; Nazi propaganda exploited the events as "Bloody Sunday", and mass reprisals against the Polish population followed. When mass graves at nearby Tryszczyn and Borówno were full, the killings moved to this ravine.

The first execution of Bydgoszcz residents here took place on October 10, 1939, the last on November 26. The perpetrators were members of the Selbstschutz, a paramilitary militia of local ethnic Germans, and SS men of Einsatzkommando 16. The victims were mostly members of the Polish intelligentsia, as well as Jews. No documents survive that would give an exact number; historians estimate 1,200–1,400 people. After the war the remains were exhumed and reburied in the cemetery on Wzgórze Wolności (Freedom Hill) in central Bydgoszcz.

The memorials

The monument on the hill above the valley, by sculptor Józef Makowski, was unveiled on August 31, 1975. Tall columns shaped like broken ears of grain rise like raised hands, surrounded by plaques with names. A Way of the Cross has been held in the valley since 1947, at first in secret. After Pope John Paul II visited Bydgoszcz in 1999, a new set of stations called "Golgotha of the 20th Century" was built between 2004 and 2009: thirteen 2-meter stainless-steel crosses and a 24-meter wall with an openwork cross. The nearby church became a shrine in 2008 and a minor basilica in 2014.

Visiting respectfully

The site is open-air and free. Allow 30–60 minutes to walk from the monument through the valley. Paths run over steep ground, so parts may be difficult with a stroller or wheelchair. This is a place of mourning and of worship, so keep your voice down and take photos discreetly. Commemorations, including services and processions, take place here each year. Information on site is in Polish.

Getting there

Use the Basilica of Our Lady Queen of Martyrs (parish address: Gen. Mikołaja Bołtucia 5) as your landmark. Check the city transit authority's journey planner (ZDMiKP) for buses to the Bohaterów estate; by car, head for the basilica area.

Nearby

Old Fordon, a former river town with a 19th-century synagogue, lies a few kilometers east, and across the Fordon bridge are the Ostromecko palaces.