The Devil Burns Gold There: The Heritage of Nazi Germany Crimes in Death Valley, Chojnice, Poland

Dawid Kobiałka

doi:10.1007/s10761-021-00604-9

Abstract

This paper is about Death Valley – a site of mass killings orchestrated by Nazi Germany that took place on the outskirts of Chojnice during the Second World War. I begin by referring to some examples of conflict archaeology that persuasively demonstrate how what has so far been the domain of history is transforming into archaeology. I then present historical information concerning Death Valley. Following this, the paper presents the results of archaeological investigations into material traces of mass killings in Death Valley. Finally, I present an ethnography of Death Valley, scrutinizing the contemporary role of the site among local communities.

Highlights

Over the past two decades, modern conflict archaeology has rapidly become a vivid, dynamic, and important part of archaeological research and discourse (e.g., Saunders 2007; Schofield 2005)
This paper presents preliminary results from new research in Death Valley with the aim of demonstrating how ethnographic and archaeological methods, techniques, and sources can both supplement and complement historical records concerning mass killings orchestrated by Nazi Germany during the Second World War
This paper has discussed some of our preliminary results and reflections from the research we carried out in 2020 on the terrain of Death Valley on the northern outskirts of Chojnice, Poland, where Germans killed a few hundred Polish citizens during the autumn of 1939 and in the second half of 1945

Summary

Introduction

Over the past two decades, modern conflict archaeology has rapidly become a vivid, dynamic, and important part of archaeological research and discourse (e.g., Saunders 2007; Schofield 2005). While preparing and carrying out field research within the project “An archaeology of Death Valley,” one of our primary hypotheses was that the scale and character of German mass killings on the northern outskirts of Chojnice were likely to have left detectable traces in the modern landscape.

Results

Conclusion