The German resettlement and labour camp in Potulice was set up on February 1, 1942. At the end of 1941, beginning of 1942, the camp was subordinated to the Stutthof camp; then, as an independent entity, it was enlarged and expanded with branches in Smukała and Toruń. Displaced Polish families from Pomerania were put in the camp. Some of them were sent to the General Government for the Occupied Polish Territories, some of the prisoners were sent to forced labour in farms and factories of the Danzig-Ostpreussen district. Overall some 25,000 people went through the camp. According to German records, 1297 persons died in the camp, 767 of which were children.