The 1980 Górna Grupa psychiatric hospital fire occurred on the night of October 31 to November 1, 1980, in what was then the Polish People's Republic.
A combination of several factors led to a chaotic rescue operation conducted under extremely difficult conditions.
After World War I, Górna Grupa, along with the rest of Kociewie, became part of the newly reborn Polish state.
On the eve of the missionaries’ official takeover of the estate, the palace was set on fire in an act of arson, the perpetrators of which remain unknown.
[1] In the early 1980s, the hospital in Górna Grupa faced challenges typical of psychiatric care in the Polish People's Republic: underfunding, staff shortages, overcrowding, and poor technical conditions.
[4] On the night of October 31 to November 1, 1980, over 300 patients were present at the hospital in Górna Grupa[6] (according to some sources, the number may have exceeded 400).
[7] In addition to individuals with mental disorders and severe intellectual disabilities, the hospital also housed people considered socially maladjusted for various reasons.
Initially, this did not raise significant concern among the staff, as power outages were common during the economic crisis of the Polish People's Republic.
Rutkowski grabbed a pickaxe from the basement and, with the help of neighbors, began breaking through the brick wall separating the residential area from the hospital.
[1][4] Firefighters managed to widen the hole in the brick wall made by the employees, but without heat-resistant suits, they could not enter the burning ward.
Later, soldiers from a nearby military garrison joined the operation, but they, too, lacked specialized equipment, and their gas masks were ineffective in the fire conditions.
[3][4] Several panicked patients fled the hospital on their own, running into nearby forests and villages, where police officers later located them.
[4] Meanwhile, a crowd of onlookers from neighboring towns gathered outside the hospital, reportedly numbering over a thousand people, according to witnesses.
This disaster was narrowly averted by the heroic actions of three soldiers who, without orders and at great personal risk, removed the cylinders from the burning building.
[4] Once the fire was extinguished, conscript soldiers were ordered by the secretary of the local Polish United Workers' Party committee to remove the bodies.
[4] Witnesses recounted that many of the victims' bodies were grotesquely deformed by the fire, leaving even experienced rescuers, let alone conscripts, traumatized.
[3][4] It is believed that a spark escaped from the flue and ignited a fire within one of the walls, which were insulated with pine needles and sawdust.
At least a day before the tragedy, some patients reported smelling smoke and noticing that the hospital walls felt unnaturally warm.
[1] On December 12, 1980, the following government statement was published:[1] The government commission headed by Deputy Prime Minister Stanisław Mach [pl], appointed to determine the circumstances of the fire in Górna Grupa belonging to the Voivodeship Psychiatric Complex in Świecie, reports that as a result of the dedicated work of people and a well-organized rescue operation, 266 out of 319 patients were saved and the fire was prevented from spreading to the entire hospital building [...] After completing all necessary activities, the government commission will make a full statement public.Initially, it was suspected that the fire was caused by an electrical failure.
[4] The Milicja Obywatelska briefly considered the possibility that it had been started by the aforementioned pyromaniac, "Ali," but this hypothesis was quickly dismissed.
[1] They were accused of failing to fulfill their duties and endangering patients' health and lives by neglecting the recommendations of the 1979 fire inspection.
[4] Many in the Polish psychiatric community argued that both employees had been made scapegoats and that the real culprits were high-ranking Communist Party officials who had denied funding for the hospital's modernization.
One rumor suggested that the fire had been deliberately started by officers of the Security Service and that its victims included democratic opposition activists allegedly imprisoned in the hospital as part of punitive psychiatry.
[4] Instead, on the orders of the secretary of the Communist Party committee in Świecie, a plaque inscribed only with "NN" (Latin abbreviation for Nomen Nescio, meaning "Name Unknown") was placed on the mass grave.
In memory of the patients, victims of the tragic fire at the Branch of the Voivodship Psychiatric Complex in Świecie, on the night of October 31, 1980, with heartfelt prayers from the Divine Word Missionary Priests.
September 19, 2017.The fire at the psychiatric hospital in Górna Grupa inspired Polish songwriter and poet Jacek Kaczmarski to write the song A my nie chcemy uciekać stąd!
[10] The theme of the psychiatric hospital fire in Górna Grupa appears in the 2014 Polish crime film Jeziorak (directed by Michał Otłowski [pl]).