The Zwierzyniec camp was established by the Germans in 1940 and initially served as a transit camp for forced labourers. About 100 French prisoners of war, most probably transported from Stalag 325 at Rawa-Ruska (located in Polish Galicia, which became Ukrainian in 1944), were placed in the first 5 barracks built. In December 1942 all the French prisoners of war were transferred out of Zwierzyniec. The camp then changed its purpose and served as a resettlement camp for the civilian population of the Zamość region, including many children. According to various estimates, from 16,000 to 24,000 people were held in this place. The prisoners were transported from there to concentration camps or for forced labour in Germany. The camp was eradicated in July 1944.
Between 1978 and 1980 a church was built on the spot where the camp had stood. Today, in front of the entrance to the church, panels in Polish, German and English recall the history of the site. One of the panels shows the photograph of the original camp gate from 1941. The remains of the barbed-wire fence have been kept around it. Next to the church two monuments have been erected. One of these stone monuments commemorates the French prisoners of war. A commemorative plaque "in memory of the French soldiers imprisoned in 1942 in the Hitlerite camp of Zwierzyniec" in French and Polish has been installed. Another plaque reads "the commemoration of the site of the Hitlerite extermination camp of Poles, French and others in the years 1941-1944". The second monument, located alongside, is devoted to the youngest victims of the Zwierzyniec camp.