It is rare to meet families with such well-preserved wartime archives, but this story is one of them. The son of a British POW visited Poland to trace his father’s path during World War II. Based on remarkable archival materials and photographs, we now know that his father was held in Prabuty, Bydgoszcz, the forts of Toruń (Stalag XXA / Stalag 20A), Chełmno, and a village near Chełmno . Thanks to precise verification of these records, it was even possible to locate the site where one of the prisoners was buried. With high probability, the same tree still stands there, silently witnessing that event over 80 years later. A truly moving moment came during a special tribute: a bagpipe concert in memory of the father and all those who perished during WWII . This was the first time we experienced something so emotional and powerful in our work to preserve the memory of prisoners of war in Toruń . Stories like this remind us why documenting the history of POWs in Stalag XXA is so import...
During the operation of the German prisoner-of-war camp Stalag XXA in Toruń, there was an official channel of communication between the prisoners and their families. It consisted of letters and postcards sent under the supervision of the German administration. Every message was censored, and its content strictly controlled. Nevertheless, there were cases where prisoners embedded coded information about their own situation or the fate of their fellow soldiers in such correspondence – but that is a story of its own. However, it is hard to imagine that during the occupation, with thousands of prisoners located so close to civilian areas, no unofficial network of communication would have developed – and its organization is remarkably interesting. This communication had a completely different character – it was part of the activities of the Polish resistance and the involvement of Allied soldiers. Thanks to these efforts, intelligence reports were smuggled out of Stalag XXA, while informati...