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Emilianowo – A Forest Outpost Between Toruń and Bydgoszcz. A Key Escape Point from Stalag XXA

 Situated in a strategic location between Toruń and Bydgoszcz, Emilianowo (German: Emilienau) played a crucial role in the Polish resistance movement as early as 1940. This small forest lodge became one of the most important contact points for underground networks operating around the German DAG ammunition plant in Bydgoszcz, and most importantly – for Allied POWs escaping from Stalag XXA in Toruń and from German forced labor detachments in the surrounding towns and villages.

A Forest Gateway to Freedom

The so-called northern route of escape passed through Emilianowo. It was a covert trail leading across Pomerania toward the Baltic ports, mainly Gdańsk. For many escaped POWs, this was the first secure stop along their journey. In Emilianowo, they could rest safely, receive new clothes and false documents, get food supplies, and obtain crucial information to help them reach the coast.

Among those who passed through Emilianowo were Allied officers such as T. Cullen, J. Grieg, and E. Hawtin. Their postwar testimonies provide valuable insight into the workings of the escape networks and the support they received from the Polish underground.

German Map 1944 of Bromberg and Stalag XXA working komando area


A Hidden Stronghold Amid the Trees

Between 1939 and the late 1940s, Emilianowo became the heart of a resilient resistance cell, known under various aliases such as Darzbór, Zagajnik, and later Zagroda. What began as an independent initiative soon merged into broader underground structures—first within the Union of Armed Struggle, then the Home Army (Armia Krajowa), and ultimately, after the war, into the Freedom and Independence (WiN) movement.

Place where was Forest Outpost

Among its many clandestine roles was the support provided to Allied POWs who had managed to escape from Stalag XXA in Toruń. The group also conducted intelligence operations, infiltrating the heavily guarded DAG weapons factory in Bydgoszcz to report on German war production. Their forest base served as a temporary sanctuary for individuals pursued by the Gestapo, offering protection in a time of extreme danger. Just as vital was their role in transporting classified information and sabotage materials across the region, maintaining the pulse of underground coordination.

Shielded by dense woods and distant from major routes, Emilianowo remained a discreet yet active center of resistance. Its isolation, once a matter of geography, became a powerful ally in the struggle for freedom.

Post-War Remembrance and Discoveries

In the early 1990s, after the fall of communism in Poland, the former forest lodge area was thoroughly searched in hopes of retrieving remaining wartime relics. In 1991, weapons and military gear hidden during the war were uncovered and transferred to a museum in Bydgoszcz.

Monument of Polish Resistance Who Helped Stalag XXA escapers

Although the lodge itself was dismantled in 1997, the site was not forgotten. In 2009, a memorial was officially unveiled near the former settlement, commemorating the underground activities that had taken place there.

Area of monument in forest in Stalag 20A area

Emilianowo – A Quiet but Pivotal Place

In the broader history of the prisoner-of-war camp in Toruń (Stalag XXA) and the labor detachments scattered around Toruń and Bydgoszcz, Emilianowo was far more than just a stopover. It was a critical hub in the network of resistance and escape. It served as a forest staging post in the grand scheme of the fight against the occupiers.

This modest settlement matched, and perhaps even surpassed, some urban centers in its impact on the Polish underground and Allied efforts. Today, only a clearing and a monument remain – but the legacy of Emilianowo lives on as a symbol of courage, sacrifice, and silent defiance.


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