Two brothers from Edinburgh, Scotland, visited Toruń to follow the wartime footsteps of their father a British soldier who served in the Royal Signals and spent the final years of the Second World War as a prisoner of war at Stalag XXA Thorn. Their journey was not only a family pilgrimage, but also an important testimony to the memory of the Allied prisoners held at the German prisoner-of-war camp in Toruń.
Following the Story of a British Prisoner of Stalag XXA
Toruń welcomed special guests from Scotland – two brothers who travelled from Edinburgh to discover the place connected with their father’s wartime experiences.
Their father served as a Private in the Royal Signals, the British Army’s communications corps. In 1940, he took part in the fighting in France as a member of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). During the dramatic events of the French campaign, he was captured by German forces near Dunkirk.
The rest of the war was spent in German captivity. He became one of the many Allied prisoners held at Stalag XXA Thorn in Toruń. Like many other prisoners, he was assigned to labour detachments and forced to work outside the main camp. One of the places where he worked was Orneta, where prisoners carried out duties imposed by the German authorities.
From Dunkirk to Stalag XXA Thorn and the Death March
The story of this British soldier reflects the fate of thousands of Allied prisoners of war whose lives were changed by the Second World War. Imprisonment in Stalag XXA Thorn meant years of separation from family, difficult living conditions, forced labour and constant uncertainty.
In January 1945, as the Red Army approached, the Germans began evacuating the camp. Prisoners from Stalag XXA were forced to leave and march westwards under extremely harsh conditions. This evacuation became known as the Death March – one of the most tragic episodes in the history of German prisoner-of-war camps during the final months of the war.
The marching column in which he was transported was liberated not by British forces, but by Soviet soldiers. After regaining freedom, his journey home led through Odessa, from where he eventually returned to Great Britain.
A Story Remembered After Many Years
For many years, he rarely spoke about his wartime experiences. He did not tell his family about his imprisonment, his time at Stalag XXA Thorn, or the difficult road to freedom.
Then, one day, something changed. As his son recalls, his father suddenly felt the need to share his story and told his family everything – about the war, captivity, forced labour and the experiences that had shaped his life.
Today, that story lives on through his sons, who travelled to Toruń to see the place where their father spent several years as a prisoner of war.
Toruń Remembers the Prisoners of Stalag XXA Thorn
The visit of the two brothers from Scotland is a reminder that the history of Stalag XXA Thorn is not only a record of wartime events. Above all, it is a collection of personal stories – stories of soldiers from Britain, Poland and many other countries whose lives became connected with Toruń during the Second World War.
Their journey from Edinburgh to Toruń shows how family memory and the history of a place can come together. Thanks to visits like this, the experiences of the prisoners of Stalag XXA continue to be discovered, remembered and passed on to future generations.
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