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One Photograph Brought Families Together After Decades. Following Their Fathers’ Footsteps at Stalag XXA Thorn in Toruń

A single wartime photograph brought families together many decades later. A preserved group photo of British prisoners of war from Stalag XXA Thorn in Toruń became a unique link between generations and helped descendants discover the shared history of their relatives. Years ago, John and Terry travelled to Toruń to follow the footsteps of their relative. Later, it was discovered that a relative of another British prisoner was sitting right beside their fathers in the same photograph. This remarkable connection led another family to visit Toruń and discover the story of their loved one. One Photograph, Two Families and a Shared Story of Stalag XXA Thorn The history of Stalag XXA Thorn in Toruń is not only a story of wartime events, documents and dates. Above all, it is the story of people – soldiers whose lives were changed by captivity and families who, many years later, began searching for traces of their loved ones. Among the thousands of Allied soldiers who became prisoners of...

Following His Father’s Footsteps – A Visit to Toruń Connected with Stalag XXA

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...

Following the Footsteps of a Dunkirk POW: From Stalag XXA Toruń to Stalag XXB Malbork

Every year we meet people who travel across Europe to follow the wartime stories of their families. One such visit recently brought Roy to Poland, whose journey helped us uncover another fragment of the history connected with Stalag XXA in Toruń and Stalag XXB Malbork . A Journey That Began at Dunkirk Roy’s father was among the soldiers who fought during the dramatic evacuation at the Dunkirk Evacuation in 1940. Like thousands of British and Allied soldiers, he was eventually captured and became a prisoner of war ( POW). For many captured soldiers, the journey into captivity was long and uncertain. Transported from the beaches of France across occupied Europe, they were sent to various German POW camps. One of the first stops for Roy’s father appears to have been Stalag XXA in Toruń. A Brief Stop in Toruń – Stalag XXA Historical records suggest that Roy’s father passed through Stalag XXA , the large German POW camp established in the forts of the Toruń Fortress ....

January 1945: The Long March from Stalag XXA Toruń

The end of January marks a crucial and tragic moment in the history of Stalag XXA in Toruń ( Stalag 20A Toruń) and Stalag XXB Malbork ( Stalag 20B Malbork) . At this time in 1945 , German authorities issued evacuation orders to POW camps and labor detachments across the region. The advancing Soviet army forced the German command to move prisoners westward. The Departure from Stalag XXA Prisoners from Stalag XXA Toruń began their march on January 21st at around 3: 00 AM . This marked the beginning of what later became known as the “ Long March” or “ Death March” — a dramatic and painful episode remembered in the memoirs of Allied prisoners of war held in northern Poland. Thousands of POWs left the camps around Toruń and began marching in freezing winter conditions. Many of them would walk hundreds of kilometers across occupied territory. Parallel Marches: POWs, Forced Laborers, and Concentration Camp Prisoners What is less widely known is that the POW columns from Stalag...

A Failed Escape, Stalag XXA "Pilots", and Battle of Britain

Very little was missing for Toruń to go down in World War II history as the site of one of the most spectacular escape attempts from a German prisoner-of-war camp. The former Toruń airfield, today part of the Pomeranian Aero Club, was not only a Luftwaffe training facility but also a place where the fates of POWs, Polish pilots, and Allied intelligence intersected. During the German occupation, work details from the prisoner-of-war camp Stalag XXA were regularly assigned to physical labor at the Toruń airfield. As recalled by one of the prisoners, their duties included clearing snow from the runway , maintaining infrastructure, and carrying out fieldwork around the airfield used by the Luftwaffe. It was during one of these work assignments that an event occurred which could have ended in a daring escape. Two officers — POWs from Stalag XXA — swapped places with fellow prisoners who were scheduled to go out on a work detail that day. The plan was simple and bold: at the right moment,...

Always in Our Hearts: Remembering the Fallen

In the first days of November, we especially commemorate those who are no longer with us. I visited the monument of Stalag XXA you all know and, on behalf of our community, took the liberty of lighting a symbolic candle. As you can see, I was not alone, and I am very pleased that residents also remembered this. Please also see the photos of Toruń's cemeteries, which were illuminated by the glow of candles on November 1st.