WARTIME GUIDES

 The last weekend of October brought us a special visit to Toruń. A family came here to follow the traces of their grandfather and great-grandfather, a man who was held as a prisoner of war at Stalag XXA and in other camps in the surrounding area. We have correspondence that provides valuable clues about his wartime experiences. However, identifying the individual camps in which he was held and reconstructing the precise course of his captivity will take time. Historical research often requires patience, careful comparison of documents and the verification of seemingly small details. Yet, from our perspective, the most important part of this visit was not finding all the answers straight away. It was the fact that his descendants had come to Toruń, determined to learn more about his past and understand the history that had shaped their family. We were particularly pleased to welcome two teenagers who listened to the story with genuine curiosity. Their presence gave the meeting a sp...

From 1944 onwards, the Germans established a V-2 experimental testing range in the Wierzchucin area. The facility was moved here after earlier locations had been bombed. Much suggests that its remote location and favourable terrain were important factors in choosing the area. The forests provided natural cover, while the relatively low population density reduced the risk of the facility being discovered. At the same time, the landscape was suitable for conducting rocket tests away from major urban centres. An interesting figure connected with this history is Dr. Hans Kammler, one of the most important people involved in the German rocket programme. Before the war, Kammler lived in Bydgoszcz, meaning that he knew the city and the surrounding region, including the Tuchola Forests, very well. The Polish underground gathers information Almost simultaneously with the opening of the facility, local partisan units began intelligence activities. They observed the area, collected information an...

He came to Toruń twice – first in 1940 and then again in 1944. Yet he spent most of his captivity in Malbork and the surrounding villages. Years later, his family came to Toruń to walk together through the places that may have been part of his wartime story. He was a soldier who became a prisoner of war after the fighting at Dunkirk. His wartime journey took him through many different places, including Toruń and Stalag XXA, the German prisoner-of-war camp operating here. He appeared in the city twice – in 1940 and again in 1944. However, we still know very little about his time in Toruń. Much more is known about the later stages of his captivity. He spent most of his time in Malbork and the surrounding villages, where he worked as a prisoner of war. This is why the Toruń part of his story remains, in a sense, a mystery. This time, we guided his closest family members along the former camp trail – his son, wife and grandson. Together, we visited places that we could identify with certai...

Wendy  travelled to Toruń to discover the places where her father, an Australian medical orderly from the 2/5 General Hospital, was held during the Second World War. Preserved wartime documentation and a remarkably well-documented history of the unit made it possible to retrace his story and visit the places connected with his captivity. This was an exceptionally personal journey back into history. A daughter of an Australian prisoner of war came to Toruń to discover the places where her father had been held during the war. He had served as a medical orderly with the 2/5 General Hospital , and Wendy's goal was to see the places he had known during his captivity  places she had previously known mainly through family stories and surviving documents. Fortunately, a considerable amount of documentation relating to his story has survived. Combined with the well-documented history of the 2/5 General Hospital and its wartime experiences, it allowed us to reconstruct important stages...

Once again, Toruń became a place where history met a family story that had survived primarily through memories passed down through generations. This time, we welcomed relatives of an Italian prisoner of war who was held in Toruń at Stalag XXA Thorn between 1943 and 1945. The history of the Italian prisoners of war is one of the more difficult chapters in the history of the Toruń camp. Following the Italian armistice in 1943, thousands of Italian soldiers were disarmed by the Germans and deported to prisoner-of-war camps and forced labour sites across occupied Europe. In just two years, more than 15,000 Italian soldiers passed through Toruń and the surrounding camps. Many of them were sent to forced labour, working on farms and in agricultural enterprises, factories, and workplaces in Toruń and nearby towns. The scale and speed with which Italian soldiers were deprived of their freedom after September 1943 and dispersed among camps and labour detachments mean that their individual stori...

 The story of captivity that began in Stalag XXA Thorn in Toruń found its continuation in Stalag XXB Marienburg in Malbork. After a short break, we returned to this important chapter of wartime history together with our Australian guest, following the traces of his relative and discovering another part of the prisoner-of-war story. This journey connected two places that were part of the complex history of German POW camps during World War II. Visiting Stalag XXB Marienburg allowed us to explore locations connected with the functioning of the camp and the everyday experiences of prisoners who lived behind barbed wire. These places help us better understand their difficult reality – the hardships, uncertainty, hopes, and personal stories hidden behind historical records. During our visit, we also paid tribute to those who lost their lives during captivity. Remembering the fallen was an essential part of this journey, reminding us that behind every camp number and archival document th...

Around Stalag XXA Thorn, also known as Stalag 20A or the POW Camp in Toruń, numerous labor detachments operated during World War II. Prisoners of war were sent to farms, factories, workshops, and industrial facilities throughout the region to perform forced labor for the German war economy. Today, many of these locations have disappeared or have lost their original character. However, some places still preserve traces of the wartime past. One of them is Unisław, a village located approximately 30 kilometers north of Toruń (Thorn). During the German occupation, the local sugar refinery became one of the workplaces connected with Stalag XXA Thorn. Prisoners from the POW camp in Toruń were assigned here as part of labor detachments. Their daily lives were shaped not only by exhausting work but also by the reality of captivity, separation from their families, and uncertainty about the future. The sugar refinery where Stalag XXA prisoners worked The former sugar refinery in Unisław is a pla...

 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...

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...

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 ....

  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...