WARTIME GUIDES

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...