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 and attempted to determine what exactly was happening inside the heavily guarded facility.
For the Polish underground, information about German work on new rocket weapons was extremely important. Reports concerning installations, transport, testing and activity around the site could become part of a much larger intelligence picture.
The history of the area is therefore not only the story of rockets. It is also the story of people who tried to discover what the Germans were building and testing deep inside the Tuchola Forests.
The nearby labour detachments of Stalag XXA
Another important part of this story is the presence of labour detachments of prisoners of war in the surrounding area.
The network of labour detachments connected with Stalag XXA covered a large part of the region. Prisoners were sent to numerous villages and settlements, where they were forced to work. Today, places such as Lniano, Bukowiec and Ostrowite, and further away Czersk and Chojnice, remind us how extensive this network was. Their presence adds another layer to the history of the V-2 testing range.
There is no evidence confirming that prisoners took part in the earliest preparatory work, before the testing range became operational, such as clearing the forest. We can only speculate that this may have happened, as prisoners were used for similar work at other German facilities. For that reason, this part of the story should remain a question rather than an established fact.
Could the prisoners hear the explosions?
There is another question. Could the sounds of the tests carried out in the area have attracted the attention of prisoners? The noise of explosions could certainly have been heard in the surrounding area, especially since there were instances of rockets falling prematurely and exploding. We know about such incidents thanks to accounts from residents of nearby villages who heard the explosions.
But what about the prisoners? Could they have heard the same sounds from the labour detachments where they were working? Could they have realised that something unusual was happening nearby?
At present, we do not have sources that would allow us to answer these questions with certainty. There is no evidence directly linking the sounds of the tests with the prisoners' knowledge of the nearby facility. It remains one of those intriguing possibilities that encourages us to keep looking for new documents, memories and accounts.
A landscape where several histories meet
This is what makes the area around the Tuchola Forests so fascinating. In one region, the stories of prisoners of war, the Polish underground, the German rocket programme and people from many different countries who found themselves here during the Second World War all come together.
Today, however, the landscape looks completely different.
Recently, we had the opportunity to visit the area ourselves and go kayaking. The weather was beautiful, the rivers were calm and the forests were full of life. Near the former testing range, we even found quite a lot of mushrooms.
It is a remarkable contrast: enjoying a peaceful kayak trip through the forest while knowing that, more than eighty years ago, these same woods witnessed the testing of one of the most advanced weapons of the Second World War.
History hidden in the forest
It is also encouraging to see that the history of this place is now relatively well commemorated and signposted. There is a mural, information boards and signs marking historical locations, including places deep inside the forest.
This makes it possible to combine outdoor recreation with discovering history. You can travel along the river, enjoy the landscape of the Tuchola Forests and, at the same time, stop to think about the events that took place here in 1944 and 1945.
This is something I particularly value about places like this. History does not always have to be found inside a museum. Sometimes you have to look for it on a forest path, beside a river, in a small village or among the trees.
And the invitation remains open.
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