WARTIME GUIDES

I am pleased to share with you the news of my latest article, which has been published in the Atlas of Toruń Fortress. This time, I focused on Fort XV, which served as a place of imprisonment for the prisoners of Stalag XXA during World War II, and its subsequent history as a Forced Labor Camp. In my article, I delve into the fascinating history of Stalag XXA, where Australian prisoners of war were among those held captive. Through in-depth research, source analysis, and eyewitness accounts, I sought to bring readers closer to the dramatic experiences of these prisoners and the conditions in which they lived. I recount their daily lives, the challenges they faced, and the exceptional bonds that formed among them in the difficult camp conditions. It is worth noting that the history of this place did not end in 1945. After the war, Fort XV was transformed into a Forced Labor Camp, where German and Polish prisoners were forced to perform various physical tasks. This topic was dealt with v...

Apart from learning new facts about Stalag XXA (20A) and preparing materials about it, writing articles and book chapters Paweł albo runs  radio programms about local history, obviously with the touch of Stalag and its forbidden history.

We would like to inform that Wartimeguides were responsible for City Council project dedicated for the youth. One day trip on the patriotic path in Torun. During sightseeinf Pawel showed exposition in museum dedicated to WW II next we moved to Historical War Museum for the Peters lecutre about POW and stories of witness from Stalag time. Our trip finished in Fort IV where young people could see how lookes like adapted fort. Moreover visit in Fort was also goog opportunity to empathize how felt POW when they were forced to spend sometimes 5 years in fort. For us it was a new experience and way to share our passion and knowledge about Stalag XXA. We hope that it wasn't last time.   In Museum at WW II exhibition At Peters' lecture

That was amazing trip. Phill with his wife visited Poland inspiring by book of his father who was PoW in Torun. Again we could travelled in time, sightseeing forts and old paths from WWII. Below we put some memories of Phill and pictures. My father, Ralph Johnson, was a member of the 2/5th Australian General Hospital. He was captured on his 21st birthday in Greece on the 28th April 1941. In December 1941 my father, along with many others, were loaded into cattle trucks for the nine day journey to Torun where he spent the next three and a half years in various POW camps with the majority of time spent in Fort 15, Torun. Dad did not speak about his experiences for 30 years after his return and is was only in the later years of his life that he shared his experiences in a book he wrote for his family. We are extremely grateful that he did this as without his recollections we would have little knowledge of his experiences. So it was with mixed feelings that my wife and I d...