WARTIME GUIDES

Even in the face of inevitable terrain changes, the latest technologies are allowing historians and enthusiasts to discover deeply hidden evidence of the past. Around the Toruń fortress, the location known as Stalag XXA , remnants of wartime dramas still lie concealed. Join us on a virtual journey tracing the paths of prisoners of war ( POWs ) and find out what the terrain relief reveals around Fort XI , the main headquarters of the POW camp . Toruń and Stalag XXA: Places That Remember The history of World War II in Toruń is inextricably linked to the POW camp system in Military District XX. A key site was Stalag XXA (also known as Stalag 20A ), which operated within the 19th-century forts. Although the landscape around Fort XI is constantly transforming, modern methods such as laser scanning and aerial photo analysis make it possible to spot what was once blurred by time and nature. The analyzed terrain relief clearly shows the shape of Fort XI . As you know, this fort was the c...

An visit from a family from Australia and the USA, eager to learn about their father who served in the 2/5 Australian General Hospital during the war, became an opportunity to uncover the history of POW camps in Poland. The trip to Stalag XXA in Toruń also revealed an unexpected connection to the city's Jewish heritage. It was an incredible journey through time. We had been preparing for quite a while for Jill's trip, who came with her family from Australia and partly from the USA. Her relatives wanted to visit the places where Jill's father, who served in the 2/5 Australian General Hospital during the war, had been imprisoned. Thanks to memories and preserved documents, we managed to visit key locations and sketch a larger picture of the organization and history of POW camps, including Stalag XXA. This story, by pure coincidence, also revealed a connection to Jewish heritage, providing an opportunity to bring that part of Toruń’s history closer. We are glad that we could h...

In today's post, I would like to share with you a special project in which we had the opportunity to participate. We collaborated on the creation of the book "Stalag XXA Toruń: Enforced March from Poland".  This project was dedicated to the history prisoner of war in Stalag XXA in Toruń and the enforced march of prisoners from Poland towards the end of World War II. Our role involved providing support in the process of preparing the book.  It was an extraordinary experience for us to collaborate on the creation of the book "Stalag XXA Toruń: Enforced March from Poland".  I am confident that this book will make a valuable contribution to the study of World War II and help commemorate the victims and heroes of those times. I encourage you to delve into this compelling narrative and discover the untold stories of bravery and resilience.

That was very interesting beginning of August. Since first messages from Jason, we knew that it will  not be a random trip. His grandfather was a prisoner of war who spent in Stalag 20A all war. During his imprisonment he sent a lot of letters and postcards which almost all survive! Thanks to that, it was very easy to see and knew more about places where he was. What is more, it was an excellent source to see how Germans organised system of support for local farmers and industry. Finally we heard a lot of interesting stories about Russian prisoners of war who helped western soldiers during The Long Marches To Freedom.

Very often we publish here stories about Edward 'Wally' Smith, a prisoner of war who was also in Stalag 20A in Torun. He escaped from here, fought in Warsaw Uprising 1944, finally he survived the war and who knows, maybe Karol Wojtyła (John Paul II) who talked with him in Krakow was one of the person thanks to whom he survived the war. Apart from this story, we had a great honour to guide  his family who wanted to see the footsteps of their relative. That was very emotional trip, full of new facts which we probably wouldn't know without this meeting.

Pawel was interviewed by a journalist from a prestigious magazin: :"Wiadomosci Historyczne" about  Stalag XXA history and comunists camp after the war. That was also an interesting discussion about prespecitves of using old camp area in future education. Thanks such activites we are trying to promote knowledge about less known part of city history in which  involved thousands of peoples' lives all over the world.

          We are happy to learn that Tom McGrath who vistited us last winter, to get information about his father's stay in Stalag XXA between 1940-1942, captured at Dunkirk in 1940  (We wrote about his visit here:  https://bit.ly/2SRBqSf ) fot. dailymail.co.uk During his research Tom McGrath discovered that his father - Tom McGrath snr was given 3 medals:  - The Military Medal  - 1939-1945 Star  - The War Medal but he did not receive them in person. And now after 75 years his son, at the ceremony at the British ambassador's in Dublin got the medals! fot. dailymail.co.uk Read more about the story:  https://dailym.ai/2SRCEgj https://bit.ly/2FpoT5q

       Last year, we did some research about POWs burials in Torun, Stalag XXA between 1939-1945. We have found quite a few names of late Prisoners of War. All of them, were exhumated after the IIWW. Today, we publish a first part of the document. name and surname rank POW date of birth date of death   funeral date Frank Grafrey (?) senior private POW 19.11.1920 01.07.1940 04.07.1940 Wiliam Alfred Winchester senior private POW 15.08.1915 14.07.1940 17.07.1940 Robert Smith senior private POW 15.12.1915 18.07.1940 22.07.1940 Aloys Ramsel POW 08.01.1916 07.07.1940 11.07.1940 Herbert Sykes senior private POW 22.09.1906 21.07.1940 24.07.1940 Edward Gaarden senior private POW 30.11.1914 22.07.1940 25.07.1940 Peter MacKay(MacRay) senior private POW 18.12.1917 08.08.1940 10....

                    This Autumn, we found a very unique register! The register of burials in Torun's cemetery. Over 90 prisoners of war were buried at local cemetery and exhumeted soon after the war. We won't be publishing the names but if you want to know if your relative was buried in Torun, Poland, Stalag XXA do not hesitate to ask. fot. http://bit.ly/2AQ1Nhq

Last Saturday we had a great opportunity to take part in historical reconstruction of Oflag 64 in Szubin (Schubin), Stalag XXI, 75 km east from Toruń (Thorn). We saw a model of an Oflag made by kids from a nearby school, people dressed up in prisoners of war uniforms. The organisers prepared a small exhibition and performences devoted to living conditions in an Oflag 64. It was a great pleasure to be there and see a living history. Hope local people saw and therefore understood the concept of Oflags. Great job Mr Mariusz Winiecki from Oflag64Blog

Thanks to our cooperation to Museum of Dobrzyńska Land in Rypin , Poland we had a great opportunity to give a short presentaion about Stalag XXA and working camps around Rypin. This city is located on the East of Kujawsko - Pomorskie region and since 1941 there was a working camp of Stalag XXA, Thorn (now Torun). Thanks help of the locals we possessed a lot of new facts: how did the camp worked and relations between citizens and Pows. What is more interesting,  we learnt about how partizans helped imprisoned soldiers, ways of escapes and farmers who hid soldiers who had decided to escape. Sometimes these stories could be script for a movie. We hope that with time we'll find new folders in local archives which fulfill white gaps in the history dedicated to personal storiers of British PoW's there. 

We would like to inform that our local press published article dedictaded to people aroud the world who are travleing on the routes of POW's. Thank's that Torun wasn't destroyed in WWII  sightseeing of fortification is possible and in some objects are still visible oryginal Stalag XXA remains. Passionates form Torun and relatives from countries where POW's came from are probably last people who is remember about this heritage. Click here to see the article.

Any escape from the camp was forbidden under the threat of death. Yet, there were some people who tried to achieve that, by either flleing from main camps, which was extremaly difficult. Anyone who would approach the fence could have been killed without any warning. Some tried to escape from working camps. This way was easier, because there were fewer guards but often they had no knowledge over the lands they stay on. with no food, preparations an escape was doomed to failure.  However, there were 2 major routes which prisoners of war used to escape. Some used the route via Gdansk (Danzig) to Sweden. There was even a special organization from Bydgoszcz (Bromberg) which helped to run away f or money (ap. 2000 - 4000 Reich marks). Others like Mr Foster (his story is described further in this blog) used a way via Posen to Germany.  There was also a possibility to run away via Russia. But, the general reception of fugitives by the Russians was negative and many ...

the battle of Dunkirk At the beginning of May 1940 Hitler decided to attack the Low Countries. The Low Countries is a historical name for Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxemburg.   The British Expeditionary Force (BEF), French and Belgium troops had been situated on the French and Belgium border with Germany since September 1939, awaiting the inevitable German attack. Germans under the commander General Gerd von Rundstedt made a decision to attack the channel ports before the Allied troops could evacuate. Using the “blitzkrieg” method of attack (rapid advances by armoured columns supported by overwhelming air superiority) British, French and Belgian armies were rapidly overcome.   General Lord Gort who was in charge of the British Expeditionary Force, foresaw that the German attack would rapidly overrun the British forces and would arrive at the channel ports before the BEF could be evacuated to England. Therefore, he conducted a series of fighting retreats to the po...