MUSEUM WOLDENBERG in DOBIEGNIEW

Oflag II C Woldenberg 1940-1945

Oflag IIC Woldenberg was a German prisoner of war camp for Polish officers during the Second World War. Despite its imprisonment, it became a place of learning, culture and resistance, demonstrating the strength of spirit, solidarity and patriotism of the prisoners.

Oflag II C Woldenberg was the largest German prisoner of war camp for officers of the Polish army during the Second World War. It was established in autumn 1939 on the site of today's Dobiegniew, then known as the German Woldenberg. The camp covered an area of 24 hectares and was surrounded by double barbed wire fences and watchtowers. Over 6,000 Polish officers and officer cadets who had taken part in the September offensive and later battles in Europe were housed in several barracks.

Everyday life in the camp was tough. Hunger, illness, monotony and deprivation of liberty were hard on the prisoners. Nevertheless, they led an intensive cultural and intellectual life. There were three choirs, a symphony orchestra and a theatre, and lectures, vocational training courses and courses of study were organised as part of the University of Woldenberg. There was also a conspiratorial independence organisation. Of particular importance was the conspiratorial radio listening organised by the „R” group, which provided information from the front lines of the war and from the occupied country.

Sport was an important part of life behind barbed wire. Football and volleyball matches were played regularly, and in 1944 a large tournament was organised under the name „Olympic Year 1944 in Camp II C”, which followed on from the cancelled Olympic Games in London. In the autumn of the same year, after the failure of the Warsaw Uprising, over 100 Home Army officers came to the camp, which intensified the conspiratorial and patriotic activities.

On 25 January 1945, the Germans ordered the evacuation of the camp in view of the approaching Eastern Front. The prisoners were led away under heavy guard in two columns, „East” and „West”. The eastern column was liberated on 30 January 1945 in Dziedzice by tanks of the Soviet 55th Tank Brigade. The western column was driven across the Oder, where it was liberated by American and Canadian troops. Finally, on 3 May 1945, the last prisoners of Oflag II C Woldenberg regained their freedom.

Today there is a museum on the site of the former camp, a memorial dedicated to the fate of the Polish officers, their resilience, their solidarity and their struggle to preserve their dignity and national identity under the conditions of imprisonment.