The ruins of the former network position in Santok are silent witnesses to the dramatic upheavals in Europe in 1945. They are an impressive reminder of war, flight and new beginnings - and of how fragile peace and freedom in Europe can be.

Where the Noteć River flows into the Warta today was a focal point of world history in January 1945. The ruins of the Netze position in Santok are not only military remnants, but also a reminder of the end of the Second World War and the profound upheavals in Europe.

The end of the „house of cards“

On 12 January 1945, another decisive advance towards Berlin began with the Soviet „Vistula-Oder Offensive“. The German Wehrmacht, with around 450,000 soldiers facing a superior force of 2.2 million Red Army soldiers, attempted to stop the advance at fortified lines such as the Pomeranian Wall and the Oder-Warthe Line.

Santok functioned as a strategic bridgehead at the confluence of the Netze and Warta rivers. Massive concrete bunkers were intended to secure the river crossings. However, the Soviet troops utilised their enormous mobility, bypassing the fixed positions or destroying them with direct fire from modern artillery. Santok fell at the end of January 1945, along with a number of other defence positions. The German Eastern Front collapsed like a „house of cards“, as the German General Guderian had predicted.

Santok thus marks a stage on the „road to liberation“ from Nazi tyranny. A path that also liberated extermination camps such as Auschwitz and revealed the cruelty and horror of Nazi rule to the world.

At the same time, the military caesura was associated with great human hardship: Millions of German civilians fled to the west. The subsequent „westward shift of Poland“ led to an almost complete population exchange. Large parts of the network were destroyed by pioneers of the Polish People's Army after the end of the war.

A memorial for Europe

Today, the bunker ruins in Santok have been included in the Polish register of monuments as a memorial to the war. They invite you to reflect on the common European history, e.g. along the fortification path (Szlak). Discover almost completely preserved facilities such as the circular defence bunker Object 19 or the huge concrete blocks of blasted works.
Visit Santok and experience history at the place where it happened - as part of a route that reminds us how precious peace and freedom are in Europe.

The story about the place of remembrance will follow shortly.

(Language: German)

(Language: English)

(Language: Polish)

History trail war events 1945

The military cemetery of the 1st Polish Army in Stare Łysogórki is a place of silence and contemplation on the Oder, where history and landscape merge. The necropolis commemorates the dramatic endeavours of the soldiers who fought shortly before the end of the Second World War.

The military cemetery of the 1st Polish Army in Stare Łysogórki, also known as the Siekierki military cemetery, is one of the most important places of national remembrance on the Oder. The necropolis is the final resting place for soldiers who crossed the Oder and took part in the Berlin Operation in 1945.

Some 1,977 soldiers of the 1st Polish Army who lost their lives in one of the most difficult operations of the Second World War on the Eastern Front - during the crossing of the Oder and the further fighting towards Berlin - rest here.

The cemetery was laid out on a square plan and is divided into regular plots with characteristic Grunwald cross monuments, which symbolise the bravery and sacrifice of Polish soldiers. The centrepiece of the necropolis is a monumental memorial by sculptor Stanisław Lewiński, which was unveiled in 1961. It depicts a woman with a child as well as floating sails and swords, symbolising the sacrifice, hope and hardships of the military crossing of the river.

The Oder River, which the soldiers of the 1st Polish Army crossed under enemy fire, became not only a natural border in 1945, but also a symbolic gateway leading to the final victory. Crossing it meant overcoming the last major obstacle on the way to Berlin and the end of the suffering of the war on Polish soil.

Every year in April, on the anniversary of the crossing of the Oder, ceremonial commemorations of the fallen soldiers are held at the cemetery. War veterans, representatives of the military, local authorities, schoolchildren and residents of the region take part in these events to commemorate those who fought for the freedom of their homeland.

Together with the nearby Museum of Engineering Weapons History of the 1st Polish Army, the cemetery forms the centrepiece of the National Memorial Area on the Oder - an area that links memorials, monuments and museum exhibitions from Czelin to Cedynia. It is a place of contemplation, history and education and at the same time an important point on the region's historical and natural history trail.

The story about the place of remembrance will follow shortly.

(Language: German)

(Language: English)

(Language: Polish)

History trail war events 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.

The story about the museum will follow shortly.

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(Language: Polish)

History trail war events 1945

The Wulkow memorial site has been a digital memorial since 2024. It commemorates the subcamp of the Theresienstadt ghetto of the same name, which existed from 1944 to 1945. Almost 400 Jewish prisoners performed forced labour there for the construction of a secret alternative site for the Reich Main Security Office (RSHA).

The Wulkow satellite camp was established in March 1944 in a wooded area near Neuhardenberg in Brandenburg. The strategic purpose was to build an alternative service centre for Office IV RSHA (Gestapo) and the NSDAP party chancellery.

Under camouflage names such as „Dachs“ or „Barackenbau Zossen“ and under the initial direction of Adolf Eichmann, administrative offices and secret archives were to be protected from Allied air raids. The prisoners had to build barracks, intelligence facilities and a file bunker under extreme time pressure and with the utmost secrecy.

The victims and their living conditions

A total of almost 400 Jewish prisoners were deported from the Theresienstadt ghetto to Wulkow, including highly qualified craftsmen and engineers. The prisoners, including around 34 women, came from the Czech Republic, Germany and Austria. The work was seen as a deceptive „life insurance policy“ for the prisoners, as they were supposed to be protected from deportation to extermination camps in exchange for their labour. However, everyday life under the sadistic commandant Franz Stuschka was characterised by brutal violence, hunger and inhumane punishments.

In February 1945, the camp was evacuated due to the approaching Red Army; the prisoners were taken back to Theresienstadt in cattle wagons under agonising conditions.

Meaning today

Today, Wulkow functions as a digital place of remembrance, which was opened in April 2024. As there are hardly any structural remains on site, the memorial uses modern digital formats to bring together the scattered biographies of the victims and make their voices heard after decades of silence. Through seminars, memorial walks and the online exhibition, the Wulkow working group, in cooperation with the Campus Schloss Trebnitz educational centre, makes an important contribution to coming to terms with regional Nazi crimes and to political education.
This place of remembrance acts like a digital echo that carries the fragments of history that were once hidden in the forest into the global public sphere in order to permanently preserve the identity of the victims.

The story about the place of remembrance will follow shortly.

(Language: German)

(Language: English)

(Language: Polish)

History trail war events 1945

From 1940 to 1945, the prison served as a detention centre for members of the Wehrmacht. Sentences included desertion, disobedience, homosexuality, subversion of military power, theft, unauthorised removal, self-mutilation and murder.

The Anklam Wehrmacht prison began operating as a prison for military justice on 25 November 1940. The prisoners were male members of the Wehrmacht who had been sentenced by the courts, remand prisoners or prisoners in transit from Wehrkreise I, II and XX, Luftgauen I and XI, the Baltic Sea area of the navy and Army Group North.

In at least 139 cases, the Anklam prison can be shown to have applied the Special War Criminal Law Ordinance, which was linked to the imposition of the death penalty. The sentences of those not sentenced to death varied greatly. Among them, however, the prison routine or their labour assignments in the city and its surroundings were similar. The structures of the Anklam Wehrmacht prison were maintained until the last days of April 1945. Executions and pardons of death sentences were still being carried out on 26 April 1945.

The shifting front line of the Soviet army, with a major advance towards the north of Germany, took place between 27 and 28 April 1945. On the night of 29 April 1945, the Allies entered Anklam. It was to be the day of the last major battle for Anklam. The town (70-80%) was almost completely destroyed by bombing, shelling and arson by German and Allied troops.

Alarm units were still deployed in the prison against the Soviet army. The guards set off with a group of prisoners on an evacuation march to the west on 28 April 1945. Two days later, the column had marched through Tribsees and continued on towards Bad Sülze. This unit was picked up on the morning of 1 May 1945. (Source reference: Das Anklamer Wehrmachtgefängnis, Schwerin 2021, published by the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern State Centre for Political Education)

The former Wehrmacht prison is part of Anklam's museum landscape and its content is designed together with the „Centre for Peace Work - Otto Lilienthal - Hanseatic City of Anklam“ foundation.

The main topics for visitors are guided tours and workshops on the history of the site and its surroundings, military justice and democracy, everyday life and biographies of the prisoners. The death cell section of the building, which was set up as a memorial in the 1960s, is open to the public as a place of remembrance and as part of a museum visit.

The story about the museum will follow shortly.

(Language: German)

(Language: English)

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History trail war events 1945

Interreg VI A funding project 2026-2028

The project is concerned with the reappraisal, visualisation and networking of the „History of the Nazi murders of the sick“ in Międzyrzecz, Berlin and Ueckermünde and the „Traces of Jewish life“ in Seelow, Międzyrzecz, Berlin and Ueckermünde.

In cross-border cooperation, the project partners are revitalising or re-establishing nationally significant places of remembrance, equipping them with digital exhibitions and linking them thematically with each other. In addition to sustainable investments in the expansion of the places of remembrance, the development of cross-border educational tourism offers is a project focus, with inclusive elements and the involvement of relevant target groups.

The aim is to improve access to the places of remembrance involved and thus to the shared history of the German-Polish border region, which is unique in the context of the end of the Second World War and the westward shift of Poland.

Key project outputs

„History of the Nazi murders of the sick“

• Cross-border measures for knowledge exchange and networking,
• Revitalisation of the Międzyrzecz-Obrzyce cemetery and memorial,
• Design and construction of a contemplation garden on the Międzyrzecz clinic grounds
  Obrzyce as part of a German-Polish youth project with trainees from gardening and landscaping companies in Berlin and Międzyrzecz,
  
  Development of an exhibition on the history of Nazi hospital murders in Ueckermünde in the AMEOS Clinic,
• Development and linking of new and existing digital exhibitions on the history of the Nazi murders in Międzyrzecz-Obrzyce and Ueckermünde, Polish translation and linking of the „Totgeschwiegen“ exhibition in Berlin,
• Development of target group-orientated modules for educational tourism on the history of the Nazi murders of the sick at the project partners, networked in terms of content and for cross-border marketing.

„Traces of Jewish life“

• Cross-border measures for knowledge exchange and networking,
• Construction of a new memorial and meeting place „former Jewish cemetery Seelow“ at the former original site,
• Development of four circular routes with digital elements on traces of Jewish life in Seelow, Międzyrzecz, Ueckermünde and Berlin-Charlottenburg,
• Development of target group-orientated modules for educational tourism on traces of Jewish life at the project partners, networked in terms of content and for cross-border marketing.

In this way, the project meets the common challenge of improving mutual access to cultural heritage and to the tourist and cultural offerings in the assisted area and utilising the opportunities offered by culture and tourism to expand cross-border links.

The „Remembrance connects“ network provides a suitable framework for networking and disseminating the project's new educational tourism programmes. The project takes up the strategy of the multi-perspective remembrance landscape Oder-Warthe and consolidates the cross-border educational tourism offer for the significant era of the Second World War in the region.

Historical context

The cross-border approach and the need to involve partners outside the funding area arise from the distribution and role of the Nazi perpetrator sites in the former Reich territory. People with mental disabilities were isolated in the former clinic in Berlin, selected and deported to the sanatorium in Meseritz-Obrawalde, where around 10,000 people were murdered. A crematorium for the extermination of Nazi victims was set up and trialled for the first time on a hospital site at the Ueckermünde State Sanatorium. In line with the small number and distribution of today's memorials to the complex of Nazi hospital murders, there is a need to utilise previously untapped potential for remembrance work (Międzyrzecz, Ueckermünde) and to make it possible to experience history in context.

Preserving the traces of Jewish life is also an important task of German political remembrance work. Jews were repeatedly subjected to persecution and expulsion, most recently during the Nazi era, when the National Socialists systematically expelled and exterminated the entire Jewish population.

The forced migration of the population in connection with the westward shift of Poland as well as politically and ideologically driven cultures of remembrance in the former GDR and the People's Republic of Poland led to the neglect of many Jewish sites such as cemeteries and synagogues. There is a need to preserve traces and make history tangible across borders. The existing knowledge and experience of the project partners as well as locations and networks outside of the funded area are utilised and linked in order to achieve positive effects in the funded area.

Project partners

• Municipality of Międzyrzecz (Lead Partner)
• Marshal's Office of the Lubuskie Voivodeship, Department of Geodesy, Real Estate Management and Spatial Planning - Subdepartment of Spatial Planning
• Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf district of Berlin
• City of Seelow (Mark)
• Town of Seebad Ueckermünde
• Rostock University Medical Centre
• Brandenburg Memorials Foundation, Memorial to the Victims of the Euthanasia Murders (associated partner)

Project duration:          01.01.2026 - 31.12.2028

The symposium „Expulsion, Forced Migration, Loss of Culture 1945 in the Oder-Warthe Region“ focussed on the complex German-Polish history in the border region, particularly after the Second World War. It opened up a space for German-Polish dialogue about the profound upheavals of 1945.

The region exemplifies forced migration, loss and new beginnings, the after-effects of which can still be felt today. Here, memory is understood as a relationship - open, multi-perspective and in dialogue. The aim is not a ready-made narrative, but a responsible narrative that combines science and personal experience, involves young people and builds bridges between research, education and the public.

The „Remembrance connects“ funding project creates a cross-border network that makes historical sites visible and preserves traces. In this way, remembrance becomes a process that opens up horizons, enables understanding and shapes the future.

Programme:

Opening:

Panel I: Historical classification

Lunch break
and tour of the Museum in the Kulturhaus Küstrin-Kietz under the professional supervision of the Association for the History of Küstrin e.V.

Panel II: Local perspectives - cultural loss - cultural appropriation?

A conference volume will be produced, which will contain additional specialist contributions:

We would like to thank our host at the Kulturhaus Küstrin-Kietz, our project partners and speakers, our interpreters, our photographer Mr Ahrendt and our film team from Parkosmedia. We would also like to thank our sponsor and the active participants of the symposium.

Images ©Town of Seelow, photos by Klaus Ahrendt

The workshop served to prepare the content of a symposium planned for the beginning of November 2025 in Küstrin-Kietz. It focussed on the complex German-Polish history in the border region, particularly after the Second World War, and discussed methods for communicating this history to younger generations. The participants, including representatives from Germany and Poland, exchanged views on various aspects such as museum work, cultural heritage and the culture of remembrance and emphasised the importance of coming to terms with the past together. Several projects and initiatives were presented that aim to promote understanding of the shared history and strengthen the German-Polish dialogue.

On the basis of initiative presentations and experience reports, topics of remembrance were discussed in connection with the effects of the events of 1945 on the population on both sides of the Oder, including the westward shift of Poland, flight, expulsion, forced migration, ideology-based changes in German and Polish cultures of remembrance, loss of culture, interpretation today - lessons for tomorrow.  

In the stimulating discussion that followed, various perspectives and topics were added, including

• Looted artefacts from all over Poland in manor houses in the region
• "scorched earth" by the Soviet army as revenge for the attack and destruction of the Nazi Germans beforehand
• Recommendation for a dialogue between German-Polish museums to provide impetus for joint education
• Choice of title for the symposium: a positive connotation
• "Cultural appropriation processes"
• Films, culture and art as tools for communicating history
• Recommendation for 2 films on the history of the town of Landsberg (YouTube)
• many personal stories of the participants with family roots in the region.

The last item on the programme was a visit to the Słońsk Martyrdom Museum with a detailed guided tour by Prof. Smolinski. Here, various participants also reported on their personal experiences in conversations with contemporary witnesses in their families.

The aim of the project is to actively involve and inspire young Europeans from different backgrounds to explore and commemorate the Second World War from different perspectives. Through a series of youth encounters, participants will visit significant World War II sites across Europe and engage with history first-hand. This immersive experience encourages active learning, including conducting interviews, curating historical content and creating podcasts and videos, all of which will feed into an online exhibition.

In October 2025, a youth exchange week took place in the Oder-Warthe region. 18 young people from all over Europe learnt about the special history of our region at locations such as Slonsk, Kostrzyn nad Odra, Seelow, Klessin and Berlin-Karlshorst. Their task was to reflect on this history in podcasts and videos, to scrutinise it in interviews and to interpret it from their own perspective.

The youth exchange week in the German-Polish border region was organised by the Liberation Route Europe in cooperation with the Liberation Route Poland, the Liberation Route Germany and the city of Seelow, funded by the European Union. The preliminary programme and further information can be found at https://www.lre-youth.eu.

The Seelow (Mark) History Station uses authentic exhibits and biographical details to document the transformation of the region over the course of a generation, offering a vivid insight into its eventful history.

The end of the Weimar Republic in 1933 marked the beginning of the National Socialist dictatorship. The National Socialists exerted increasing influence on public life. The persecution of dissidents, the suppression of political opponents and the integration of young people into Nazi structures characterised the image of the region. The armament and forced labour in the region increased more and more from the mid-1930s. From 1939, with the outbreak of the Second World War, the image of the region changed dramatically. Accompanied by forced and concentration camp labour, regional production was converted to war-related products, and military trains, deportation and prisoner of war transports crossed the country in both directions.

On the way to Berlin, the Red Army brought the war with full force to the Oder-Warthe region. The Battle of the Seelow Heights, one of the last major battles of the war, raged around Seelow and was a decisive moment on the road to liberation from Nazi rule. The end of the Second World War marked further dramatic changes for the region as part of the new Soviet occupation zone. The westward shift of Poland to the Oder-Neisse border led to the expulsion and forced migration of millions of people, creating a new physical national border and a language barrier. Political and social structures had to be reorganised. The resulting loss of culture continues to have an impact to this day.

The reconstruction of the destroyed towns and villages and the implementation of the land reform, in which large estates were expropriated and distributed among the farmers, permanently changed the economic structure of the region. The founding of the German Democratic Republic as a socialist state in 1949 brought further changes. Agricultural production co-operatives (LPG) were founded, which shaped the structure of the rural economy. The construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961 was an important symbol of the division of Germany and Europe.

Even though political life in the GDR was determined by the socialist order, the historical traces remained visible in the region - from the destruction of the war to political repression. Today, the Oder-Warthe region is a place of remembrance, dialogue and change. As a multi-perspective landscape of remembrance, it brings the dramatic events of the century to life and tells of the difficult path from destruction, division, expulsion and reconstruction to a new beginning after the end of the Cold War.

The story of the museum as an audio contribution (Language: German)

(Language: English)

(Language: Polish)

History trail war events 1945