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77th anniversary of the evacuation of prisoners-of-war from Stalag 344 Lamsdorf
Today, January 22, is marked another anniversary of the evacuation of Stalag 344 Lamsdorf. 77 years ago, in 1945, the German authorities ordered that - due to the approaching Eastern Front - all prisoners-of-war who were able to walk should start leaving the camp.
Evacuation to the West began with the British POWs. Subsequently, other prisoners-of-war, such as Polish, Soviet, Yugoslavian and Italian soldiers, set off on a long and difficult journey in the cold, snow and strong wind. Most of them, having covered about a thousand kilometres, deep in Germany, regained their freedom in the spring 1945. The evacuation of the camp did not include the sick and weak – they stayed in Lamsdorf. The strongest of them lived to see the arrival of the Red Army, which reached the so-called Russenlager on 17 March (Brittenlager was liberated a day later).
An important part of this year's anniversary celebration, hold on 17 March, will be the opening of an outdoor educational exhibition entitled Place with a Scar, which has been prepared in a very interesting way owing to the funds from the European Regional Development Fund under the Opole Regional Operational Programme 2014-2020 and the Minister of Culture, National Heritage and Sport, from the Promesa Programme.
You are welcome to visit us on our Museum's Facebook page, where, until March 17, we will talk about the new exhibition!