Borne Sulinowo
In 1933 the new German authorities started the construction of a large military base, a training ground and various testing grounds. Most of the local inhabitants were resettled and their homes levelled to the ground. All facilities were officially opened by Adolf Hitler on August 18, 1938. Soon afterwards the Artillery School of the Wehrmacht moved there.
During the later stages of the World War II an artificial desert was built there for the units of Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps
In September 1939 in the military barracks a German POW camp was established for Polish soldiers, as well as for Russian, French and Yugoslavian POWs-Stalag 302, where more than 30,000 were murdered.
After the war, the area of two military bases and the town itself was taken by the Red Army. There the Soviet military established one of the biggest military camps of the Northern Group of Forces. The town was excluded from Polish jurisdiction and erased from all maps, even. In official documents the area of the base and the surrounding 180 km² were called forest areas and remained a secret for almost 50 years.
Following the peaceful change of political system in Poland in 1989, an agreement was finally reached to withdraw the occupying Red Army from Poland. The town became a part of Poland.
It was briefly controlled by the Polish Army, in April of the following year the Polish unit was withdrawn and the town was finally passed to civilian authorities - for the first time since 19th century. On June 5, 1993, at 12 am, the town was officially opened to the public. Among the first inhabitants of the town were Polish repatriates from Russian Siberia and Kazakhstan, who were finally allowed to return to Poland after more than 50 years of forcible resettlement in Soviet Union.
During the later stages of the World War II an artificial desert was built there for the units of Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps
In September 1939 in the military barracks a German POW camp was established for Polish soldiers, as well as for Russian, French and Yugoslavian POWs-Stalag 302, where more than 30,000 were murdered.
After the war, the area of two military bases and the town itself was taken by the Red Army. There the Soviet military established one of the biggest military camps of the Northern Group of Forces. The town was excluded from Polish jurisdiction and erased from all maps, even. In official documents the area of the base and the surrounding 180 km² were called forest areas and remained a secret for almost 50 years.
Following the peaceful change of political system in Poland in 1989, an agreement was finally reached to withdraw the occupying Red Army from Poland. The town became a part of Poland.
It was briefly controlled by the Polish Army, in April of the following year the Polish unit was withdrawn and the town was finally passed to civilian authorities - for the first time since 19th century. On June 5, 1993, at 12 am, the town was officially opened to the public. Among the first inhabitants of the town were Polish repatriates from Russian Siberia and Kazakhstan, who were finally allowed to return to Poland after more than 50 years of forcible resettlement in Soviet Union.
