LAMBINOWICE

Lamsdorf Prisoner of War CampLambinowice Camp has a long history. The first camp was established here during the Prussian-French War (1870-1871) for French soldiers. In the time of the I World War more than 90 thousand soldiers of Entente were interned to Lambinowice – due to livng conditions nearly 7000 of prisoners died. During the II World War, Lambinowice Camp was included into the biggest German camp complexes in Europe. At that time, 300 thousand soldiers of the anti-Nazi coalition, belonging to almost 50 nations, were interned here.

But this is not the end of the story of Lambinowice. The last camp was established here by Poles after the II World War. It functioned in the years 1945-1946 and served as a forced labour and resettlement camp for Germans.The number of the people who were kept here is assessed at about 5 thousand.

Several dozen thousand people detained at Lamsdorf/Lambinowice died. The war cemeteries containing their ashes, together with the remnants of the camp buildings, are an important material trace of the tragic past. Since 1968 they have been treated as a Monument of National Remembrance, the name being changed, in 2002, into that of the Site of National Remembrance at Lambinowice.

Now Lambinowice Camp works as the Central Museum of Prisoners-of-War in Lambinowice-Opole. The Museum collections include archival materials and museum exhibits, as well as a collection of books. The collections belong to the most valuable and the largest in Poland. They include, primarily, all kinds of items connected with prisoners, especially the Polish ones interned during the II World War.

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