Theme Day: Photo of the Year

Happy New Year to you all from TORUŃ DAILY PHOTO. It's that time of the month when we delve back into the archives to show you all the photo of the year. Admitedly, there aren't many to choose from as we haven't been so active over the last 12 months as before. Glad to say this will change for 2012!

So what was the best photo of 2011?

It has to be this stark hand-drawn message from the past. A British POW told the Nazis exactly how he felt all those years ago (70 to be precise!). The graffiti is one of many which can still be seen in the former Stalag-XXA camp here in Toruń.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Following Her Father's Footsteps Part 5

Today, TORUŃ DAILY PHOTO concludes its journey following the footsteps of Prvt. Leonard Green...

Glenn Standish in front of the POW graffiti

The graffiti drawn by POWs in the wash room

The Two Bath Stewards

Exploring the dark wash room

Reading some of the messages

A poem written by a British POW

An image of what appears to be a ship sinking. Was this a reference to a real WWII tragedy?

Following Her Father's Footsteps Part 5: The Washroom and Messages from the Past

We continued to follow Piotr down the long dark passage. Eventually, we reached a room with silence on the entrance wall. Flashing our torches around the room we soon came face to face with images from the past. It appears that our British POWs in Stalag XX-A were very artistic and talented! we continued onto a couple of other rooms where we read hand-written messages from the past. Incredibly fascinating!

Following Her Father's Footsteps Part 4

Exploring the dark tunnels with nothing but torches and the light

from the odd mobile phone

Flash light from the camera really does help to guide your way!

Rosalind and John with Piotr and Leon inside Fort XI

Following Piotr down the steep steps into the kitchen

All that remains from the former kitchen of Stalag XX-A

Rosalind inside her father's former prison

Exploring the basement of Fort XI

Part 4: Inside Fort XI and the former kitchen of Stalag XX-A

We arrived at Fort XI and waited for Piotr to arrive (he was held up by the local security guard, wondering what we were doing there). Eager to explore her father's former prison...Rosalind decided to enter the dark fortess alone....though it wasn't long until Piotr (and his torch) managed to turn up!

We entered through the hole in the wall and walked along the dark tunnels. Piotr took us down some steep steps and we soon found ourselves in what was once the kitchen of Stalag XX-A. The cooking equipment has long since gone except for the fume extractor in the ceiling. There were numbers and a cat drawn on the side of it. Were these from WWII as well?

Following Her Father's Footsteps Part 3

Toruń Daily Photo continues to follow the footsteps of Prvt.Leonard Green...

Rosalind Ridout, Piotr Olecki and Leon Wosik

Piotr takes us around the fort

Glenn holds the base of an original bottle from the 1940s

Another bottle...this time more intact!

Rusty tin cans left exactly where they were...over 70 years ago!

Leon and Piotr shows us some newspaper cuttings about Stalag XX-A

Leon Wosik with his photograph album

A decidedly creepy shot looking out of the fort

Part 3: Leon and Stories Galore!

En route to Fort XI, we made a short detour to pick up Leon Wosik. Leon is now in his early 80s and as a child often played with the POWs around the grounds of Fort XI. Having Leon with us...was like having a walking, talking, breathing part of history! He had a collection of photos and newspaper cuttings of Stalag XX-A. He also had many stories of what it was like to interact with both the POWs and the Nazi soldiers. Rosalind showed him the photos of her father Leonard, a tall strapping figure who looked very British...but believe it or not was also 100% Jewish! He managed to keep this big secret away from the Nazis and hence survived.

Walking around the exterior of the fort, we also came across intact bottles and rusty food cans...all dating back from WWII! It's amazing what you can still find at Fort XI.

Following Her Father's Footsteps Part 2

TORUŃ DAILY PHOTO continues its series of retracing the footsteps of Prvt. Leonard Green - a POW at Stalag XX-A...

The security guard forbids us entry...

...so we try to gain access from the rear

...past the old brick walls...

...and through thick foliage...

...but we were eventually stopped by the moat.

Part 2: Bureaucracy and a little disheartened

Following our time at the military ramp we headed off to Fort XVII which was the HQ of Stalag XX-A. It was here that the POWs were first registered before being sent off to the separate forts. In the late 1960s Leonard Green returned here and was photographed leaning against the wall overlooking the main railway station. His daughter Rosalind understandably wanted to recreate her father's photo. Unfortunately, we ran into a problem. The fort is now owned by a local cheese company, meaning it is private property and the security guard wasn't having any of it! Despite a 5 minute long negotiation with Piotr...we simply were not allowed to enter. Instead we were told to contact the manager and apply to visit in a week's time (not good as Rosalind was only here for one day!).

Being as determined as ever, Piotr tried to gain access by going around the rear of the fort...but we were met with a wide moat...and simply had to give up!

Following Her Father's Footsteps Part 1

Today Toruń Daily Photo and Muzeum Historyczno-Wojskowe Toruń were contacted by Rosalind and John Ridout. Rosalind's father was Prvt. Leonard Green who was a POW at Stalag XX-A in Toruń and managed to escape to freedom via Gydnia and Sweden. Rosalind was in Toruń for one day only to retrace her father's footsteps. TORUŃ DAILY PHOTO joined her to record this historical moment. Over the next few days join us as we follow Rosalind's father's footsteps...and return to Stalag XX-A.

Following Leonard Green's Footsteps: Piotr Olecki (Muzeum Historyczno-Wojskowe), Leon Wosik who as a boy used to play with the British POWs at Stalag XX-A, Rosalind Ridout (daughter of Prvt. Leonard Green) and Glenn Standish (Toruń Daily Photo)

The book "Escape Route Green" which retells Leonard Green's amazing story

John Ridout (husband of Rosalind) in the centre

Rosalind walks in a pensive mood along the military ramp where over 70 years before - her father had first set foot on Polish soil (albeit in Nazi Germany)

Part 1: Following Escape Route Green

After a short visit at Muzeum Historyczno-Wojskowe we hopped in a car together with Piotr Olecki (the museum's founder) and drove off following the footsteps of Prvt. Leonard Green. Sitting next to me, his daughter Rosalind clutched her father's novel "Escape Route Green" and told me anecdotes about her father. Our first port of call was the military ramp, which would have been Leonard's first sight of Polish soil before being sent off to Stalag XX-A.

Following the Footsteps of Toruń's POWS: Inside Fort XIV (Stalag XX-A's Hospital)

All images courtesy of Robert Cooper

Inside Fort XIV (Stalag XX-A's Hospital):

Seriously ill prisoners were taken inside Fort XIV which acted as the hospital of Stalag XX-A. These images, taken a few weeks ago by Robert Cooper, show that there is still some evidence visible from WWII. Robert's father-in-law was a British POW at Stalag XX-A.

TORUŃ DAILY PHOTO thanks the Coopers for their kind permission in using their images.

Following the Footsteps of Toruń's POWs: Face to Face with History

Mugshots...mostly of fellow prisoners

a 1940s starlet

Faces from the past

A caricature of Popeye

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popeye)

No talking inside the washroom!

Face to Face with History:

Minding our step, we enter a pitch-black room. Piotr flashes his torch onto the walls. Suddenly we are surrounded by crudely drawn images. Topless women with old-fashioned hairdos appear next to what looks like charcoal drawn mugshots of shaved, hard-bitten men. Above two mugshots there is some English written: "The Two Bath Stewards".

Yes, we are currently standing in the former wash room of Stalag XX-A...and these images were all drawn by British POWs 70 years ago. The cool temperature has helped to preserve these historical forms of graffiti, but I fear with time they will soon fade away. We must try and do something to preserve this art for future generations...

Following the Footsteps of Toruń's POWs: Fort XI (Stalag XX-A)

Our guide Piotr Olecki (founder of Toruń's Historical War Museum) inspects

the gates that mark the entrance into the fort

The original gates

An eyesore: modern-day graffiti

The bridge leading up to the entrance of the fort.

Fort XI

Following the footsteps of hundreds of POWs

Faded titles above the entrance

This small reservoir was used by the British POWs as a swimming pool

Fort XI:

Fort XI was originally built between 1877 and 1881 by the Kingdom of Prussia as part of the defense chain around Toruń. During WWII Fort XI was used by the Nazis to house mainly British prisoners of war and was part of the Stalag XX-A camp. Also imprisoned within these walls were high-ranking French and Norwegian officers. Today the fort is in a state of disrepair and stands derelict. A great shame.

Tomorrow join us as we venture beyond the walls and deep into the fort...