Borne Sulinowo
Encyclopedia
Borne Sulinowo ' is a town in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

's Western Pomeranian Voivodship, in the Powiat of Szczecinek
Szczecinek
Szczecinek [] is a city in Middle Pomerania, northwestern Poland with some 39,777 inhabitants . Previously in Koszalin Voivodeship , it has been the capital of Szczecinek County in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999...

. It is a capital of a separate gmina
Gmina
The gmina is the principal unit of administrative division of Poland at its lowest uniform level. It is often translated as "commune" or "municipality." As of 2010 there were 2,479 gminas throughout the country...

 and home to 4149 inhabitants (as of April 2005). The surrounding commune is inhabited by additional 5327 people.

The town is notable for the fact that between 1945 and 1992 it was a secret Soviet military base, erased from all maps and it was not transferred to Polish jurisdiction until October 1992.

History

The town of Borne Sulinowo traces back its roots to two distinct villages founded in the area in 16th century by local Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...

n nobility. Modern town occupies the place of the village of Linde (linden tree), which in 1590 had 12 inhabitants. A nearby village was named Großborn was home to 14 peasants.

Both villages developed very slowly. In late 19th century, the area of the village of Linde was bought by the Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...

n government and converted into a military training ground. However, it was not until the advent of Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...

 in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 that changes really arrived there.

During the first World War there was an outcamp from Schneidemuhl prisoner of war camp at Gross Born.

In 1933 the new German authorities bought all of the area and started the construction of a large military base, a training ground and various testing grounds there. Most of the local inhabitants were resettled and their homes levelled to the ground. In place of the village of Linde, a small military garrison and a town was built. Paradoxically, it was given the name of the nearby village of Gross Born (which was also levelled), despite the fact that the actual namesake was located several kilometres to the south-east. All facilities were officially opened by Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...

 on August 18, 1938. Soon afterwards the Artillery School of the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...

 was moved there. Shortly before the outbreak of the Polish Defensive War
Invasion of Poland (1939)
The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...

 of 1939, the training grounds housed Heinz Guderian
Heinz Guderian
Heinz Wilhelm Guderian was a German general during World War II. He was a pioneer in the development of armored warfare, and was the leading proponent of tanks and mechanization in the Wehrmacht . Germany's panzer forces were raised and organized under his direction as Chief of Mobile Forces...

's XIX Army Corps. During the later stages of the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 an artificial desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...

 was built there for the units of Erwin Rommel
Erwin Rommel
Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel , popularly known as the Desert Fox , was a German Field Marshal of World War II. He won the respect of both his own troops and the enemies he fought....

's Afrika Korps
Afrika Korps
The German Africa Corps , or the Afrika Korps as it was popularly called, was the German expeditionary force in Libya and Tunisia during the North African Campaign of World War II...

 (the other such training ground was established in the Błędów Desert near Olkusz
Olkusz
Olkusz is a town in south Poland with 37,696 inhabitants . Situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship , previously in Katowice Voivodeship , it is the capital of Olkusz County...

). At the same time the area became part of the so-called Pomeranian Rampart, a line of almost 1000 concrete bunkers guarding the pre-war Polish-German border and eastern approaches to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

.

In September 1939 in the military barracks
Barracks
Barracks are specialised buildings for permanent military accommodation; the word may apply to separate housing blocks or to complete complexes. Their main object is to separate soldiers from the civilian population and reinforce discipline, training and esprit de corps. They were sometimes called...

 a German POW camp was established for Polish soldiers, as well as as for Russian, French and Jugoslavian POWs-Stalag 302, where more than 30,000 were murdered. Later it became an oflag
Oflag
An Oflag was a prisoner of war camp for officers only, established by the German Army in both World War I and World War II in accordance with the requirements of the Geneva Convention ....

. See main article Oflag II-D
Oflag II-D
Oflag II-D was a World War II German prisoner-of-war camp located at Gross Born, Pomerania...

.
After January 22, 1945, the Pomeranian Rampart lines of defences around Gross-Born were manned by local artillery school NCOs
Non-commissioned officer
A non-commissioned officer , called a sub-officer in some countries, is a military officer who has not been given a commission...

 and local fighting for the area started. Actual engagements with the Polish Army and the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

 started in early February and lasted for more than a month. The town however was located behind the lines and survived the war almost undamaged.

After the war, the area of two military bases and the town itself was taken by the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

. There the Soviet military established one of the biggest military camps of the Northern Group of Forces
Northern Group of Forces
The Northern Group of Forces was the military formation of the Soviet Army stationed in Poland from the end of Second World War in 1945 until 1993 when they were withdrawn in the aftermath of the fall of Soviet Union...

. The town was excluded from Polish jurisdiction and erased from all maps, even though officially part of the People's Republic of Poland
People's Republic of Poland
The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...

. In official documents of the surrounding communes, the area of former Gross-Born and the surrounding 180 km² were called forest areas and remained a secret for almost 50 years. and after World War II it remained in Soviet hands, as a military base.

Following the peaceful change of political system in Poland in 1989, an agreement was finally reached to withdraw the occupying Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

 from Poland. The last of the large Russian units, the 15,000 men strong Soviet 15th Guards Division (then renamed to Vitebsk-Novgorod Division of the Russian Federation) was withdrawn from Borne Sulinowo in October 1992. The town became a part of Poland.

It was briefly controlled by the Polish Army, with a small contingent of the Polish 41st Mechanized Regiment stationed there. However, 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. On September 15 of the same year the Council of Ministers granted the town with a city charter and a process of settlement started. Among the first inhabitants of the town were Polish repatriates from Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...

 and Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...

, who were finally allowed to return to Poland after more than 50 years of forcible resettlement in Soviet Union.

International Gathering Of Military Vehicles

Since 2004, Borne Sulinowo has hosted the International Gathering of Military Vehicles (Międzynarodowy Zlot Pojazdów Militarnych). The event takes place over one weekend in August and has slowly grown into a general gathering of military enthusiasts and history buffs, with live concerts and cavalry shows for entertainment. The event offers attendees a chance to ride in a variety of vehicles, including tanks. Military surplus and historical items are sold in the bazaar. Many individuals choose to camp on-premises for the duration, and a large number wear military uniforms from different countries and time periods - World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 being the most popular.

Twin towns — Sister cities

Borne Sulinowo is twinned
Town twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...

 with:
Pszczyna
Pszczyna
Pszczyna is a town in southern Poland with 26,827 inhabitants within the immediate gmina rising to 50,121 inhabitants in the powiat, which includes the town of Pszczyna, itself, Brzeźce , Czarków , Ćwiklice , Jankowice , Łąka , Piasek , Poręba , Rudołtowice , Studzionka , Studzienice , Wisła...

, Ralsko, Krien
Krien
Krien is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany....


External links



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