The camp, which was located inside the Tuchola Forest within the Wda Landscape Park, was used by the Świerki 101 unit of the Pomeranian Home Army, a brigade that achieved widespread domestic recognition for a string of successful actions against the occupying Nazis.
Among other feats, the unit—which was led by Alojzy Bruski—is credited with conducting reconnaissance missions on several V-1 and V-2 launch sites as well as attacking a hospital for Luftwaffe airmen.
Later, in October 1944, the brigade battled alongside other Home Army troops to break out of a German encirclement.
Dozens were killed escaping the entrapment, leaving Bruski with just 18 men.
Archeologist Mateusz Sosnowski told the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper: “It can be considered a success that that many men survived, and it was these 18 that most likely settled in the Tuchola Forest.”
Building a network of dugouts, the remaining partisans survived off the land, eating “what the forest provided,” as well as relying on furtive donations.
“But Pomerania was part of the Third Reich,” says Sosnowski, “so guerillas could not count on the same level of public support as in the General Government region—there were definitely far fewer people they could collaborate with.”
Hardships would increase with the onset of winter. “They lived without permanent heating, and although they probably had some stoves in their dugouts, life would not have been easy,” says Sosnowski.
“Winter meant unfavorable conditions, especially because of the risk of leaving tracks in the snow,” adds Sosnowski. “We know from other partisan accounts, when it snowed, some units did not leave their encampments for a week or even longer.”
This threat of discovery perpetually haunted what remained of Bruski’s unit. “A German anti-partisan unit was stationed just three kilometers away, and as it was known that the Red Army would soon launch an offensive, line units of Wehrmacht also began appearing in the vicinity,” says Sosnowski.
As the curtain fell on 1944, the noose tightened around Bruski’s men. “From the preserved accounts of unit veterans, we know that the partisans left this place on the night of December 29-30,” says Sosnowski.
They did so with great urgency, leaving several important items behind, including what Sosnowski suspects to be Bruski’s own personal firearm.
“It was a very unique weapon,” he says. “It was a Czech-manufactured pistol made only in 230 copies—it was probably part of the equipment of the pre-war Polish Border Guard and most likely made its way into partisan hands via clandestine channels. We can assume it was Bruski’s weapon as it was found in his dugout.”
Why Bruski left it behind is explained by the weapon’s limited production: “The partisans simply didn’t have the correct ammunition for it,” says Sosnowski.
Other items were also abandoned, including a German submachine gun most likely seized during a partisan raid, German coins and a lucky charm depicting a guardian angel.
“This medallion came from Italy, so it was possibly a souvenir from a pilgrimage,” Sosnowski theorizes. “[Bruski’s] older brother was a priest, so perhaps this was a brotherly gift.”
Also uncovered by Sosnowski and his colleague, Olaf Popkiewicz, was a sign dating from 1927 proclaiming the planting of the forest. “The pine trees here are now almost 100 years old, but when the partisans were hiding, it was just a 17-year-old grove,” says Sosnowski.
Although the landscape has matured significantly with time, Sosnowski admits that the discovery of the camp should not have come as a bombshell. “It wasn’t that well camouflaged, so I am surprised that for 80 years no one came across it,” he says.
Making this all the more remarkable is the camp’s location just 200 meters from a ‘partisan tourist trail.’
Untouched for decades, the condition of the camp has thrilled historians.
“We’ve had experience with other partisan camps in this area, but nothing was preserved,” says Sosnowski. “Here, four or five dugouts have been preserved as depressions in the ground, and although the wooden structures have been destroyed and the roofs have collapsed inwards, we can see their clear outline.”
“We also know what functions they served,” he adds. “There was most likely a kitchen in one of them and we know in which dugout the commander lived.”
However, the unit’s evacuation of the camp did not mark the end of their activities, and Bruski and his men were later involved in clashes with Soviet troops.
Later captured by the NKVD, Bruski was originally handed a ten-year prison sentence for his subversive actions. This was changed to the death penalty following the personal intervention of Bolesław Bierut, and Bruski was executed in Bydgoszcz in 1946.
While Bruski is fondly remembered by Polish history, the discovery of his former command post has raised hopes that a new memorial may be created to honor both him and his men.
“We would like to commemorate this site in some way,” says Sosnowski. “Maybe we will build a mock-up of a partisan dugout, but next to the campsite so as not to destroy the original... The cost of doing so would be low; after all, all you need is a shovel and some wood.”
