INFORMATION PORTAL OF THE MARSHAL'S OFFICE OF THE KUJAWSKO-POMORSKIE Region IN TORUŃ

Marshal Piotr Całbecki, Vice-Marshal Zbigniew Ostrowski, Regional Executive Board Member Marek Wojtkowski, and President of the Regional Parliament Elżbieta Piniewska took part on Monday (August 25) in the opening of the exhibition “Pomorskie Roads of Resistance. In Defense of Polish Identity 1939–1945”. The exhibition presents discoveries related to the activities of the Home Army (Armia Krajowa) in Pomorze and displays unique memorabilia – personal belongings and military equipment of the “Świerki 101” partisan unit, which in 1944 was stationed in what is now Wdecki Landscape Park.

 

“Our land still hides many secrets,” emphasized Marshal Piotr Całbecki. “It is important that not only academic institutions, but also enthusiasts working in other organizations, become engaged in uncovering history.”

 

During the vernissage, Regional Parliament President Elżbieta Piniewska said:

“I would like to treat this exhibition as homework – for us and for all visitors. It is an invitation to deepen our knowledge and to discover what unites history, nature, and culture.”

 

Exhibition curator Mateusz Sosnowski, a cultural heritage specialist at Wdecki Landscape Park, highlighted that the display shows the dramatic fate of Pomerania’s inhabitants during World War II.

 

“The starting point was the discoveries from December last year, when together with archaeologist Olaf Popkiewicz we found the camp of the ‘Świerki 101’ unit. In the display cases, you can see, among other things, partisan weapons – a true rarity.”

 

Also present at the vernissage were exhibition author and curator Mateusz Sosnowski, archaeologist Olaf Popkiewicz, director of Wdecki Landscape Park Daniel Siewert, and director of the Nicolaus Copernicus Regional Library (Książnica Kopernikańska) Danetta Ryszkowska-Mirowska. Among the guests were also Vice-President of the Regional Parliament Katarzyna Lubańska and Regional Councillors Michał Czepek, Robert Malinowski, Anna Niewiadomska, Tadeusz Pogoda, Wojciech Szczęsny, Sławomir Kopyść, and Jacek Woźny.

 

The exhibition consists of ten panels and display cases featuring artifacts found during field research. Visitors can see, among others, a rifle, a revolver, and a medallion depicting the Holy Family and the Guardian Angel, which researchers believe belonged to the unit’s commander, Lieutenant Alojzy Bruski “Grab.” In the coming months, the exhibition will also be displayed in the corridors of the Polish Parliament.

 

Also featured is a Czech pistol once used by the Polish Border Guard before the war.

 

“This is a weapon that could have reached Bruski’s hands back in Tczew, where the Border Guard inspectorate was located,” explained archaeologist Olaf Popkiewicz.

 

Research in Wdecki Landscape Park has uncovered the remains of five dugouts where Home Army soldiers lived 80 years ago. There, everyday objects and elements of weaponry have been preserved – testimony to the dramatic events of the night of December 29/30, 1944, when, under German assault, the partisans were forced to abandon their camp by the Sobińska Struga stream.

 

The exhibition was prepared in cooperation between Wdecki Landscape Park and the Regional Public Library – Nicolaus Copernicus Library in Toruń.

 

Beata Krzemińska
Spokesperson of the Marshal’s Office

 

August 25, 2025
Last update: August 26, 2025