Tuchola Forest - History

History

During the German Empire era, Truppenübungsplatz Gruppe (now pl:Grupa) was a military exercise area in which medical research was conducted, leading to publication of the name in scientific reports of the early 20th century. During World War I, pacifist doctor Georg Friedrich Nicolai was banned from Berlin to the remote area which had to be ceded in 1919 to Poland as a result of the Treaty of Versailles.

In 1939, during the Invasion of Poland at the very beginning of World War II, the major Battle of Tuchola Forest was fought in the area. Soon, the former military test area was occupied again by German troops, and called Truppenübungsplatz Westpreußen, or by its code name, „Heidekraut“.

Between August 1944 and January 1945, SS troops under Hans Kammler and Walter Dornberger carried out extensive tests of the A-4 missiles (V-2 rockets), after the test site near Blizna was discovered by the Home Army and then bombed by the Allies. Approximately 107 missiles were fired, in southbound direction, for tests and training purposes. In January 1945 the site had to be evacuated before the Red Army offensive overran the area.

After World War II the forest was a safe haven for many anti-communist partisans, among them Zygmunt Szendzielarz.