Organizacja i przebieg repatriacji Polaków przez Szczecin z brytyjskiej strefy okupacyjnej Niemiec w latach 1945–1947

Abstract

Organization and Course of Repatriation of Poles Through Szczecin From the British Occupation Zone of Germany in 1945–1947 The article characterizes the organization and course of the return to the country of Polish repatriates from the British occupation zone in Germany through Szczecin in the first years after the end of World War II. This planned and mass operation involved thousands of Poles, especially the so-called forced laborers sent to work in the Third Reich, prisoners of war imprisoned in camps and demobilized soldiers of the Polish Armed Forces in the West. Szczecin played a special role in this proces due to its location near the border with Germany in the new geopolitical reality, its location on an important sea route to the Baltic Sea and favorable conditions for the use of road and rail communication. Not without significance was the good preparation of Stage Point No. 2 of the State Repatriation Office in the city on the Oder River, which sometimes received several thousand people a day. The author preceded analysis of the action of return of the Polish population to their homeland with information about the negotiations on this matter between the interested authorities of Great Britain, the USSR and Poland. Repatriation carried out by road, sea and rail brought significant results, as nearly 265,000 people came to Szczecin, the vast majority of whom were then transported by train to the interior of the country, where their families were already waiting. A few remained in the city, some lived in Western Pomerania, being an addition for the population consisted of settlers arriving from the East.