The dismantling and removal of railway lines by Soviet Red Army troops on present-day Polish territory, 1944–1948

Abstract

Adjustment of transport networks is relatively common after the establishment of new international boundaries. This paper examines a more immediate and devastating change – the deliberate dismantling of railway lines and equipment by Soviet Red Army troops on present-day Polish territory (1944–1948), and their removal to the Soviet Union as war-booty. Severe wartime damage suffered by Poland was augmented by devastation at the hands of the trofeynye batalyony (trophy battalions) entering Polish territory in parallel with the movement of the front line, and destroying or dismantling all lootable railway infrastructure and rolling stock. Few traces of what had existed remain, with the obvious exceptions of embankments and cuttings. An information base on the location and scale of the railway network destruction and complete or partial dismantling is compiled by cartographic analysis, literature studies and extensive fieldwork. Reasons are given for the devastation and some of the transport effects are considered. The utilisation of former railway land is also discussed.