In 2022, the Foundation renovated an original camp building, the POW Tin Store. The POWs had used this modest building to stockpile and ration a portion of the lifesaving food tins that came in their Red Cross parcels. What once saved the POWs’ lives will now save their remarkable history.
The renovation project--led by the Foundation, with support from the town of Szubin and the school on whose grounds the building is located--has been made possible by generous donations to the U.S. Friends of Oflag 64. Improvements included structural repairs, new HVAC and security systems, lighting, a new bathroom, and flooring. The approximately 600 square-foot space will store and exhibit our artifacts in a secure and comfortable venue.
The combination of this new exhibit space and our artifacts collection make the POW Tin Store Museum a unique destination. The Tin Store is a gem. The high quality of the building renovation, its furnishings, and the venue create a perfect first step in commemorating the history of the POW camps of Szubin.
To learn more visit the Foundation website and read our newsletter.
The Foundation is privately funded. If you’d like to donate, please visit the Friends of Oflag 64, a U.S. 501c3 non-profit.
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The museum is located in Szubin, Poland
The Foundation’s Mission
Established in November 2018, the Foundation is the result of decades of collaboration between American ex-POWs of Oflag 64 and their descendants, and Polish scholars and enthusiasts of this history. Its mission is to contribute to the knowledge of World War II by studying and commemorating the experiences of Allied prisoners-of-war held in German captivity. In addition to the history and operations of the German POW camps, its projects will focus on the thousands of POWs who the Germans incarcerated in Szubin, Poland, and the brave Polish citizens who assisted those prisoners.
One of the Foundation’s cornerstone goals is to create a museum that will convey this unique history. In 2018, the Polish State generously donated to the Municipality of Szubin a plot of land for this purpose — at the site where one of the camp’s brick barracks still stands.
The Museum will serve not only as a place to preserve the memory of the past, but also to shape the future, by organizing educational, scholarly, and cultural events, as stipulated by the Foundation’s Charter: to promote and strengthen Polish-American cultural and historical contacts, while stressing the fate of American prisoners of war incarcerated in occupied Poland during the Second World War.