Fort VII

Toruń is surrounded by 15 forts dating back to the late 1800's.  According to my source (wikipedia) they were built by the Kingdom of Prussia to defend the eastern Prussian border against the Russians.

Today, desperately in need of exercise and looking for something to do, I took a walk to Fort VII.  It's only 40 minutes walk from Długa and easy enough to find down a couple of main roads through the forest.  The walk reminded me that it's still winter in Poland - the weather has been disappointingly warm since Christmas, but I had a few near misses on some of the icy paths and some of them I found completely impossible to walk on.  It was pretty though.

Fort VII was intended to be one of the major artillery forts of the 15, but unfortunately it became the site of the execution of over 1,500 Poles by the Gestapo in the Second World War (Oct 39–Jan 40).  The 'Wall of Death' still stands, the thick red brick walls are charred and full of huge holes where people were lined up and shot.  It was eerie and uncomfortable as all remnants of the brutality of WWII are, the reality of it really smacks you in the face.  The memorial plaque was a mess, candles and flowers were broken and strewn all over the place.  I really hope that the bad weather was responsible for the mess and I spent some time tidying up as best I could.  

I walked around the ruins of the fort trying to find my way back to the main road, concious that the sun had already started going down.  I finally found a road and guessed the direction to take, thankfully I was right.  I walked past a couple of old ladies on my way home and thought about the things they must have seen in their lifetimes, reminded that history for me is still experience for others.  Lest we forget.