Shadows of the past in scenic Polish Masuria province By Reino Gevers

Deutsche Presse Agentur
Published: Monday August 28, 2006

By Reino Gevers, Ketrzyn, Poland- Poland's Masuria province with its countless natural lakes, unspoilt forests and rolling hillsides is one of Europe's finest natural attractions. However the area, once part of Prussia, also reveals many shadows of the past. It was in this easternmost region of the Third Reich that Adolf Hitler set up his military headquarters and planned "Operation Barbarossa," the codename for the invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941.

What was once part of Germany was ceded to Poland at the end of World War II. Germans, who had not yet fled to the West after the Russian invasion, were forced to leave. Cities, towns and villages were renamed from German into Polish, such as the town of Rastenburg which is now known as Ketrzyn.

Situated in the vicinity of Orzysz, on the Ublik lakeside, is a manor house where Hitler resided from March to May 1941, working out the last details of "Operation Barbarossa."

Later Hitler's feared SS guards moved into the house that for centuries had been run by the Kullak-Ublik family offering many cultural attractions. At the end of the war the house was burned down by the Russians.

It was rebuilt in the 1970s and today the Hotel Ublik offers rooms at modest prices including the use of canoes, rowing boats and bicycles. The graves of members of the Kullak-Ublik family can still be seen on the property.

Local legend claims that the Amber Room, which was removed by the Nazis from Catherine Palace near Saint Petersburg, has been sunk in Lake Ublik. Whether the tale has been invented to lure curious tourists is a moot point. The lake with the surrounding dark forests has a mysterious aura about it.

In the forests to the east of the town of Ketrzyn, the former Rastenburg, the ruins of the "Wolfsschanze" (Wolf's Lair) are today a major tourist attraction. The bunker wartime military headquarters of the Nazis were blown up by the retreating Germans in 1945.

Today a monument marks the site where Count Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg attempted to assassinate the Nazi leader on July 22, 1944.

The massive concrete bunker, where Hitler consulted with his generals, is covered with green algae and moss. It is difficult to imagine that Hitler spent over 800 days here during the war. Birch trees sprout from some of the cracks in the concrete walls that resulted from the massive explosives triggered by the retreating German army. Hitler had ordered that the bunkers be demolished, fearing they would fall into the hands of the Russians.

Another popular tourist attraction is Sztynort, formerly known as Steinort, in the north of the Great Masurian lakes. Since the early 16th century the estate was owned by the famous Prussian aristocratic family, the Lehndorfs. The last owner, Heinrich Graf von Lehndorf, was killed by the Nazis in September 1944 for being a member of the July 20 plot against Hitler.

Before the war Steinort was one of the finest estates of East Prussia with many artists, writers and philosophers including Immanuel Kant coming to visit. Behind the castle estate the Lehndorf family maintained a 16-hectare park including 300 400-year-old oak trees, a chapel and a teahouse. The estate was occupied by the Red Army until 1947 and for several years after the war served as the administrative headquarters of a state-owned Polish agricultural enterprise.

Today the once proud Baroque castle complex is in a state of bad decay and can only be seen from the exterior. The windows have been sealed with plastic sheets, plaster is peeling from the fading yellow walls. The teahouse still has signs of the bullets fired into it by Russian soldiers but it is surrounded by weed and undergrowth, like most of the once-lovely park.

But there are signs that Steinort is regaining some of its past glory. Always a place clouded in local myth and legend, the peninsular bridge leading to the estate offers some of the most fantastic views in Masuria.

Some of the smaller exterior stone buildings are being renovated, closely resembling their original state and will soon open as a restaurant and hotel. The hunt master's house, resembling a Swiss chalet, is close to completion, albeit at a different site in the village of Galkovo. The dismantled timber frames were repaired and the missing parts replaced.

The red rose garden in front of the castle is blooming and a pair of storks can be seen feeding their young on the rooftop nest, perhaps in a symbolic sign of hope that the estate is slowly awakening from its "Sleeping Beauty" slumber.

© 2006 DPA - Deutsche Presse-Agenteur