A town wrestles with its dark past: Nazis and Soviets

Pedestrians in the former Soviet city of Borne Sulinowo, Poland on March 30, 2023. When the town was part of Germany, Hitler visited, arriving by train in 1938 to inspect what was then a secret military training ground, set up in the forest so that Nazi commanders could furtively practice the blitzkrieg tactics that, just a year later, would plunge Poland and then the rest of Europe into World War II. [Sergey Ponomarev/The New York Times]

Set in a thick forest, ringed by limpid lakes and free of violent crime, the town of Borne Sulinowo in northwestern Poland has undeniable bucolic charm - except for the ghosts on every eerily quiet street of the Nazi and then Soviet soldiers who built it.

Governed for the past three decades by Poland, the town was controlled by and was part of Germany before World War II, seized by the Red Army in 1945 and occupied by Moscow's forces until 1992. For a time, it embraced its dark side, eager to attract visitors and money to a forlorn and formerly forbidden zone so secret it did not appear on maps.

Military re-enactors, including enthusiasts from Germany and Russia, visited each year to stage a parade, dressed in Soviet and Nazi uniforms, which are banned from public display in Germany.

A Polish businessperson opened the Russia Hotel, decorating it with...

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