Pstrąże

Pstrąże([ˈpstrɔ̃.ʐɛ];German:Pstransse;Russian:Страхув) is a village in Poland that for a long time had beenabandonded,located inGmina Bolesławiec,Bolesławiec County,of theLower Silesian Voivodeship.The village is placed 20 km from the city ofBolesławiec.TheBóbrriver runs through the village. From1975 till 1998,Pstrąże was located in theJelenia Góra Voivodeship.

Pstrąże Pstransse, Strans, Strachów, Страхув
Abandoned village
Abandoned buildings in Pstrąże
Pstrąże
Coordinates:51°26′23″N15°34′29″E
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Lower Silesian
County	Bolesławiec
First mention	1305
Abandoned	1992
Population (Before 1992)
• Total	≤15,000
Time zone	UTC+1(CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2(CEST)
Vehicle registration	DBL

Dubbed the "PolishChernobyl"due to itsghost townstatus and alleged nuclear history,previously known as the "Little Soviet Union", Pstrąże became a popular destination for adventurers, scrap collectors and thieves.It has also been called the "PolishPripyat"and the" Phantom Town ".In 2016, demolition of Pstrąże's former Soviet garrison buildings began.After the signing of the Poland – United States Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement in 2019 and especially afterRussia's attack on Ukraine in 2022,preparations and construction of a garrison for US troops began.

Names

The Polish historical and present-day name isPstrąże,as well as the Germanised variantPstransse.Between 1933 and 1945, during the reign ofAdolf HitlerinNazi Germany,it held the nameStrans.Throughout the period when theSoviet Armywas stationed there, the village was namedStrachówinPolishand Страхув (Strakhuv) in Russian.

History

Origins

The first mention of Pstrąże comes from the year 1305, when it belonged to the estate of the Kliczkowskis and its name was recorded asPstransse.It is estimated that at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries, a small defensive castle stood here.In 1865, many of the village's structures were destroyed by a fire. Until the end of the 19th century, inhabitants of Pstrąże made a living by grazing cattle and sheep as well as smelting iron.

Two World Wars

In 1901, due to the creation of aproving groundinŚwiętoszów(thenNeuhammer am Queisin theGerman Empire), renovation and reconstruction efforts to turn the village into a place of use for theGerman Imperial Armybegan. Military barracks and stables were built, a railway siding was connected fromLeszno Górne,and a concrete bridge over the riverBóbrwas constructed. AfterWorld War I,the stables were converted into garages.

Toward the end ofWorld War II,during the retreat of theWehrmacht,the old bridge was blown up to prevent Soviet armies from pushing onward. Pstrąże, orStransas it was known in German at the time, was captured by theRed Armyon 10 February 1945. The place was initially inaccessible toPoleseven after theforced resettlement of Polish familiesfrom the formerPolish territories in the east,since, to make the movement of Polish civilians in the military area more difficult, the road section of the bridge had not been rebuilt.

From that point, Pstrąże was not officially listed on the maps. The military part of the city was separated from the civilian part by a wall. Everything inside the military section was kept top secret. Urban legends as well as assumptions based on partial evidence have it that the Soviet troops kept nuclear weapons in the secret section of the village.The military part was fully equipped with hangars and garages for trucks, whereas the civilian district had many amenities of a normal town: not only residential tower blocks, but also shops, a school, a cinema, a theatre, etc.

Little Soviet Union

Some of the barracks

It was mostly the following units that were stationed in Pstrąże, which became known asStrachówduring the years of thePolish People's Republic,when Poland was asatellite stateof theSoviet Union:

• 14th Heavy Artillery Brigade of thePolish People's Army(from 1948 till 1951)
• 510th Independent Training Tank Regiment (JW 74858) (in July 1989 transferred to Kamenka in theLeningrad Oblast)
• 76th Orsha Tank Regiment (JW 52801) (partly, from July 1989 to 1991, earlier in Świętoszów)
• 255th Mechanised Regiment of the Guards (JW 61412) (on 30 October 1982 transferred toVolgograd)
• 144th Mechanised Regiment (JW 61412) (from 30 October 1982 until 1992)
• 27th Mobile Missile and Technical Base (JW 81859) (until 1990)
• 8th Orsha Guard Tank Regiment (unknown period)
• Independent Repair Battalion, subordinate to command inLegnica(Military Unit 31728) (in the years 1989–1991)

Despite Strachów's relatively secret status as a zone of strategic importance, and even though it was surrounded by a series of fences with barbed wire and guard dogs, trade between Soviet soldiers and Polish locals bloomed. It became known in Polish asMały Związek Radziecki(Little Soviet Union). Poles entered side passages and used the village shops; small chocolate sweets were reportedly in great demand, as well as fuel that was cheaper and of higher quality than what was available to Polish citizens at the time, as recalled by locals.Reportedly, over 100T-72andT-64tanks were based in the military area.

Ghost town

Abandoned residential tower blocks

Until 1992 the town was occupied by theSoviet Army,but Russia continued to consider it an object of strategic importance and did not officially hand it over to Polish authorities until 1994.Over 10,000 soldiers with their families lived here before it became aghost town,with the total number of inhabitants potentially reaching up to 15,000 people.After Russian troops had completely left the village, thePolish Armybegan guarding the town on 10 April 1993 to secure the property for purposes of later settlement. In 1995, following the decision of the Head of the District Office inBolesławiec,the settlement plan was abandoned, guarding was cancelled, and the town was incorporated into the proving ground. Skeletons of the buildings were then used byGROM,the special unit of Polish commandos, for military exercises and training.Regular armed forces, the fire brigade, search and rescue, and police also trained here from time to time.However, explorers and looters visited the town too and took anything left of any value that could be sold for profit.

Finally, in October 2016, demolition of the abandoned buildings began and continued through 2017; the local authorities could no longer afford to upkeep the ruined structures, which had become dangerous to the public over time (Pstrąże had become a destination for enthusiasts ofurban explorationas well as occasional vagrants). The area is to be eventually levelled, cleaned, and allocated for new investments.

Infrastructure

Before 1992, the military area of the housing estate contained the following facilities: 8 apartment blocks, a preschool, the Eight-Year School No. 53, "Bajka" Cafe, a boiler room, a playground, and a sports ground. Strachów was part of a larger Soviet/PRLmilitary complex that stretched over 21,000 hectares (52,000 acres) of land. It consisted of: barracks for troops with numerous garages and storage areas in Pstrąże, a shelter bunker in the village ofWilkocin,thePrzemków-Trzebień proving ground, as well as an ammunition store and residential areas inTrzebień.

In Pstrąże itself, the military barracks area was made up of: houses of the officers' corps, the barracks themselves, checkpoints, a pass office, military detention area, officers' hotel, Eight-Year School No. 53 (later transferred to the estate), a football stadium, open swimming pool, Garrison House of Officers, universal store, smaller shops, warehouses, a boiler room, "Kadet" club, sports hall, ensign school, clubhouse with a library, laundry room, large kitchen building, canteens, two squares with stands, garages of tanks and other military vehicles, workshops, a green area, sports grounds, missile positions, training and staff buildings, "Monograph" Communication Node, a post office, and a health centre.

There were also a farm and a railway siding with a ramp in the village.

Monuments

Soviet memorial in Pstrąże

Another war memorial in the village

Two monuments from the Soviet era survived in the village for many years: a monumental plaque and a Victory Monument (with the image ofVladimir Lenin).

On the building of the 1st Company of the 255th Mechanised Regiment of the Guards there was a commemorative plaque with the following text: "1-я рота 255 гв. МСП в Сталинграде пленила фельдмаршала Паулюса" (1st Company of the 255th Mechanised Regiment of the Guards inStalingradcapturedField Marshal Paulus). The fate of the board today remains unknown.