Stara Kuźnia, Opole Voivodeship


Stara Kuźnia is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Bierawa, within Kędzierzyn-Koźle County, Opole Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It lies approximately east of Bierawa, south-east of Kędzierzyn-Koźle, and south-east of the regional capital Opole.
Before 1945 the area was part of Germany.
The village has a population of 691.
During the Second World War the village, then known as Klein Althammer, was the base for a working party of British and Commonwealth prisoners of war, under the administration of Stalag VIIIB/344 at Łambinowice in Poland. In January 1945, as the Soviet armies resumed their offensive and advanced into Germany, the prisoners were marched westward in the so-called Long March or Death March. Many of them died from the bitter cold and exhaustion. The lucky ones got far enough to the west to be liberated by the allied armies after some four months of travelling on foot in appalling conditions.

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