News

On the Wednesday afternoon of 4th December, a very interesting event inspired, as always in the case of the ‘Łambinowice Museum Meetings’ series, by the history of our Memorial Site, took place at the Museum in Łambinowice. This time the guest of the Museum was Daniel Podobinski, a social leader who is associated with the ‘Niemodlin Forest Partnership’ Association, and who have been collaborating with us on different occasions. The title of the meeting was ‘Outlawed. The Souslik at the military training ground in Lamsdorf ’.

The meeting was opened by the director of the Museum, Dr. Violetta Rezler-Wasielewska. The speaker introduced the guests to the world of nature, which has always been an inseparable part of the area, where from the second half of the 19th century there was a Prussian, and later a German, military training ground and camps for prisoners-of-war and, on a much smaller scale, for civilians. The animal featured in the lecture was the European ground squirrel (souslik), a species which, although it was found in large numbers in the area, became completely extinct after the Second World War.

Daniel Podpobiński explained the characteristics of the species and how the living conditions of the sousliks were changing in the area of the training ground, as well as how and why the creatures were exterminated by the authorities of the training ground, also by means of science. The lecture was accompanied by an interesting presentation showing this interesting animal, the harmful activities of which are now being denied by scientists and whose reintroduction is being carried out in nearby Kamień Śląski. The lecture concluded with information about a small rodent currently to be found in Łambinowice: the European edible dormouse. Its population is also being successively reintroduced. For a change - mainly in north-western Poland.

When the guest concluded his speech, we were left with the universal reflection that the history of the European ground squirrel and the European edible dormouse is a perfect example of how human activity affects nature. However, it is good to know that thanks to the commitment of naturalists and enthusiasts, there is hope that these two species will settle in their natural environment for good.

The official part of the meeting was closed by Dr. Violetta Rezler-Wasielewska, who invited the audience to attend the museum meeting in next year (we will meet for the first time on 5 March 2025). In addition, the Museum Director reiterated the request expressed in the media for vigilance and assistance to the police in connection with acts of theft and vandalism in the vicinity of the Monument to the Martyrdom of Prisoners-of-War and the adjacent necropolis.