Tin Store Capital Campaign 2025

 a. Between now and opening, we estimate around $90,000-100,000 depending on the exchange rate with the Polish Zloty. Our fundraising goal is $100,000. If you’ve ever been through a construction project, you know that costs and needs can change. Our projected expenses to finish are itemized below in Question 5.

b. Since 2021, we have accomplished the following:

i. Renovated the Tin Store building (electrical, insulation, climate, security, plumbing, etc) and added overhead lighting appropriate for a museum. See its before and after photos here. 

ii. We have worked with a museum designer and fabricator to design and plan customized exhibit and multimedia spaces. A team of experts and historians has curated the artifacts and written the exhibit narrative in Polish and English. Visit the Foundation website here for the artistic renderings of the Tin Store. 

Each section of the exhibit will be named by a $10,000 donation. If you have questions about a specific section and its artifacts or narrative, please email us at Office@FriendsOfOflag64.org. We will answer via email or we would also be glad to schedule a Zoom or phone call with you to show you more pictures.  

EXHIBIT SECTION 1:  Overview of POW Camps in Szubin 1939-1945

DESCRIPTION: Summary of the period between the world wars,   how the German POW camps were organized generally, and around Szubin specifically. The different nationalities of the 1000s of POWs who were held in Szubin throughout WWII. Also includes maps of all the camps. 

HIGHLIGHTED ARTIFACTS: POW watercolors and drawings of camp buildings. Photos, including one of the POW Tin Store, circa 1941.

EXHIBIT SECTION 2:  Contact with the Outside World

DESCRIPTION: How the POWs kept in contact with family,   friends, their governments, and welfare organizations. Essential to their   mental and physical survival.

HIGHLIGHTED ARTIFACTS: POW letters; Red Cross crate; photos from Red Cross visits. Audio station to listen to 1944 YMCA recordings of the POWs.

EXHIBIT SECTION 3:  Germans

DESCRIPTION: Who were the officers and enlisted men who   ran the camps and guarded the prisoners, how they spent their time, and their relations with the POWs

HIGHLIGHTED ARTIFACTS:  Photos; Christmas watercolor by a German guard; original Szubin barbed wire. 

EXHIBIT SECTION  4:  Spiritual Life

DESCRIPTION:  Like Contact with the Outside World, an essential element of survival for many of the men: how the men practiced   their religions

HIGHLIGHTED ARTIFACTS:  Photos and POW watercolor of the chapel inside the barbed wire; POW prayer books inspected by guards. Audio station with POW   choir.

EXHIBIT SECTION 5:  Struggling with the Monotony of Camp Life

DESCRIPTION:  The many surprising activities that kept the men physically and mentally fit: academics, sports, the arts, to name a few.

HIGHLIGHTED ARTIFACTS:  Photos of activities. Handmade “Oflag Olympics” medal; programs from performances; POW handiwork.

EXHIBIT SECTION 6:  Barbed-Wire Publications

DESCRIPTION:  A description of the various POW publications   throughout the Reich, with a focus on the publications of Oflag 64: The Item and The Daily Bulletin.

HIGHLIGHTED ARTIFACTS:  Issues of the Oflag 64 Item. POW drawing of reading in barracks. Multimedia screen looped display of selected issues of The Daily Bulletin.

EXHIBIT SECTION 7:   Escapes & Other Clandestine Activity

DESCRIPTION:  Digging tunnels, bribing guards, maintaining secret radios, plus a look at the brave Polish civilians who helped the POWs.

HIGHLIGHTED ARTIFACTS:  Button compasses; coded letters; escape map.

EXHIBIT SECTION 8:  Bearing Witness to the Site of the Katyń Massacre

DESCRIPTION:  Lt. Col. John VanVliet and Capt. Donald Stewart  sent coded messages out of Oflag 64 confirming that the Soviets were   responsible for the Katyń Massacre. The history was stifled for decades. The   stunning details of their visit to Katyń and their communications are   described here. 

HIGHLIGHTED ARTIFACTS:  Copies of coded letters.

EXHIBIT SECTION 9:  Living Conditions

DESCRIPTION:  Shortages of clothing, food, heat, and  medical care. How the resourceful POWs endured their time in captivity.

HIGHLIGHTED ARTIFACTS:  Actual German brown bread; slipper and scarf made by POW; uniform replicas; multiple photos and POW drawings of everyday life. Multimedia screen loop of POW sketches of fellow prisoners

EXHIBIT SECTION 10:   End of Captivity

DESCRIPTION:  On January 21, 1945, the Germans marched most of the Oflag 64 POWs out of Szubin. For the next four months, the POWs endured an array of experiences and chaos to find their ways home. 

HIGHLIGHTED ARTIFACTS:  Photos and POW sketches of the last days and Long March; Soviet artifacts; POW journal entries.

1. Thank you!  There are two alternative avenues: 

a.. Put together a GROUP of donors to create one $10,000 donation bundle. Perhaps it’s you and your family, to honor your family’s POW. Or, maybe a group of you from Ohio, or New York, or the great state of Texas. Or, a group who has a connection with POWs who shared an experience like the Oflag 64 Orchestra, the ice hockey team, the Long March, or they shared a barracks or a mess group. 

i. If this option is of interest to you, please collect all your donors’ checks in advance. Then,  send them together—in one envelope-- to the Friends of Oflag 64. We want to be sure everyone is assigned to the right bundle. 

ii. Naming opportunities along these lines could be, but are not limited to: 

  1. In honor of the Oflag 64 POWs of the 168th Infantry

  2. In honor of the Oflag 64 Glee Club

  3. In honor of Oflag 64 POW Joe Smith, father, grandfather, uncle, friend. 

b. All donations are welcome. All funds are appreciated. See the donor form here.

c. All donations must be postmarked by May 8, 2025 to be considered part of the Capital Campaign 2025

1. Sections are first come first served, by May 8, 2025. Sections will only be assigned after the complete $10,000 amount is received. When you fill out your donor form, please rank your sections. We will do our best to match everyone to their #1 choice. If we can’t, we will contact you to discuss options. In the meantime, if you have questions, please email us at  Office@FriendsOfOflag64.org. 

 Here are our spending projections (in USD $) as of 3/15/2025:

Feb/Mar: Misc. Printings:  Photos, diaries, etc.                                                   $2860

Mar/Apr: Translations.                                                                                               $530

               Preparation of multimedia for exhibition.                                             $1,820

May/June: Adjusting/Adding Security Cameras.                                               $2,080

                    Customized Displays (Special Holders for artifacts.                     $9,100

                    Multimedia Final Payment.                                                              $10,610

                   Website design and launch.   $910

                   Other costs for exhibit (hotel/transportation for installers.          $6,500

                   Disposal of waste.                                                                                $1,040

July/August:  Littera Contractor-Final Payment.                                             $29,334

                         Catalogue.                                                                                     $10,400

Aug/September:  Bronze model.                                                                          $4,680

                                Museum Designer.                                                                $12,447

Oct/Nov:  Opening Event.                                                                                       $7,800

                                                                                                                     Total: $100,110