The Grossborn camp, opened in 1939, first held French officers. The first escape attempts were reported as early as August 1940, taking advantage of the walks outside the camp. Thus, Captain Billotte escaped on 1 February 1941 and made his way to the USSR. The sandy nature of the ground also allowed the rapid, though fragile, digging of tunnels from the barracks. Between 16 and 18 March 1942, three night-time escapes through a tunnel about a hundred metres long allowed the departure of 17 officers. Second Lieutenant André Rabin was then shot at point-blank range by the Germans as he emerged from the tunnel, which put an end to the escapes. From 14 May 1942, the French prisoners of the Grossborn camp were transferred to Oflag II-B at Arnswalde, thus exchanging with the Polish prisoners who had been held there.
Today no trace remains of the former barracks, destroyed in 1945 by Soviet troops. A route marked out with 14 explanatory panels is nevertheless offered on the grounds of the former Oflag as well as on those of the adjacent Stalag 302. The cemeteries of the Oflag and of the Stalag can be seen. At the entrance to the former camp stand a few commemorative monuments in memory of the French and Polish prisoners. In front of the Oflag cemetery, where five French officers were buried, stands a large cross, created by Zigmund Wujek, and erected at the top of three stone steps, remnants of the entrance to the first barrack A of Block IV.
Abbé Pierre Flament, a prisoner at Grossborn and then at Arnswalde, wrote a thesis on the subject: La vie à l'Oflag II-D II-B 1940-1945 (Amicale IID-IIB and CNRS). There is a veterans' association of former prisoners, still active today (Amicale des OFLAGS IIB-IID-XXIB (official site) (onlinehome.fr)). Trips to the sites are regularly organised.