Description

Stettin was German until April 26, 1945 when the Soviet Red Army seized the city. Many of the city's inhabitants fled and it was virtually deserted after its capture. In the following month the city was handed over to Polish administration three times, eventually permanently on July 5, 1945. In the mean time, part of the 1939 German population of 380,000 had returned, as it was unclear if the city would be awarded to Poland, or be in the Soviet occupation zone in Germany. Stettin is located mostly west of Oder-Neisse line, which was to be Poland's new border according to Potsdam Conference. However, most of Pomerania, including all of Stettin and the mouth of the Oder River, was eventually given to Poland and the German population was expelled. The German Stettin is gone forever.

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