Archaeological investigation of the relics of the world war li anti-aircraft defences shelter at 50/52 Kolejowa street in Poznań

Abstract

The investigations were carried out in ac­ cordance with an order issued by the Municipal Conservator of Monuments to "fully identify and cataloguing the discovered (...) air defences shelter from the 1940s". They took place at the back of the property at 50/52 Kolejowa Street in Poznań. Exposed on a zigzag plan, the frag­ ment of the building, oriented along the NE­-SW axis, was consisted of three basie elements, i.e. a descent, a vestibule and the room for pro­tecting people from air raids. The shelter was built of prefabricated concrete elements in 1943 or at the beginning of next year. The re­scue archaeological research and cataloguing of the World War II anti-aircraft defence shelter resulted not only from the increased interest of the archaeological community in mare recent times, including those related to war accidents ("battlefield archaeology"), but also from the adoption of a new conservation doctrine man­ dating the protection and study of various ob­ jects from this period, including those of a mi­litary nature.