Following the invasion of Poland in September 1939 Nazi Germany disbanded the Polish State Railways ( PKP ) . Polish rail officials were either executed in mass shootings or imprisoned , and some 8,000 managerial positions were staffed with German officials . Former Polish companies began producing German engines BR44 , BR50 and BR86 as early as 1940 , some using forced labor . By 1944 , the factories in Poznań and Chrzanów were producing the redesigned '' Kriegslok '' BR52 locomotives for the Eastern Front . These locomotives were made almost entirely of steel ; the use of more expensive , non-ferrous metals was dropped in view of the engines ' expected lifespan . After the war , some 1,200 class 52s remained in reconstituted Poland . Another 200 were acquired from the Soviet Union in 1962-64 . The class 52 , designated Ty2 , began to be phased out in the 1980s ; its last regular use was in 1999
executed
Intelligenzaktion
DRB Class 52