At the beginning of February, Stargard’s German civilian population was evacuated as the 1st Belorussian Front approached the town. At the same time, at the Yalta Conference, world leaders decided on the redrawing of borders after the war. On 5 March the Red Army entered Stargard, and on 23 March the Soviet town commandant appointed the first Polish town administration, which governed only the part of the town beyond the Ina River. The first Polish settlers arrived in Stargard, including groups of railwaymen, officials and postal workers. On 12 May the town administration took over the whole of Stargard.
The Griffin with a bunch of keys and a bundle (suitcase) symbolises the great migrations that followed the Second World War and the changes to national borders. This change of state affiliation also affected Stargard. As a result, the town’s German inhabitants had to leave, and in their place came new residents – Polish citizens who, for various reasons, including the shift of Poland’s eastern border, the loss of their homes or repatriation, were looking for a new place to live.