Everyone would scramble for what they could get. Most prisoners were used in coal mining work in the Ruhr valley. This is a good read. It then it became Oflag XXI-B for French and British Commonwealth officers, subsequently for Soviet officers until June 1943. Dulag Luft or Durchgangslager der Luftwaffe (transit camp of the Luftwaffe) These were transit camps for Airforce POWs. On 14th September, German troops arrived to escort the prisoners northwards, to captivity in Germany, but not before hundreds of them had escaped into the hills. Although designated as a POW camp, this appears like many mainly Soviet POW camps to actually be a slave labour camp. Capt E.W. The camp was organised into huts about 40 yards long and 8 yards wide. After the war it was used for interned prisoners of the defeated regime. The workers who constructed the original buildings were housed in camps near Fallingbostel and Bergen, the latter being the so-called Bergen-Belsen Army Construction Camp. In March 1945 a large group of prisoners arrived in deplorable condition after marching the 500 miles from Stalag VIII-D in severe winter conditions. Located at Hadamar, near Limburg an der Lahn in western Germany. The Canadian Red Cross reported assembling and shipping nearly 16,500,000 food parcels during the Second World War, at $47,529,000. Michael Wilding, Drama, War. The camp then served as a British detention centre for ex-Nazis, before finally closing in mid-1947. There were as many as 700 different work parties (Arbeitskommando) to various factories and other locations from this camp. For further information on war crimes see related research guides. Another tunnel built by Norwegian prisoners was discovered before its completion. From the end of February 1944 until 18 June 1944 the castle was used as an internment camp for Jews and political prisoners, sent there for their own safety by the Fascist Prefect of Perugia Armando Rocchi, who was under German instructions to send them instead to a concentration camp at Fosssoli, Carpi di Modena. Sessue Hayakawa, Votes: The first contained Allied prisoners in unsatisfactory conditions, but generally in compliance with the International Red Cross Convention. By the spring of 1942 an estimated 18,000 had died of hunger and disease, mainly typhus fever. George Segal, The history of this camp began in the area called "Il Pollino" that belonged to the Ravano family (ex Gherardesca) and, at the beginning of 1940, was used as a prison camp for POWs. Stalag II-D Stargard Pomerania, Prussia Location N/E 53-15. -Also known as Stalag 344, Stalag IV b/z and Stalag VIII-b. Stalag X-B Sandbostel Schleswig Location N/E 53-09. Those who fell to the side of the road were rumored to have been shot, but were more likely to have been loaded onto the dead cart at the end of the column used to carry the dead, dying, and sick all piled into the cart together and carried to the next stopping point. In reality, overall victory in Italy took far longer than anticipated. Some of the first escapees were recaptured and returned to the camp before the escape had even been discovered by the camp authorities. The escape committee were supplied with full detailed survey and building plans of the castle by SOE during the war, these were better and far more detailed than the Germans had themselves! We are particularly interested in lists of names and individual photographs, letters and diaries of this period. The Germans complied, selecting what was originally a small Luftwaffe training camp consisting of six barracks and a small airfield at Westertimke. that had been held in Italian prisoner of war camps were transferred to Oflag IV-D. Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall. Their disappearance went unnoticed the next day, so the next night another group escaped, a total of 132 men altogether. Raffaella Carr, The Geneva convention comprised a few other agreements made concerning Prisoners of war, notably the Hague regulations of 1899 and 1907 and the pre-war version which was initially signed on July 27th 1929. Opened 12/44, this is possibly either a redesignated Oflag IIa or a sub camp of Oflag IIa. BAB -Bau-und Arbeits Battalion (construction battalion). During Word War II, American author Agnes Newton Keith is imprisoned by the Japanese in various POW camps in North Borneo and Sarawak. The Soviets handed out some of the Red cross parcels stockpiled here and the water supply had been cut off by 1st May. As a sub-camp of Ilag VII, it was designated Ilag VII/Z. They also organized the dates of escapes so that one group did not interfere with another. The camp was eventually dissolved, and its attendees were sent to fight on the Eastern Front, or interned in concentration camps after 1943. After some time the officers were separated out and placed initially in the garages of the adjoining German Army armoured division. Any man who stepped between the wire and the fence was shot on sight. Camp closed following a mass breakout of POWs after the armistice. They document the German accounts of the escapes and create a fascinating comparison to the subsequent MI9 escape reports in series WO 208, which were compiled when the individuals made it safely to neutral and Allied territory. By 1941 a theatre had been built. During the Second World, War Oflag IV-C, situated in the thousand-year-old Colditz Castle, was one of the most famous German Army prisoner-of-war camps for enemy officers. Sylt camp held Jewish enforced labourers. The Czech people in the villages and towns, through which they passed, passed food and clothing to them. The next day, 28 April, the column finally arrived at Lubeck on the Baltic coast. The POWs were only in this camp for about a week; when lagers A and B from Stalag Luft IV were taken out on their final march, this time east. They were moved to a different location closer to Cuxhaven, to Westertimke, in 1942. Further back stands a stone structure enclosing the toilets. All PW camps in Italy had postal marks which indicated the central postal reception area for the camps mail, several camps could (and did) have the same code as it was area based. Location lists and additional aerial photographs of POW camps in Germany, Italy and Occupied Europe, including reports on transfers, are in AIR 14/1235-1240, and similar documentation on German camps occurs in AIR 40/227-231. The camp was opened in September 1940 on what had been originally intended to be a military airfield. On the prisoners' side of the fence, a wire ran parallel with the fence, staked to the ground approximately ten feet from the fence, six to eight inches above the ground. Sep 13, 2016 Boban Docevski. On December 1, 1941 the prisoner count was: 1664 Poles, 18,210 French, 2,871 Belgian, 2,459 British, 5,361 Serbians, 9,271 Soviets. Most of them headed south, towards Switzerland, sleeping by day and travelling by night. Stalag XVIII-B Spittal Drau Opened March 1941. Contents of these packages were sometimes pilfered by German guards or other camp personnel, especially toward the end of the war. The Histories of Auschwitz IG Farben Werk Camps 1941-45- Piotr Setkiewicz [see here]. May 1940: The camp was built to house Belgian and French enlisted men captured in the Battle of France; initial count: 600. At one time, they travelled 40 miles, only advancing a few. A very unique window into WWII, as well as into prison life. The end of the book explains what happened to a lot of the people featured in the book. Opened originally in January1942, 93other ranks were reported here on December30th 1942.. On reaching the UK, Fowler was promoted to squadron leader and posted to the Armament Test Squadron at Boscombe Down to act as a test pilot. An excellent book by Major Pantcheff Alderney Fortress Island is recommended reading for more information. OFLAG VIIIe Johannisbrunn/Troppau, Poland. Part of one barrack was set aside for use as a chapel. It had the reputation of being one of the worst Stalags, especially when it was overcrowded in 1945. In June 1940 additional forts were added to the camp to accommodate British soldiers. A camp history is in WO 208/3270. Located at Lichterfelde-Sud in the south west of Berlin also known as Steglitz-Berlin. The largest population present within the camp was Soviet, followed by the French, Belgian, Dutch, British and Commonwealth, Italian, and American prisoners were also present in large numbers. David McCallum, Also, individuals were allowed to bring to official notice any other matters, such as courageous acts by fellow prisoners or details of civilians who assisted them during escape and evasion activities. Home organisations and families could also send parcels either directly or by organisations set up to aid POWS via the Red Cross containing all manner of items from sports and games to books and some clothing. Here, the International Committee of the Red Cross arranged for their shipment to POW camps and other detention centres throughout Europe. At the peak there were about 10,000 prisoners at the camp. Discover Colditz Castle in Colditz, Germany: An officers prison camp believed to be impregnable by the Germans saw over 30 successful escapes. 1,788 officers and 50,785 other rank POWs with 13,39 British kept here. After ten days they arrived at Frankenberg, but were challenged by soldiers suspicious of their uniforms. At first French, and then British officers were housed there. Adventure, Drama, War. Prisoners of the castle. During World War II, The British Joint War Organisation sent standard food parcels, invalid food parcels, medical supplies, educational books and recreational materials to prisoners of war worldwide. Some notifications of deaths of POWs during the Second World War are included in RG 32. A SHAEF report mentioned this camp was moved to the former Stalag XVIII a/z Spittal by Train in February 1945. Government Licence v3.0, except where otherwise stated. Several escape tunnels were dug from Milag. By early 1945 the number of POWs held in the camp reached over 5,000. Every evening the guards would dump out the meal for the day on the muddy earth. Opened 02/41 Closed 10/44 - mostly French officers. Most of the men were moved by train to Stalag XX-A in West Prussia, but some 900 were taken to the port of Memel, where they were put aboard the merchant ship Insterburg for a 60-hour journey to Swinemnde. Cigarettes in the parcels became the preferred medium of exchange within most camps, cigarettes were also used to bribe German guards to provide the prisoners with outside items that would otherwise have been unavailable to them. Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training. Opened September 1939 Closed August 1st 1940. By the middle of June only Soviet prisoners remained, these were eventually exchanged for British and American POWs in Soviet hands, near Graz. A contagious disease ward type hospital named Leipzig Wahren Lazarett belonging to this camp was situated close to the local gas works and railway station & consisted of 2 long stone buildings. Escapes assisted by Yugoslav Partisans became increasingly common, with most escapers being led south to the Partisan base and airfield at Semic in Bela Krajina. They were liberated by the British 11th Armoured Division on 1 May 1945. Near to the Main Leipzig Railway station with 25 patients. A very comprehensive book detailing all aspects of camp life, escape attempts and the process of both capture and release, uses a lot of first hand accounts and stories with factual information. In June 1943 it was renamed Stalag Luft VI and used to hold British and Canadian Air Force NCOs, and from February 1944, also Americans. In 1942 a large camp (Stalag 323) was built for Soviet prisoners, it was located at the other end of the training ground. 00:00. In December 1943 James slipped out of the shower block, but was arrested at the port of Lbeck. In 1944, as forced labour by concentration camp prisoners became increasingly important in armaments production, a Focke-Wulf aircraft factory was constructed at Stutthof. Stalag 316 Wolknowysk (Vawkavysk, Belarus). Interesting new book looking at the history of Colditz when it was home to various different POW's during WW2 and the characters involved some well known others not so. Author Ben MacIntyre brings the drama into high relief in Prisoners of the Castle, a nonfiction rendering of life in the most famous of the nearly one hundred WWII Nazi POW camps. Lists of Royal Navy personnel interned in enemy camps may be found in many of the files in ADM 1 (code 79) and ADM 116 (code 79), although the exact files are not identifiable from our catalogue. An area of about five acres gave adequate space for exercise, though the continued wet winter weather converted it into a quagmire. In 1940 the Poles were joined by Belgian and French prisoners, and by Soviets in 1941. In January 1943 the camp at Spittal became a Zweiglager ("Sub-camp") of Wolfsberg, and was redesignated as Stalag XVIII-A/Z. Clothing was misfit being the most dominant, gathered from what they could; the German government provided no clothing. Paul Chapman, Neave and a Dutch officer, Lieutenant Luteyn, were the first of the two pairs to leave and successfully reached Switzerland. John Mills, Your email address will not be published. Littledale KIA: August 1944. The camp, a former spa hotel, was opened in July 1940 and housed approximately 70 Allied generals and their aides. POWs worked in Lodz city. The other four escapers were recaptured close to Colditz. Stalag IV-D Torgau (Elbe) Sachsen, Prussia Location N/E 51-13. In March 1943 a Lazarett ("Camp Hospital") was built there. It is now known as Sankt Johann im Pongau. In July 1941 a group of officer-cadets were brought from Stalag II-A. There is no overcrowding and the rooms are not so large that they become noisy when filled with prisoners. Prisoners lived in many of the 50 basement rooms of the brick built redoubt, with 30-46 beds per room. Other ranks lived 18 to a tent (made of Italian groundsheets), slept on duck-boards with straw mattresses and two Italian blankets each, and had regular though not always sufficient rations. Lager Helgoland was filled with Soviet Organisation Todt workers. A SHAEF report dated 10/2/45 reports these 2 camps marching westwards, location was 52N 14E. They successfully hid in one box-car full of boxes. Army medical units were detached to deliver medical attention. He had broken an ankle in jumping from the moving truck. In Germany, only those POWs from Britain, France, the Low Countries, the US, the Commonwealth and a few selected other countries were treated with any reference to the Geneva Convention's rules. In order to accommodate them the entire population of Marlag "M" were moved into "O". Alec Guinness, Drama, History, War. J.W. The main camp was in Malschbach in Baden-Baden and was founded in November 1939. sub camps were at Wildbad and Stransbourg. For Royal Air Force personnel details can include: where based, type of aircraft, when, where and how the aircraft was lost, and the presumed fate of the other aircrew. From the port of disembarkation prisoners of war went to transit camps in the south of Italy. We offer the services of a professionally accredited researcher who visits the archives daily, should you wish to seek this assistance. Christmas celebrations during theSecond World Waroften had to be scaled down or adjusted as restrictions and shortages took their toll. | On April 27, 1942, all the Poles were transferred to other camps, mostly to Oflag VII-A Murnau. Marlag or Marine-Lager (marine camp) These were Navy personnel POW camps. To the north and east of the village three smaller camps were also built. Altogether, some 35,000 parachute and glider troops were involved in the operation. The camp was finally liberated on 28 April 1945 when a Soviet armoured division reached Neubrandenburg. In 2 April 1945 the Commandant announced that he had received orders to leave the camp with most of his guards, leaving a only small detachment behind to hand over the camp to Allied forces, who were already in Bremen. Of these 10,667 were British and Commonwealth troops, of which only 825 were in the main camp, while the rest were attached to various Arbeitskommando ("Labour Units"). It is subdivided by nationality as Belgium, Chinese, Czech, Denmark, France, Holland, Italy, Poland and Greece. Six years of war brought many changes to familiar festive rituals. They were employed building new barracks and a water supply. The first POWs arrived on 12 September. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use. In February 1942 the prisoners were transferred to Oflag VII-B in Eichsttt, and the castle was then became an internment camp (Internierungslager) for men from the British Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey. 247,302 Nigel Stock, Tous Public The form consists of 25 questions relating to topics such as the work of escape committees; escape aids and their usefulness; German censorship; receipt and dissemination of coded messages; a collection of geographical information that might assist future escape attempts; and internal communications. In September 1939 some of the forts were used as POW camps for Polish prisoners, specifically those captured after the surrender of the Polish fort at Westerplatte at the mouth of the river Vistula and on the Hel Peninsula. On January 21, 1945, the roll call established a total of 1,471. There was a separate shower block, and prisoners were allowed two showers a month. Four were recaptured. Only operated for 3 months from August until November 1942. Many escapes, evasion and liberation reports (see below) include one or more Appendices. | The men had hot showers, and their clothes were steamed and fumigated to kill the lice that were an ever present threat of typhus. The remaining inmates asked that he inform the Americans of their plight which he did, and despite Koenigstein being in the Soviet zone, a decision was taken to swiftly remove the French generals from the castle on May 11. Stalag XII-C Wiesbaden Hessen-Nassau, Prussia Location N/E 50-08, Stalag XII-D Waldbreitbach Rheinland, Prussia Location N/E 50-07. The POWs ate charcoal to help stop dysentery and every POW became infected with lice. District VIII Nearest city Koblenz, In the middle west area of Germany. SHAEF report dated 10/2/45 writes this camp to be evacuated to a destination unknown however it was moved to Sprottau according to Bundesarchiv reports. This was the first mass escape of the war by British officers, and the first tunnel constructed by RAF POWs to be completed and used. Other reports on POW camps are held in CO 980 and HO 215. Although partially demolished during the 1920s, it was used to accommodate about 750 men. Apart from Antoni Szylling and Tadeusz Piskor, who were imprisoned in Murnau, all Polish army commanders taken by the Germans in 1939 were held there. The camp administration did not start any preventive measures until some German soldiers became infected. 101 min A basic Tent camp at Foligno, used as a transit camp to camps in Germany, this was designated for Prisoners for eastern Europe. As with Neave and Fowler, for his escapes and actions while in activity he was awarded gallantry medals. Located in Fnfeichen, a former estate within the city limits of Neubrandenburg, Mecklenburg, northern Germany. Don Chaffey District X Nearest city Hanover, in the middle north of Germany. Nominee for Best History & Biography (2022). Finally in late December 1944 1,800 Americans arrived, captured in the Battle of the Bulge. List of attempts to escape Oflag IV-C - Wikipedia List of attempts to escape Oflag IV-C Below is a list of attempts to escape from Oflag IV-C, the famous prisoner-of-war camp . Any camp coordinates using the old system of degrees & minutes etc were taken from these reports directly. In late 1944/early 1945 the camp population grew enormously with the arrival of prisoners evacuated from camps in the east in front of the advance of the Red Army. 00:00. These were followed by Soviet prisoners from Operation Barbarossa in the summer of 1941. A simple list of (mostly) British or Commonwealth war films about prisoners of war. The camp covered an area of 35 hectares (86 acres). Best, As the name suggests, Cinecitta (literally: film city) was the Hollywood of pre war Italy and several films were made here. The Germans, however, always treated Merchant Navy seamen as POWs (as did the British from 1942). District IX Nearest City Altona, near Hamburg in the middle North of Germany. Opened September 1939, closed April 1945. When the Wehrmacht invaded the Netherlands they were short on material for uniforms, so they confiscated anything available. OFLAG Va Weinburg (Baden- Wurttemburg) Germany. (10 days confined arrest completed on 8 May 1941). 13 August: Within days after their arrival, the Dutch escape officer, Captain Machiel van den Heuvel (known as 'Vandy'), planned and executed his first of many escape plans. The contact address is International Council of the Red Cross (ICRC), Archives Division, 19, Avenue de la Paix, CH-1202 Geneva, website: ICRC Archives. World War II prisoner-of-war escapes are a staple of adventure fiction. Between these two large buildings were another two smaller ones which had previously been the factory's administration blocks. The largest POW camp in Austria and 2nd largest in the entire German Reich. Director: Arrested at the docks, he was transferred to Colditz in December 1941. Sep 1939 - Dulag Gneixendorf was created; renamed Stalag XVII B Oct 1939; received first American POWs in Oct 1943 (that part of the camp was then called Stalag Luft XVII B). The most famous camp of them all, the book was written by the escape officer and one of the men to successfully escape Oflag IVc. They organized and created an "escape committee" which arranged the details of each escape, including who would produce or procure money, tools, maps, disguises or any other required materials. Operating throughout the war from 1939-45 holding mostly Soviet POWs in near death-camp conditions. Within months two officers from Dssel, Lieutenant Jock Hamilton-Baillie and Captain Frank Weldon, proposed digging a tunnel north from Block 2's latrine to a villager's chicken coop about 30 m (98 ft) away. Nevertheless, it was recognised that in most instances an evader/escaper had little opportunity of observing enemy activities due to the normal practice of 'hiding-up' during the day. Built in October 1941 to house 3,000 POWs, it held on February 26th 1943 3,438 POWs. Over 200,000 soldiers of the British armed forces were captured during the Second World War and placed in one of the different types of prisoner of war camps run by the Germans until 1945 and Italians until late 1943, sometimes even both! It was also surrounded by electrified barbed-wire fence and contained thirty new barracks, raising the total area to 1.2 km. While the plans to question all liberated POWs never materialised, these records still represent a large percentage of those in enemy hands in 1945. In September 1943 many British Commonwealth officers from the North Africa campaign. Located in the town of Prenzlau, Brandenburg, 93 kilometres (58 mi) north of Berlin. It was organised by the Schutzstaffel - SS-Baubrigade Iwhich was at first under direct supervision of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp; and after mid-February 1943 then run under the Neuengamme camp in northern Germanylocated near the old telegraph tower at La Foulre. Stalag X-C Nienburg Hanover, Prussia Location N/E 52-09, Stalag XI-A (POWs from Stalag L4 & L1) Altengrabow Brandenburg, Prussia 52-12. The Italians held them in holding camps in the desert until transportation to the Italian mainland a few days or weeks later. This scene was photographed by the Germans as "evidence" and later reprinted in his biography (Mark of the Lion, by Kenneth Sandford). Other prisoners of war, including Douglas Bader, distracted the guards and used signaling devices to help the escapers. This camps commandant Calcaterra was killed by Italian Partisans in 1943, had this not happened he would have faced a war crimes tribunal for his brutality against the POWs in his charge. It is set in a POW camp in Poland and portrays the real-life audacious escape attempt of 76 Allied airmen during WWII. A large number of the inmates made their way to the Swiss frontier and were interned when the Italian guards abandoned their posts after the armistice in 1943. For details of POWs who died in captivity in Japan and Germany, try BT 373/3720-3721. The author himself narrates the audiobook - I truly enjoyed listening to the tales of this strange Nazi castle and the many brave men who were so determined to escape. Located at 53 degrees, 20 minutes, 35 seconds North, 15 degrees, 0 minutes East in the far North of Germany on the Baltic coast. Michael Caine, These are all available within our fully searchable POW lists. Nearly 100,000 Allied POWs passed through this camp at some time during the war. Food was very scarce and below starvation rations. This also divided into two separate compounds for officers and men. Nearly 50,000 died there of hunger, disease, or were just simply murdered. | Gross: The British had begun an escape tunnel, and the Poles continued working on it, and on 20 September 1943, 47 of them escaped. Broke into Kommandant's office, cut hole into storeroom, out of storeroom in German and Polish orderly uniforms. There were 4 sub camps located in the vicinity also. At this point all Senior British Officers (SBOs) informed their men of Field Marshal Montgomerys so-called 'standfast' order. For three months after their removal the camp was used as a transit camp for Soviet prisoners. It should be noted that the Japanese did not allow inspections of their camps in Malaya or Singapore. There were several escape attempts during the summer of 1941. On 23 November 1941, N and three other English officers and one (Polish) officer (held up someone) to enable an English officer to make an escape attempt near the (Polish) orderly office. Colditz was meant to be completely safe, impregnable and impossible to escape from. It lasted until March 1942 and an estimated 45,000 prisoners died and were buried in mass graves. A cruel irony is that of the 6000 POWs kept here 150 were Jewish and allowed complete freedom of religion and non persecution although had they not been POWs their fate would certainly have been far worse as regular concentration camp bound trains passed the camp. The accommodation blocks were divided into rooms, each containing from 8 to 12 men. There were also detailed conditions under which they should work, be housed and paid. It could have ended much worse. 54 Passo Corese/ Fara in Sabina, Rieti (Rome). Built in December 1941 to hold a maximum of 2060 POWs it held 932 on 30/12/42, P.G. 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