They passed through the gate, and then, wearing faked Luftwaffe uniforms, headed to an airfield near Kassel intending to steal a Ju 52, which Newborn had flown before the war, and fly home. Stars: In each of the barracks surrounded by barbed wire lived 140-200 people. The camp was the setting for two remarkable escape attempts. 1 British POW was reported as being here at February 1945. Interesting read about Colditz Castle, a prison for difficult prisoners during the Second World War. An alphabetical listing of all camps for POWs and Hospitals, work camps and internment camps known in German-controlled areas. In July 1941 they were followed by Soviet prisoners from Operation Barbarossa housed in the open in a separate enclosure. Through hole in park wire, intended as diversion for Hans Larive and Francis Steinmetz escape. At the instigation of the U.S. and Swiss governments, the International Committee of the Red Cross put pressure on the German government not to keep civilian non-combatants in a POW camp. As a Schutzhaftlager ("protective custody camp"), it held political prisoners, mostly members of the Communist Party, who were forced to work in a nearby quarry. Up to 22,000 prisoners who had died or been murdered, were buried in 32 mass graves within the local area of the camp. The Germans found spoil from the tunnel and searched the camp, but failed to find it. The camp initially occupied barracks built to house British and French prisoners in World War I. In June 1940, part of Stalag IV-A was separated and made into an Oflag for Belgian, British, and French officers taken prisoner during the Battle of France. On 7 November, six British officers, the "Laufen Six", named after the camp (Oflag VII) from which they made their first escape, arrived: Harry Elliott, Rupert Barry (later Sir Rupert Barry), Pat Reid, Dick Howe, Anthony "Peter" Allan, and Kenneth Lockwood. David Lean 30,957 other ranks with 66 officers upon liberation reported, however according to other SHAEF reports from February 1945 the make up was: 8379 Soviets, 5563 Belgian, 23 Poles, 2733 Yugoslavs, 624 Italians,10027 French. Colditz was a "special" camp, designed by the Nazis to hold high-risk and politically important prisoners. Stalag Luft II Litzmannstadt (Lodz -Poland), Camp for Soviet pilots in the district Litzmannstadt'u - Erzhausen (Lodz region today called Ruda Pabianicka at the south-western area of the city), the square of the current streets Oder (German Wallensteinerstrasse, from the south-west) Retmanskiej (German Paracelsusweg; from the north-west.) | The Oflag existed only for a short time. Guests staying there get a three-hour tour of tunnels and hidden rooms used by the . Late 1943: The POW camp is closed and the entire facility becomes Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. The Index to the correspondence of the Foreign Office, 1920-1951 (131 vols, Nendeln, 1969-1982) available at The National Archives, contains numerous entries relating to all aspects of British POWs. They were then moved out to other camps, the Commonwealth flying personnel to Stalag Luft III Sagan, others to Oflag XXI-C Ostrzeszw. There was also a hospital building at Hohemark. The first contained Allied prisoners in unsatisfactory conditions, but generally in compliance with the International Red Cross Convention. | In August 1940 most enlisted men were shipped to other camps; Stalag XIII-A, Stalag XIII-B and Stalag XIII-C. Only those remained who were already employed in local industry and were housed in individual Arbeitskommandos. On April 27, 1942, additional Polish POWs were transferred there from the so-called "Generals' Camp" Oflag VIII-E in Johannisbrunn, Sudetenland (now Jansk Koupele, Czech Silesia). Opened May 15th 1944, Located at coordinates 53 degrees 56 minutes 41 seconds North, 16 degrees 10 minutes 20 seconds east. It housed 600 POW's - British, French, Belgium, Dutch and Poles. Two officers; Lieutenant Denis Kelleher RNVR, and Lieutenant Stewart Campbell, FFA, escaped from Marlag in early 1944, wearing blue overalls to cover their uniforms, and managed to reach England within 22 days, having been smuggled to neutral Sweden on a ship from Bremen. 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. If you are researching a particular POW camp it is well worth completing a Google web search for the camp name: try this method - both in numbers and in roman numerals with the abbreviated camp name and also the camp name and location as search text. Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing. In reality, however, successful escapes were rare. In general, the conditions in the main Teschen camp and in all the sub-camps were deplorable. Opened originally in January1942, 93other ranks were reported here on December30th 1942.. Sylt camp held Jewish enforced labourers. Stars: When Britainwent to waron 3 September 1939 there was none of the 'flag-waving patriotism' of August 1914. The camp was divided into three sections when liberated. On that morning many were hidden by local Italian families and the Modena Escape Route, commenced which eventually helped some 250 escaping POWs. OFLAG VIIIe Johannisbrunn/Troppau, Poland. Additional detailed Liberation reports for camps in Germany are held in WO 208/3341-3342; an incomplete nominal index is contained in the first of these files. We have German AND Italian camp listings in our fully searchable databases! Two visits by the Red Cross were made and the following comments were made: "Tented Camp in two sections with no Heating or lighting. Lager Borkum was used for German technicians and volunteers from different countries of Europe. Collective alphabetical listings of POWs (as opposed to individual pouches) are contained in BT 373/3717-3722. All went well as the six escapers entered the office during the previous evening and opened up the tunnel. 1940: In October, Donald Middleton, Keith Milne, and Howard Wardle (a Canadian who joined the RAF just before the war) became the first British prisoners at Colditz. 20,770 POWs here (53 British) with 1735 Officers. On 3 September 1941 three RAF officers, Dominic Bruce, Peter Tunstall and Eustace Newborn, escaped disguised as members of a "Swiss Commission". Food was very scarce and below starvation rations. Some 20 miles (32 km) north of Genoa, this was a fortress on top of the hill overlooking the town. In September 1943 many British Commonwealth officers from the North Africa campaign. The buildings were arranged in a horseshoe shape. I Roger Bushell is believed not to have used the tunnel, instead escaping on the same night from a goat shed in the camp grounds. 37 officers held here as of 26/2/43 originally opened September 1941. Most British & Commonwealth Stalags, Oflags and Dulags are all listed above. Colditz, escape, Nazi Germany, prisoners of war, Second World War. Tobacco could be bought in bulk and sent directly via Switzerland via the tobacco companies themselves also. Lieutenant Leo de Hartog holding 'Moritz', one of the two dummy heads of POWs made to mislead German guards during daily roll calls. The camp was divided into three groups of 900. Adventure, Drama, History. Two hundred NCOs were transferred to Stalag XVIII-C at Markt-Pongau in June 1944. These were work battalions formed from the other ranks camps i.e. It is reputed that the German Camp Commandant at the time (Major Rumpel), gave the escapers a case of champagne with the words "Better luck next time, even if I'm not supposed to say so". Stars: By February 1944 most of the officers had been transferred to other Oflags. Naturally all incoming and outgoing mail was censored. American soldiers that had been captured during the Battle of Normandy arrived in June-July 1944, and more form the Battle of the Bulge in January 1945. Jack Lee In February 1945s SHAEF report it had 2750 POWs all Belgian. Pel, A card index to additional more comprehensive Liberation reports in WO 208/3328-3340 is located in the Document Reading Room at The National Archives. 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 first was about 12 m (40 ft) long, built from March to August 1943. In the late 1930s the German Army built a large base and training ground at which the XIX Army Corps of General Heinz Guderian was based. The files WO 208/5451-5460 contain the detailed recommendations for honours and awards made to foreign civilians and military personnel who assisted Allied escapers and evaders. Ben Macintyre returns here, with his devilishly absorbing writing style, to examine one of the legendary POW camps used by the Germans to house Allied officers during the Second World War, Colditz Castle. | I knew about this prisoner of war camp from having read and reread and loved. It was a Catholic college before the nazi state closed it in 1940, used to house French officers only. The remainder of the camp was then separated and taken over by the SS to house Jews intended for shipment overseas in exchange for German civilians. You should note, as with all historical records that any of these will be a snapshot in time of when the record was made originally & as such there are inevitable errors and ommissions, only by checking multiple sources (where available) can any certainty be possible. Emptied by German forces in December 1944 and POWs transferred elsewhere. Richard Heffer, (this is just an example of the out-sourcing of POW labour which was used particularly by the larger camps- as you can see there are dozens of smaller sattellite camps listed spread over a very wide area). Tin of 50 cigarettes or tobacco (sent separatelyusually Player's brand cigarettes or Digger flake pipe tobacco). Afterwards a number of would-be escapees would borrow Dutch greatcoats as their disguise. 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! These included those who had escaped from other camps, as well asthose who could be used as possible bargaining chips (minor members of the Royal Family, Churchill's nephew and others). On 8 February they reached Stalag III-A located about 52 km (32 mi) south of Berlin near Luckenwalde, which already held 20,000 prisoners, consisting mainly of soldiers from Britain, Canada, the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. A SHAEF report dated 10 February confirms this move and reported the POWs already west of the Oder (river). In 1941 some 300 of these took part in the Nazi propaganda film Germanin. William Holden, In early 1942 all the officers were transferred to Oflag VII-B in Eichsttt. This camp consisted of high ranking officers, mostly of the rank Major and above. 117 min In the centre of the camp was camp kitchen and canteen. Hammelburg was a large German Army training camp, set up in 1893. For further information on war crimes see related research guides. Campo PG 66, on a flat stretch of ground on the outskirts of Capua, had been in use as a prisoner-of-war camp since early 1941, when a medical officer reported favourably on its food, water supply and sanitation, and the men stated that they were being well taken care of.. By the end of July there were a few Free French officers, and 228 British officers, with a contingent consisting of Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, South Africans, Irish, and one Indian. Became a branch camp of Stalag IIIb in June 1942. Each nationality tended to stick to themselves and there was little national intermingling. Alfred Lynch, November 21st brought hundreds of wounded prisoners from the field hospitals. From February to April 1945 Neubrandenburg was a waypoint in the forced march westward of Allied prisoners from POW camps further east. The lower-ranking officers were incarcerated in the lower levels of the fortress. Stalag VIII-D Teschen (Cieszyn, Poland and Cesk Ten, Czech Republic). 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 main camp was in a former brewery in a suburb of the town with a few large brick buildings up to 3 storeys high. The red brick stables were converted to barracks to house prisoners when the site was converted to a POW camp in October 1939. At the end of 1943 it was evacuated and renamed Oflag 64 - & was probably the only German POW camp set up exclusively for U.S. Army officers. Located in Colditz Castle situated on a cliff overlooking the town of Colditz in Saxony. Twelve prisoners escaped, though all were recaptured within two weeks. On each floor there were toilets and sinks with running cold water but no baths. (Hospital). In 1943, the camp was enlarged and a new camp was constructed alongside the earlier one. | It contained POW camps for non-commissioned officers and other ranks. Used for punishment and for keeping peristent escapers. The National Archives has a file reference WO208/3269 which gives the full camp history. More prisoners arrived in July 1944 transferred from Oflag VIII-F. On 24 August 1944 the camp was strafed by American and British aircraft. The town is divided by the Oder river on the border of Poland/The Czech republic. Stalag XVIII-D (also known as Stalag 306) was a German Prisoner of War camp at Maribor (German: Marburg an der Drau) in what is now Slovenia. Buckley was a pilot in the Fleet Air Arm and as such the Germans had placed him, with all other FAA aircrew, under the responsibility of the Luftwaffe. Britains Imperial War Museum notes that Of the 170,000 British and Commonwealth prisoners of war in Germany in the Second World War, fewer than 1,200 of them managed to escape successfully and make a home run. After ROAC officer Major B.D. He was killed in action on 1 September 1944, commanding the second Battalion of the Kings Royal Rifle Corps, and is buried at Airaines Cemetery in France. Very engrossing. 168 officers were here on 26/2/43, opened originally in June 1941. In January 1945 the officers were marched out westward, finally arriving at Oflag III-A in Luckenwalde, south of Berlin. When the Italian armistice was announced on 8 September 1943 there were an estimated 80,000 Allied POWs in Italy. Opened November 1939, Liberated 16th April 1945. Mobile gas wagons were also used to complement the maximum capacity of the gas chamber (150 people) when required. Bryan Forbes The castle sits on a steep hill overlooking the Mulde River as it flows through the small Saxon town of Colditz, about 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Leipzig. Built in December 1941 to hold a maximum of 2060 POWs it held 932 on 30/12/42, P.G. (Small camp with around 25 prisoners at any one time). | The camp had field post number 31686, and held up to 30,000 POWs from Poland , Belgium , France , Soviet Union , Yugoslavia , Italy & Great Britain. Operating throughout the war from 1939-45 holding mostly Soviet POWs in near death-camp conditions. 2928797 Private Walter Murray Queens Own Cameron Highlanders died 13/8/1942 94 min It is clear that other reports were produced, for example, those with a reference starting PW/REP/IT. 53 British POWs held at a Brick factory on the road between Meissen & Oschatz. The camp, designated Oflag XVIII-B, was opened on 19 October 1939. Bernard Lee, After the war it was used for interned prisoners of the defeated regime. Within the camp, British POWs were controlled by the Senior British Officer (SBO) or Senior British Non-Commissioned Officer (SBNCO). Reaction to the armistice varied from camp to camp. A limited number of non-commissioned soldiers working as orderlies were allowed in Oflags to carry out the work needed to care for the officers so dont be too surprised to find a Corporal in Colditz! They crossed into Switzerland at 01.30 on 13 September 1942, and were taken to the British legation at Bern. After the Soviet takeover (in 1945) it was until 1949 a special camp, NKVD-camp Nr. I loved the way he explores the culture of the camp as well, looking at the ways race and sexuality and class defined the war experience of so many. Take this short online task to help us improve our website, Tuesday 29 September 2020 | Roger Kershaw | Records and research | 4 comments. As with Neave and Fowler, for his escapes and actions while in activity he was awarded gallantry medals. Postal records show this camp as being under the control of the SS. Oflag XIII-A, Oflag XIII-B and Oflag XIII-D were all located on the old Nazi party rally grounds in Langwasser, Nuremberg, in northern Bavaria. Stalag 20A was enlarged in the second half of 1941, from Torun-Podgorza in the direction of Glinki. After the war Fort Rauch was completely demolished and a college now stands on the site. The Fund's operations include assistance to widows and orphans of fallen colleagues in the country, the fees for the lawyers defending prisoners before German courts, the payment of salaries of the cadets and soldiers, as well as cultural and educational activities. After ten days they arrived at Frankenberg, but were challenged by soldiers suspicious of their uniforms. Medical reports on conditions in POW camps, with some reports on escapes, are among the Medical Historian's Papers in WO 222/1352-1393. At the end of 1943 within Stalag VIII-B Teschen there were about 50,000 Soviet prisoners, and another 10,000 from other countries, including Great Britain, the Commonwealth and Italy. It housed 2455 officers with 297 other ranks. There was still little or no food available, and the pace was much slower, advancing 4-5 miles a day. Prisoners lived in the soldiers barracks, equipped with 1-2 tables and a few stools, cupboards (one for two people) & mattresses. 47083 (5191 British) POWs with 927 officers held here. Soon afterwards a delegation of high-ranking German officers inspected the camp, and the prisoners were warned that "escaping is no longer a sport". In a stone building in Bohringen 200 yards from an ammunition factory (!) (Much of the information from the Wo229 SHAEF reports was directly from the Swiss Red Cross representatives who had visited the camps and work commandos themselves). Patrick O'Neal, PG It is known that many men who were POW are missing and so it's worth checking the other sources noted in this tutorial. The camp held mostly Indians and Cypriots. The barracks were enclosed by a barbed-wire fence and watchtowers to form a camp approximately 440 by 530 metres, and was opened in June 1940 to house officers, mostly French, captured in the Battle of France, as well as several hundred Poles. The artillery fired from the positions next to the camps, but fortunately had moved away by the time the British Guards Armoured Division liberated the camps on 27 April 1945. Colditz. The camp was created in 1941 as the base camp for a number of work-camps (Arbeitskommando) for prisoners of war working in the mines and industries of Upper Silesia. 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. These records, in the series WO 416, consist of British and Allied prisoner of war records created by the Germans and captured by the Allied forces when the camps were liberated at the end of the war. Located in the town of Prenzlau, Brandenburg, 93 kilometres (58 mi) north of Berlin. While the plans to question all liberated POWs never materialised, these records still represent a large percentage of those in enemy hands in 1945. On the cold Baltic coast it opened early in 1942 as a British Oflag originally. Disembarking in Italy, POWs were given a quick clean-up at their port of disembarkation, usually Brindisi or Taranto. In some camps recipients of these parcels were permitted to keep only the cigarettes and chocolate bars; the remainder of the parcel was turned over to the camp cook, who combined them with the contents of other parcels and German POW rations (usually bread, barley, potatoes, cabbage and horse meat) to create daily meals for the prisoners. Sergeant Major Charles Coward (Sir Dirk Bogarde) escapes from the Stalag VIII-B P.O.W. Fort 16 (XVI) named Kolejowy or Railway. A substantial quantity of material concerning British and Commonwealth POWs - mostly Air Force personnel - can be found in the Headquarters Papers of Bomber Command (AIR 14), and in the Air Ministry's Directorate of Intelligence Papers. The camp was reopened in 1 October 1939 to house Polish generals and their staffs captured during the German September 1939 offensive. Oflag IX-C (Molsdorf) was used to house Women Officers of the Polish Army and was widely known (even to the International Red Cross) as the worst of all those run by German forces during WWII for its near concentration-camp conditions. These were followed by Soviet prisoners from Operation Barbarossa in the summer of 1941. Large new barrack buildings of white stone, roofed with red tiles or slates, were divided into seven or eight bays, each holding twenty or so two-tier bunks. New Zealand Brigadiers James Hargest and Reginald Miles esc. P.G. The others were at Oerbke (Stalag XI-D (321)) and Wietzendorf (Stalag X-D (310)). Colditz Castle in Germany was used as a prison for troublesome Allied Officers who were prisoners of war and many were sent here as they were repeat offenders of escape attempts. On 12 April 1945 large numbers were marched to Stalag VII-A, and on 16 April the camp was liberated by advance elements of the United States Army, Stalag XVII-A Kaisersteinbruck Bei Bruck Austria Location N/E 48-16. Planning for the camp commenced before the invasion of Poland. On 5 May 1945 the Norwegians were transported east to a camp near Lignica in Silesia, then travelled for several days by train to Hamburg and Aarhus, Denmark, finally arriving in Oslo on 28 May 1945. Sleeping accommodation was in wooden double bunks in groups of 8. The case for the defence at War Crimes Tribunals after 1945 was often based on this, however, this was overruled as Germany had signed, and hence was argued to be in breach of the rules they had pledged to uphold, regardless of which countries' POWs they were dealing with. No beds or bedding in the buildings. An excellent book by Major Pantcheff Alderney Fortress Island is recommended reading for more information. | Known as Kommendantur Stalag 20A it remained the HQ until the end of the war. This information was intended to help IS9 (D) - Intelligence School 9 (D), a division of Military Intelligence 9 (MI9) - and, eventually, the sections responsible for tracing and rewarding of helpers, IS9 (AB). E3 Blechammer (Next to the Donau-Oder canal & close to the Hydrierwerke oil refinery). To the north of the road were seven prisoner accommodation blocks. Set up by the Italians in May 1942 and ran until September 8th 1943. The 7 forts above which comprised Stalag 312 were also administered by Stalag 20A. Water (often contaminated) POWs drank from ditches beside the road or ate snow when available. On the eastern, right, bank of the River Warter, near to the present day St. Roch bridge, stood Fort Rauch, the most southern of the right bank fortifications. Broadcast Sun 26 Feb 2023 at 9:30pm. The Colditz Glider. It served also as a transit camp through which prisoners, including officers, were processed on their way to other camps. Some large camps had both a camp leader and a 'man of confidence' (or several in the biggest camps) who was junior to him and handled any day-to-day negotiations with the Germans regarding, for example, camp routine, work schedules and diet. Nearest Village Lauta, 85 British POWs here. In December 1942 were as many as 19,459 Soviet POWs. Stalag II-C Greifswald Pomerania, Prussia Location N/E 54-13. The camp was liberated 26 March 1945 by the United States Army. A few of these orderlies had been assigned as batmen to senior officers and were incarcerated along with them, however, most were assigned by the Germans once captured and many disliked their new role intensely and suffered because of it. Notable POWs who were held here include (briefly) Colditz inmate and escape officer Pat Reid who was held for 3 months before escaping, being recaptured and sent to Colditz where he finally escaped to freedom from later. Among the Italian prisoners, who were mostly soldiers who did not surrender to the German army after the Cassibile armistice, was journalist and writer Giovannino Guareschi, who wrote here La favola di Natale (A Christmas Fable) on Christmas, 1944. He was killed during an air test flying a Hawker Typhoon on 26 March 1944, and is buried at Durrington Cemetery. 2411 POWs mostly USAAF, evacuated to Stalag IV on 14/7/44. Adjacent to Klitshcmar railway station 271 British POWs held. Votes: 2,738 Unfortunately the driver of a vehicle noticed two persons moving hesitantly along the train and alerted the military police. Contents 1 1941 escape attempts 2 1942 escape attempts 3 1943 escape attempts 4 1944 escape attempts 5 1945 escape attempts 6 Further reading 7 External links A number of the French were from African colonial regiments and were used for the worst work such as collecting refuse. The tunnel was completed in May, and on the night of 3/4 June 1943 sixty-five men escaped. At this point, I should stop being surprised. The location listed for this hospital in the SHAEF report of February 1945: 53 degrees 45 minutes north, 14 degrees 2 minutes east. Originally a Hitler Youth camp, in October 1939 it was modified to house about 15,000 Polish prisoners from the German September 1939 offensive. Many others were billeted in Arbeitskommando working in factories, repairing railways or on farms. The Czech people in the villages and towns, through which they passed, passed food and clothing to them. 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. By the spring of 1942 an estimated 18,000 had died of hunger and disease, mainly typhus fever. PG 103 had 19 sub camps dotted around the neighbourhood at factories and farms. In April 1945 many POWs were force marched away from the camp where they met advance units of the US army in May. Search them here now. Escapes were rare arrived at Frankenberg, but failed to find it of all camps POWs... Jack Lee in February 1945s SHAEF report it had 2750 POWs all Belgian others to Oflag in. Little national intermingling clean-up at their port of disembarkation, usually Brindisi or Taranto was strafed by and... 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Existed only for a short time held at a brick factory on the road were seven prisoner blocks! 1944, located at coordinates 53 degrees 56 minutes 41 seconds north, 16 degrees minutes... By barbed wire lived 140-200 people 312 were also administered by Stalag 20A new camp was liberated 26 1945... Sinks with running cold water but no baths a Catholic college before the Nazi state closed it in,. In December 1941 to hold a maximum of 2060 POWs it held on! The Donau-Oder canal & close to the armistice varied from camp to camp were incarcerated in the in... 'Flag-Waving patriotism ' of August 1914 1 October 1939 Prenzlau, Brandenburg, 93 kilometres ( 58 mi ) of. In April 1945 many POWs were force marched away from the camp the! & close to the Hydrierwerke oil refinery ) prisoners, including officers, mostly of the or! Battalions formed from the German September 1939 offensive near death-camp conditions POWs held at a brick factory on road.

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