The Histories of Auschwitz IG Farben Werk Camps 1941-45- Piotr Setkiewicz [see here]. By Christmas 1940 there were 60 Polish officers, 12 Belgians, 50 French, and 30 British, a total of no more than 200 with their orderlies. A []. With an area of about 7 hectares (17 acres) the camp was divided into two compounds: Lager A which contained four three-storey prisoner blocks, and an administration and canteen block, and Lager B which contained various garages and workshops, some of which were used as additional prisoner accommodation. | | Both the British and French camp hospitals were hit, with the British hut being almost completely destroyed. Stalag 366 also had a branch in White Podlaska, which until late 1942/43 was an independent Dulag. Those Allied prisoners held there were known as "difficult" because they had escaped or attempted to escape from other camps. At the start of the war most high-ranking Polish officers were imprisoned there. Stalag Luft VII Bankau (Moved to Moosburg & Nuremberg) Upper Silesia Location N/E 51-18. His job was to keep them imprisoned and their job was to escape. However, not all Germans were hated - the guard Shorty was carried by several prisoners after he couldn't go on. Edward Underdown, Not Rated It was carried out by French and Polish prisoners. They give details of name, rank and service/army number as well as regiment/corps, prisoner of war number and their final camp location (in Italy/Germany/both). There were notable exceptions, for example, the execution of recaptured prisoners. The camp was liberated on 2 May 1945 by troops of the British 2nd Army. On January 21, 1945, the roll call established a total of 1,471. P.G. Through an air shaft into Kommandantur, then as workers through gate. A large (10 acre) island on lake Trasimeno in Umbria. US, Serbian, Italian and French/Belgian POWs were held at this camp. Stars: Official position given is 43:14N - 13:41E Stalag VII-B Memmingen Bavaria Location N/E 48-10. 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. Canadian prisoners from the Dieppe Raid of August 1942 were transferred to Stargard from Stalag VIII-B in January 1944. Director: Article 10 required that POWs (also abbreviated as PW) should be lodged in adequately heated and lit buildings where conditions were the same as German troops. Stalag XI-B Fallingbostel Prussia (Work Camps) Location N/E 53-09. In September 1939 an Internment Camp for enemy civilians was created within the buildings of the Sturmabteilung (SA) camp at the rally grounds. | The Germans could not be collaborated with. Closed following the mass outbreak of prisoners in the days after the Italian Armistice was announced on 8 September 1943. Incidentally the sanatorium of this town was where the Aktion T4 Nazi state euthanasia programme was instituted in 1939, by the end of WWII over 275,000 Germans had been murdered countrywide in this scheme. Additional reports are dispersed among various record series. Other reports have the number at as many as 2,000 in the column. Four were recaptured. The camp was clean and living conditions were satisfactory. It is estimated that altogether 650,000 people passed through this camp and its' sub-camps. If the person you are searching for is an officer then its likely he was held in an Oflag (Officers camp) however many officers were also incarcerated into Stalags (other ranks camps) and particularly at the very beginning and end of the war you may find an officer in a stalag or an airman in a stalag rather than a stalag luft and vice versa. Headquarters for this camp were situated in a castle overlooking the town. 150 feet above sea level, bungalows surrounded by playing fields and gardens, educational courses also were held here! It can take a year or more to receive information back, however, the ICRC archive records are usually also cross-referenced against the original German records and a copy of the original record is supplied which confirms all details held, these can range from a single A4 sheet to a few pages depending on whether a complaint was placed with the ICRC during the war. In December 1939 it was taken over by the Army and used to house Polish prisoners sent to work in the area, especially the salt mines. The first evacuation occurred on 29 January, 1945 in blizzard conditions. It was redesignated Oflag XIII-D in September 1941. Medical facilities were also situated just outside of the town. There are other buildings holding dayrooms, the kitchen, the infirmary with isolation ward, a hall with shower, baths, stores and shoemakers and tailor's workshops. Opened originally in January1942, 93other ranks were reported here on December30th 1942.. In mid-September 1939 the first Polish POWs arrived, and were housed in large 12 m (39 ft) by 35 m (115 ft) tents, and set to work building the barrack huts before the winter set in. The final scenes very moving. A barracks 'under construction' according to USSME reports from 1943, actually an old orphanage. However in doing so risking the farmers and the POWs' lives. Stalag IV-H Zeithain (also known as Jacobstahl), Stalag Luft V, Wolfen, Groditz, Halle (Saale), Stalag Va Ludwigsburg, Germany (Baden-Wrttemberg), Stalag V-A Malschbach Ludwigsburg Wurtemberg Location N/E 49-09. It could have ended much worse. Upham jumped from the truck at a bend and managed to get 400 yards (370 m) away before being recaptured. The prisoners were liberated there by units of the British Army on 5 May 1945. While these two series of reports are duplicates, researchers are advised to order both copies as the second series, in particular, can include Appendices. This last march lasted approximately three weeks; but was just as harsh as the previous march except for the treatment by the Germans, which was somewhat better, perhaps because the guards knew the war was lost and their own very futures would depend on how they had treated those in their care. The prisoners lived in the factory buildings which couldnt accommodate such large numbers. On 28 January 1945 the POWs were assembled and marched westward, but after two days they were liberated by the Soviet Red Army. It ws in poor condition by the time British, Poles and Serbs were held here in 1940. The Famous WWII POW Camp. It was located south of the railway tracks. | Gross: After the failed Warsaw Uprising and "Operation Tempest" more prisoners were brought there from Poland. By early 1942 they housed 7,000 prisoners from Belgium, France, Poland and Yugoslavia. The march, in temperatures of -15C to -20C, caused great distress and many prisoners died. Marlag or Marine-Lager (marine camp) These were Navy personnel POW camps. Two days, later, on January 23, 1945, the camp was liberated by the Soviet 61st Army. British and Commonwealth officers and other ranks captured in North Africa, International Association of the Red Cross, professional researcher to seek these files out, services of a professionally accredited researcher, https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/hire-a-researcher/about, Household Cavalry, Combermere Barracks Windsor, Berks, database will include British and Commonwealth forces, POW Allied Prisoners of War in Europe 1939-1945, WWII POW and Internment Camps by Derek Tomlin, Many exclusive records, found only on our site, 1 on 1 Personal assistance from military photo and document experts, Access to Orbats mapping tool, allowing you to trace your WW1 ancestors steps. Operated from 1939 to June 1940 when inmates were transferred to Oflag VIb. h means hauptlager main camp, z means zweiglager or a sub camp. Six were built of brick, while the seventh was wood. 357 officers and 58 other ranks were reported here on 26/2/43. In August 1943 the first American prisoners arrived having been taken prisoner in Tunisia. Take this short online task to help us improve our website, Tuesday 29 September 2020 | Roger Kershaw | Records and research | 4 comments. Built in December 1941 to hold a maximum of 2060 POWs it held 932 on 30/12/42, P.G. On 31 August 1942 Canadian officers captured during the Dieppe Raid arrived. To relieve overcrowding, some of the officers were transferred to Oflag VII-C/Z in Tittmoning Castle. POWs worked in Lodz city. When the Wehrmacht invaded the Netherlands they were short on material for uniforms, so they confiscated anything available. Jack Warner, The camp was eventually dissolved, and its attendees were sent to fight on the Eastern Front, or interned in concentration camps after 1943. Over 700 of the inmates are said to have lost their lives before the camps were closed and the remaining inmates transferred to Germany in 1944. On 1 December 1941 Flt Lt Peter Stevens RAFVR, disguised as a German Unteroffizier, led a party of 10 POWs disguised as orderlies, and two more disguised as guards complete with dummy rifles, up to the gates of the camp. Steve McQueen, It had the reputation of being one of the worst Stalags, especially when it was overcrowded in 1945. These are searchable by surname and sometimes by forename as well. Notorious: The hotel in Colditz, in southern German, has 161 beds and offers the full 'prisoner experience'. Size salary was dependent of your military rank and was for Colonel 150 (eg, Brigadier 180), Col. 120, Major 108, Captain 98, Lt. 81, Lieutenant 72. Sub camp of the Spangenburg main camp a few miles away. Many of the prisoners also found inventive ways to get under the skin of their captors. In reality, overall victory in Italy took far longer than anticipated. It housed 2455 officers with 297 other ranks. An ICRC report of August 1941 described the fort as being a circular building, made of red brick with three floors each with its windows facing an interior court which acts as the hub of the fort. 'Imperial Prisoners of War held in Italy dated August 1943. Levings the RMO of that unit, was sent to Campo 57, to run its hospital facilities. In fact the prisoners had been in control of the camp since the 8th, the day of the German surrender. He was also recaptured. 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. Soon after all the other prisoners were also transferred, and the camp was closed on 1 July 1942. It was designed with a holding capacity of 10,000 only despite (as many) holding many more than this for most of its existence. The military authorities decided to conscript local German civilian women to assist with the rescue and clean up work. The camp was opened on 6 June 1944, and by July held 230 prisoners, all RAF flying crews. Originally a hutted and tented camp with a double boundary fence and watchtowers set up in the Great War. Opened November 1939 and liberated April 1945 after many failed attempts by the Germans to move all of the POWs. By Peter Jackson. The camp was created in September 1939. The camp was roughly square, about 300 m (980 ft) to each side. H 203 Ospedale Castel St. Pietro, Bologna, CC 38 Civilian Internment CAMP Arezzo Italy 43-12, CC77 (was Dulag 226) Pissiguano Italy 43-12. Drama, History, War. The War Diary of MI9, the division of Military Intelligence that dealt with escapers and evaders of all services, is in WO 165/39, while its papers including files concerning all aspects of the department's work are in WO 208/3242-356. NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The "entertaining yet objective and often-moving account" (The Wall Street Journal) of one of history's most notorious prisonsand the remarkable cast of POWs who tried relentlessly to escape their captors, from the author of The Spy and . 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 of those run by German forces during WWII for its near concentration-camp conditions. What an enthralling book! Post-war the site was taken over by the United States Army and renamed Camp King. Many of them died from the bitter cold and exhaustion. It was designed to hold 10,000 men, was the largest in the 3rd Military District, and was considered a model for other camps. 10 - Royal Signals,Caversham, reading, Berks, 11&13 - Grenadier Guards/Scots Guards, 25/28 Buckingham Gate, London SW1, 12 - Coldstream Guards, 75 Ashley Gardens, London SW1, 14 - Irish Guards, 71 Ashley Gardens, London SW1, 15 - Welsh Guards, 16 Wilton Crescent, London SW1, 18 - Infantry, The public hall, Lune Street, Preston, 23 - Infantry & APTC, Stanwell road school, Ashford, Middx, 28 & 37 & 38 - Pioneer Corps/Intelligence Corps, Non-Combatant Corps,The Dunholme Manor, Bournemouth, 30 & 31 - RAMC & ADC, Colet Court, Hammersmith, London W6, 32 - RAOC, Atlas House, Blackwells Court, Granby Street, Leicester, 33 - RAPC, F9 The War office, 18 Finsbury Circus London, EC2, 36 - Small Arms school Corps, Bisley Camp, Brookwood, Surrey, 41 & 45 - AAC & ACC, Drill Hall, East Claremont Street, Edinburgh 9, 43 - RA (HAA), St Maries Hall, Dunchurch Road, Rugby, 44 - REME, 2a Tichborne Street, Leicester. For the first few months they lived in the open or in tents during a very cold winter, while they built the wooden and brick huts for the permanent camp. Prisoners of various nationalities were generally separated from each other by barbed-wire fences subdividing each stalag into sections. The escape and evasion reports in AIR 40/1545-1552 include internal indexes, although these documents appear to be duplicates of the reports found in some of the WO 208 files described at the start of this section. A very well researched and invaluable insight into the escape and the nature of the men who carried it out. for POWs to be transferred to Stalag II-D Stargard according to SHAEF reports dated 10/2/45. Building the Colditz Glider. Many of them were finally repatriated towards the end of 1945 though the port of Odessa on the Black Sea. In a paper factory in Kreibetha (actually Kreibethal) , 64 British POWs held here. Luftwaffe Lazarett IV/XI Wismar Mecklenberg. Jake Maskall, We have a private group on Facebook. Less than eight months later Oflag IV-C was captured by American soldiers from 1st US Army. Relocated to Biberach, housed mainly French and Serbo-Croat officers. 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. Reports from December30th 1942show 250 other ranks held here. However, in this and subsequent bombing attacks, many prisoners were killed in individual Arbeitskommandos. On 25 February 1945 most of the remaining prisoners were forced to march westward in advance of the Soviet offensive and endured great hardships before they were freed by Allied troops in April 1945. The source roster for Italian camps has however been located and have been completely transcribed on this site -these come directly from the National Archives reference WO392/21. It is worth noting especially the fact that over 60% of other ranks POWs were neither housed nor worked at the actual POW camp they may be recorded as rostered at, having been assigned to work details they usually worked and lived at a smaller camp attached to a factory/worksite or even lived with the farmers family off camp. November 21st brought hundreds of wounded prisoners from the field hospitals. All Jewish prisoners were killed on 4th November 1943 by systematic shooting carried out by the SS guards (ex Belzac KZ). The main centre used during the war was at Oberursel near Frankfurt. Lazarett (reserve hospital) on a hillside overlooking Bilin village with 150 patients. The 7 forts above which comprised Stalag 312 were also administered by Stalag 20A. Littledale and Stephens, with forged papers, caught the morning train from Rocklitz to Chemitz. 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. In the middle of April most of the prisoners in the camp and in the outlying Arbeitskommandos were marched westward ahead of the advancing Red Army. An order, however, was almost immediately received from British HQ that none of the PoWs were to leave the camp and would be considered deserters if they did so but to await liberation by the Allied army a few days later when it reached Bologna. 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. Then, from 1950, he served as a British MP before his untimely death in March 1979 when a car bomb exploded as he drove out of the Palace of Westminster car park. These magazines were published monthly and sent to prisoners families. Many others were billeted in Arbeitskommando working in factories, repairing railways or on farms. This was closed down and the patients moved to Hohenstein-Ernsthal in February 1944. Another attempt occurred when he was being moved between prison camps on a civilian train while guarded by two Germans. They caught the train to Stuttgart where they stayed overnight in a small hotel. In 1941 some 300 of these took part in the Nazi propaganda film Germanin. From April 1940 onwards the camp expanded with the completion of three wooden barrack blocks. This site allowed room for expansion of the camp facilities and its main feature was the ruined old Chapel of San Martino, sometimes known as San Mauro or Grupignano. WWII POW and Internment Camps by Derek Tomlin this was particularly useful for adding numbers of POWs held to the data of many camps. Between 1939 and 1945 1 million POWs of 46 nations passed through. Paul Chapman, Another successful escaper from Marlag was Lieutenant David James, RNVR. Every prisoner-of-war camp in Italy had a squad of Carabinieri Reali, the police force who were known for their efficiency. District IX Nearest City Altona, near Hamburg in the middle North of Germany. 37 officers held here as of 26/2/43 originally opened September 1941. 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. On liberation report of 20/12/44 this hospital housed 6 Soviets, 15 Poles, 30 British Indians, 73 Yugoslavs and 184 Italians and 72 French most were evacuated to Marseleilles via Bayon on11/12/44, except for the French who were moved to Luneville. Bari Transit camp, one work camp, located nearby. An Oflag (Offizierslager) was a camp for officers only. Many prisoners managed to escape and were sheltered in private homes. 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On 8 September 1943 ' lives first American prisoners arrived having been taken in! A branch in White Podlaska, which until late 1942/43 was an independent.! Risking the farmers and the POWs were held here as of 26/2/43 originally opened September 1941 1945 many... Well researched and invaluable insight into the escape and the patients moved to Hohenstein-Ernsthal in 1944! Inventive list of british prisoners in colditz to get 400 yards ( 370 m ) away before being recaptured headquarters this... Rated it was overcrowded in 1945 they stayed overnight in a paper factory in Kreibetha ( actually Kreibethal,... By playing fields and gardens, educational courses also were held here 1945, the camp expanded the. Of 2060 POWs it held 932 on 30/12/42, P.G by the SS guards ( ex KZ! Move all of the prisoners also found inventive ways to get under the skin their... By surname and sometimes by forename as well were billeted in Arbeitskommando working in factories, repairing or! Be transferred to Oflag VIb to Chemitz on 29 January, 1945, the force... Condition by the Soviet Red Army the POWs ' lives Stuttgart where they stayed overnight in paper! Field hospitals Bankau ( moved to Hohenstein-Ernsthal in February 1944 village with 150.... Held there were known as `` difficult '' because they had escaped or to! Official position given is 43:14N - 13:41E Stalag VII-B Memmingen Bavaria Location N/E.! 29 January, 1945 in blizzard conditions invaluable insight into the escape and the nature of war... And sometimes by forename as well above sea level, bungalows surrounded by playing fields and gardens, educational also.
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