The castle was then used as an Internment Camp Ilag VII for men from the British Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey until the camp was liberated in May 1945. The interrogating Gestapo officer was so confident the war would soon be won by Germany that he told Larive the safe way across the border near Singen. As with a lot of German POW camps originally this was a much smaller camp based at the ex Hitler Youth hostel set up in the castle and transformed between an officers camp only then into a stalag with all the satellite work camps I have listed here. The officers received monthly wages paid in the so-called lagergeld corresponding to the value of brands circulation. Action, Adventure, War. After the Italian Armistice September 1943, 11 officers and 14 other ranks escaped with Italian partisan and SOE help. Macintyre has done it again. In October 1942 the camp was repopulated with Jews and run by the infamous Amon Goth (Later the commandant of Plaszow KZ concentration camp) this had many thousands of Jews brought here from the Warsaw Ghetto, and these were the Jewish families (men, women and children) who were working for various German run firms in the locale, particularly the Toebbens uniform factory. 7 & 8 & 26 & 27 - RA (coast & searchlight) MP corps, Savoy Hotel, Bournemouth. OFLAG Va Weinburg (Baden- Wurttemburg) Germany. The camp was eventually dissolved, and its attendees were sent to fight on the Eastern Front, or interned in concentration camps after 1943. This figure represents a total of 57% of all Soviet POWs and it may be contrasted with 8,300 out of 231,000 British and U.S. prisoners, or 3.6%. 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. There were also detailed conditions under which they should work, be housed and paid. In the U.K. it was entrenched in our culture and truly inspired fear. Here, the International Committee of the Red Cross arranged for their shipment to POW camps and other detention centres throughout Europe. Eight Channel Island internees died in Laufen camp during the period of internment. What a refreshing book. Placed on swampy ground,with a damp, cold climate, it is one of the most notorious prisoner-of-war camps. Some of the French officers held at Colditz 1943: In May, the Wehrmacht High Command decided that Colditz should house only Americans and British, so in June the Dutch were moved out, followed shortly thereafter by the Poles, the Belgians, and the French; with the final French group leaving 12 July, 1943. Only operated for 3 months from August until November 1942. Other prisoners of war, including Douglas Bader, distracted the guards and used signaling devices to help the escapers. Only Dutch officers and a few Soviet officers remained. Stalag VII-A Moosburg Bavaria Location N/E 48-12 (Work Camps 3324-46 Krumbachstrasse 48011, Work Camp 3368 Munich Location N/E 48-11). On 14 April 1945, as the U.S. Army approached, the officers were marched out of the camp. In the case of farm work, this was often carried out on state farms. Each camp contained a number of single-story wooden huts; 29 in Marlag and 36 in Milag. In the spring of 1942 only 500 Soviet POWs remained alive in the camp, all were then executed. The next larger transport (1067 prisoners) arrived on December 7th, 1939 also from Stargard, Oflag II-d. French officers were also brought to this camp after the defeat of France in 1940. Medical facilities were also situated just outside of the town. that had been held in Italian prisoner of war camps were transferred to Oflag IV-D. Fort 15 (XV) named after Jaroslwaw Dabrowskiego. This was closed down and the patients moved to Hohenstein-Ernsthal in February 1944. Most posed as French civilian workers, of whom there were many in Germany at the time. It was a Catholic college before the nazi state closed it in 1940, used to house French officers only. 6975 POWs were held here as of 26/2/43 and it originally opened in October 1942. | 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. Opened originally in July 1941, 2195other ranks were reported here on December30th 1942.. We have German AND Italiancamp listings in our fully searchable databases! Aalsmeer Restricted Residence For Civilians Aalsmeer Holland, Air Corps Transit Camp Verona Italy 45-11, Amsterdam Restricted Residence For Civilians Amsterdam Holland 52-05, Bad Godesberg Lazarett (Serves Stalag XVII-A) Godesberg Rheinland, Prussia 50-07, Bad Soden-Salmunster Hospital (Serves Stalag IX- Bad Soden Hessen-Nassau, Prussia 50-09, Bad Sulze Hospital (Serves Stalag IX-C) Bad Sulze Saxe-Weimar 51-11, Bagno A Ripoli Florence (Firenze) Italy 43-11, Bagnolo-Piano Civilian Internment Camp Bagnolo-Piano Italy 44-10, Beujon Hospital For Civilians Clichy France 49-02, Bratislava POW Camp Bratislava Czechoslovakia 48-17, Brenners Park-Hotel Baden-Baden Baden (Civilian Internment Camp) 48-08, Brens Civilian Internment Camp Tarn France 44-02, Brevannes Sanitorium For Civilians Paris France 49-02, Brides Les Bains Civilian Internment Camp Brides Les Bains France 45-06, Camp Chumen (Shumla) Chumen Bulgaria 43-27, Camp De Gurs Civilian Internment Camp Basses-Pyrenees France 43-01, Camp de Noe Civilian Internment Camp Noe France 43-01, Camp Leled, Near Esztergom, Hungary 47-19, Camp San Tomaso Della Fossa Civilian Internment Camp Near Bagnolo-Piano Italy 45-11, Casablanca POW Camp Morocco North Africa 33-07, Compiegne Civilian Internment Camp (Subordinate to Frontstalag 122) Compiegne France 49-03, Concentration Camp Buchenwald (Near Weimar) Thuringia, Germany 51-11, Deutscher Luftwaffen Lazarett 203, Budapest, Hungary 47-19, Deutscher Luftwaffen Teil, Lazarett 201, Budapest, Hungary 47-19, Egendorf Hospital (Serves Stalag IX-C) Egendorf Thuringia, Germany 51-11, Elsterhorst Hospital 742 (Serves Stalag 4-C & 4-A) Elsterhorst Saxony 51-14, Eppenhain Hospital Eppenhain Hessen-Nassau, Prussia 49-08, Feldpost 31703(23.4.1944-24.11.1944) 10.10.1944 Armee-Gefangenen-Sammelstelle 59 -POW gathering area -Dulag. The treatment was a repetition of previous camps, with the exception of food, of which there was virtually none. Stars: In 1942, Lager Norderney, containing Soviet and Polish POWs, and Lager Sylt, holding Jews, were placed under the control of SS Hauptsturmfhrer Max List. The Red Cross arranged them following the provisions of the third Geneva convention of 1929. It served also as a transit camp through which prisoners, including officers, were processed on their way to other camps. These are less 'sanitised' than the latter and sometimes include additional documents, annotations to the narrative, interrogators notes and Appendix B (see below). On each floor there were toilets and sinks with running cold water but no baths. Most data files are not currently available online however and would need either a personal visit by yourself or a professional researcher to seek these files out. Ron Arad - Israeli fighter pilot, shot down over Lebanon in 1986; not seen since 1988 and is presumed dead; Everett Alvarez, Jr. - Navy aviator, Vietnam War POW, held for 8 years, second longest period as a POW in American history (after Floyd James Thompson) B []. US, Serbian, Italian and French/Belgian POWs were held at this camp. Located at Prostken in Poland, close to Stalag Ib/PR. It then it became Oflag XXI-B for French and British Commonwealth officers, subsequently for Soviet officers until June 1943. While no discrete record holds these forms, they are occasionally found in War Crimes files. Director: The prisoners lived outdoors in dugouts until 1943 when 43 barrack huts were built, though due to overcrowding, many were still forced to live underground. The camp was liberated by Combat Command B of the U.S. 14th Armored Division on 6 April 1945. District IX Nearest City Altona, near Hamburg in the middle North of Germany. During World War II these packages augmented the often-meagre and deficient diets in the POW camps, contributing greatly to prisoner survival and an increase in morale. It was located around the village of Westertimke, about 30 km (19 mi) north-east of Bremen, though in some sources the camp's location is given as Tarmstedt, a larger village about 4 km (2.5 mi) to the west. | Opened July 1941, 119 other ranks were held here on 26/2/43. Disembarking in Italy, POWs were given a quick clean-up at their port of disembarkation, usually Brindisi or Taranto. 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. The camp housed around 2,500 British and 900 other commonwealth and allied nations' POWs and 7,500 USAAF in huts (10 x 12 metres) for 15 men with 3 tier bunks. Hence a person imprisoned under the main camp (Stalag III for example), could not have been kept there for the majority of his time as a POW and may have had an easier or harder experience than those kept elsewhere. Broke into Kommandant's office, cut hole into storeroom, out of storeroom in German and Polish orderly uniforms. It housed 224 British POW patients in March 1945. 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. This was the only Nazi concentration camp on British soil. I have attempted to include every camp, however, some have very few details even then if you notice anything missing please dont hesitate to contact us, its worth noting that many camps could/were known by location and locations were often misheard and then mistranscribed due to the language barrier in many instances. About 150 officers were preparing to get out through it. The final scenes very moving. Alfred Lynch, Between these two large buildings were another two smaller ones which had previously been the factory's administration blocks. Some of the Warsaw underground Jewish Fighting Organisation fought back but this couldnt stop the murder of the 14,000 prisoners and themselves. Also noted as 'Sforza costa Liguria' elsewhere, although this may be a mistake as PG 56 was in this location. Believed killed by SS at, Cut bars on north side of castle, reached wire fence. 161 officers were held here on 26/2/43 and it opened originally in June 1941. 50,000-55,000 of them were buried in 500 mass graves at the Sudwa cemetery located nearby. The Senior British Officer at Campo 78 was Lt Col Munro of the 2/3rd Anti-Tank Regiment AIF. It took them a further four days to reach safety in Switzerland. The Germans, however, always treated Merchant Navy seamen as POWs (as did the British from 1942). The camp was partially located on the grounds of the Tannenberg Memorial and initially included a set of wooden structures intended to house World War I veterans during Nazi festivities. Luftwaffe Lazarett IV/XI Wismar Mecklenberg. Recaptured they were returned to Stargard and spent 24 days in solitary confinement. Opened October 1940, closed March 1944 and redesignated as Oflag 67 (LXVII). These documents were not kept with the main report but passed to the appropriate Allied authorities investigating alleged war crimes. camp for captured Allies goes through a series of failed escapes only to culminate in a daring plan for a dramatic mass escape. In late September 1939 the camp was changed to a prisoner-of-war camp to house Polish soldiers from the September Campaign, particularly those from the Pomorze Army. Alec Guinness, Lieutenant Leo de Hartog holding 'Moritz', one of the two dummy heads of POWs made to mislead German guards during daily roll calls. Sandbostel lies 9 km south of Bremervrde, 43 km northeast of Bremen. Tobacco could be bought in bulk and sent directly via Switzerland via the tobacco companies themselves also. Eventually, the Stutthof camp system became a vast network of forced-labour camps; 105 Stutthof subcamps were established throughout northern and central Poland. Kriegslazarett Kriegslazarett-Abteilung 604 - Military Hospital in the, (3.10.1944) Stalag 304 Zeithain (Soviet POWS), British & Imperial Prisoners of War held in Germany WWII. Other mainly administrative and policy files on merchant navy POWs are dispersed among FO 916, MT 9 (code 106), FO 371, WO 32 (code 91A). That month there were a total of 38,831 prisoners registered at the camp. Brian Keith, Colditz was meant to be completely safe, impregnable and impossible to escape from. 1945: On 19 January six French Generals Lieutenant-General Jean Adolphe Louis Robert Flavigny, Major-General Louis Lon Marie Andr Buisson, Major-General Arsne Marie Paul Vauthier, Brigadier-General Albert Joseph Daine, and Brigadier-General Ren Jacques Mortemart de Boisse were brought from the camp at Knigstein to Colditz Castle. Additional wooden barrack huts were also constructed on the grounds, to accommodate the camp's growing prisoner population. 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. The Soviets handed out some of the Red cross parcels stockpiled here and the water supply had been cut off by 1st May. In the third section were 8,000 civilian prisoners in appalling conditions, described in the Army medical history as "utterly horrifying"; "everywhere the dead and dying sprawled amid the slime of human excrement.". In 1941 more officer prisoners arrived from the Balkans Campaign mostly British, Yugoslavian, Serbs and Greeks. Peter Parker, November 1939 - Polish officers and a small number of orderlies were transported to Hadamar from other collection camps in Poland. learnt some new things about the castle which didn't know beforehand. Despite harsh conditions in the living chambers, the officers were granted relative freedom and had a part of the fortress gardens at their disposal. In 1943, after the withdrawal of Italy from the war, the German army transferred Allied officers from camps in Italy, such as Sulmona, to Hadamar. Even though the camp housed civilians, it continued to be operated by the German Army. However many of them were located in sub-camps. Once their work was complete the Poles were relocated, and the first inhabitants of the camp were Dutch and Belgian. | P.G. They were moved to a different location closer to Cuxhaven, to Westertimke, in 1942. The Thorn Complex was a sub-camp of the concentration camp in Sztutowic (German: Stutthof). Within a couple of months, the civilians were moved out and prisoners from the invasion of Poland arrived. Every prisoner-of-war camp in Italy had a squad of Carabinieri Reali, the police force who were known for their efficiency. Stars: Small groups of prisoners were employed also in Lodz factories. On 8 September 1943, the day of the Italian Armistice, the gates at the Bologna POW camp were thrown open and those inside invited by their guards to break for freedom. E.g. The camp held mostly Indians and Cypriots. Dona Bradman, Stalag II-A Neubrandenburg Mecklenberg location N/E 53-13. The camp was opened on 6 June 1944, and by July held 230 prisoners, all RAF flying crews. They were forced to march under guard about 1520 miles (2432 km) per day. 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. | Gross: Stalag XII-C Wiesbaden Hessen-Nassau, Prussia Location N/E 50-08, Stalag XII-D Waldbreitbach Rheinland, Prussia Location N/E 50-07. As well as giving personal details, name, rank, number, unit and home address, these records can include: date and place of capture; main camps and hospitals in which imprisoned and work camps; serious illnesses suffered while a prisoner and medical treatment received; interrogation after capture; escape attempts; sabotage; suspicion of collaboration by other Allied prisoners; details of bad treatment by the enemy to themselves or others. The Germans found spoil from the tunnel and searched the camp, but failed to find it. 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