Stalag II-B
Stalag II-B | |
---|---|
Hammerstein ( International Red Cross led by Prof. Carl Jacob Burckhardt inspect POWs at Stalag II-B, 9 August 1941 | |
Coordinates | 53°41′07″N 16°54′35″E / 53.6853°N 16.9096°E |
Type | Prisoner-of-war camp |
Site information | |
Controlled by | Nazi Germany |
Site history | |
In use | 1939–1945 |
Battles/wars | World War II |
Garrison information | |
Occupants | Polish, French, Belgian, Serbian, Dutch, Soviet, Italian, American, Senegalese, Malagasy, Tunisian, Moroccan, Algerian and other Allied prisoners of war |
Stalag II-B was a German
Camp history
The camp was situated on a former army training ground (Übungsplatz), and had been used during
Since October 1939, Polish POWs were sent to newly formed forced labour subcamps in the area, to work in forestry and agriculture.[4] Eventually POWs of various nationalities were sent to numerous forced labour subcamps (Arbeitskommando) located in various cities, towns and villages in Pomerania and northern Greater Poland.[5] Many POWs often recalled German abuse in the subcamps.[6]
On the initiative of the Polish POWs, a camp infirmary was organized, led by Polish doctor and POW Edmund Mroczkiewicz.[7] The infirmary was also the focal point of the Polish resistance organization Odra, and Mroczkiewicz was its member.[8] The organization was involved in intelligence, diversion and sabotage actions.[8]
The construction of the second camp, Lager-Ost ("East Compound") began in June 1941 to accommodate the large numbers of Soviet prisoners taken in Operation Barbarossa. It was located south of the railway tracks. In November 1941 a typhoid fever epidemic broke out in Lager-Ost, which lasted until March 1942, claiming some 40,000-50,000 victims.[9] The Germans decided to treat the epidemic only when the first cases of disease occurred among German personnel.[3] A total of 38,383 Soviet POWs were held Stalag II B.[10]
There were attempts to escape from the camp or its subcamps. German guards shot at those escaping without warning, and POWs captured after a chase were either murdered or sent to penal subcamps and later to concentration camps, mainly Gross-Rosen and Stutthof.[3]
In August 1943 the first American prisoners arrived, having been taken prisoner in the Tunisian campaign. From September 1943, also Italian POWs were brought to the camp.[1] In April 1945 the camp was liberated by the Soviet Red Army.
United States Army Official Report, 1 November 1945
The prison
In August 1943 the Stalag was reported as newly opened to privates of the US ground forces with a strength of 451. The Hammerstein installation acted as a headquarters for work detachments in the region and seldom housed more than one fifth of the POWs credited to it. Thus at the end of May 1944, although the strength was listed as 4,807, only 1,000 of these were in the enclosure. At its peak in January 1945, the camp strength was put at 7,200 Americans, with some 5,315 of these out on 9 major Arbeitskommando ("Work Companies").[11]
Description
The camp sprawled over 25 acres (10 ha) surrounded by the usual two
German personnel
- Commandant - Oberstleutnant Von Bernuth
- Commandant - Oberst Von Keppler
- Executive Officer - Oberstleutnant Segars
- Kommando Officer - Hauptmann Springer
- Security Officer- Hauptmann Giesel
- Medical Officer- Hauptmann Wagner
- Chief Censor - Unteroffizier Krause
- Lager NCO - Feldwebel Kohler
- Kommando NCO - Unteroffizer Wendorf
Treatment of prisoners
Forced labor
Except for housekeeping chores benefiting POWs, no work was performed in the Stalag. All men fit to work were set out to Kommandos where conditions approximated the following: A group of 29 Americans were taken under guard to a huge farm 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) from Słupsk (then Stolp), where 12 French POWs were already working without guards. Americans were billeted in a section of a large brick-floored barn. Adjoining sections were occupied by pigs, cattle and grain. POWs slept on double-decker bunk beds under two blankets. The French had a small building of their own. Guards lived in a small room opening onto the Americans' quarters.[11]
Each day the men rose at 06:00 and breakfasted on
On Sundays, the guard permitted POWs to lounge or to walk back and forth in the "yard" all day, but they spent a good deal of their time scrubbing their barracks and washing their clothing. Sunday dinner from the farm usually include a meat pudding and cheese. Once a month each POW received a large Red Cross food box containing four regulation Red Cross parcels. These were transmitted to distant Kommandos by rail and to nearby units by German Army trucks. Parcels were stored in the guards' room until issued. The average tour of duty on a farm Kommando lasted indefinitely. On other work detachments it lasted until the specific project had been completed.[11]
Evacuation and liberation
On 28 January 1945, POWs received instructions to be ready to evacuate the camp at 08:00 hours the following morning. Upon receipt of these instructions,
After the first day, the column was broken down into three groups of 400 men each, with NCOs in charge of each group. For the next three months, the column was on the move, marching an average of 22 kilometres (14 mi) a day 6 days a week. German rations were neither regular nor adequate. At almost every stop McMahan bartered coffee, cigarettes, or chocolate for potatoes which he issued to the men. Bread, the most important item, was not issued regularly. When it was needed most it was never available. The soup was, as a rule, typical watery German soup, but several times POW got a good, thick dried-pea soup. Through the activity of some of the key NCOs, Red Cross food was obtained from POW camps passed by the column on the march.[11]
Without it, it is doubtful that the majority of men could have finished the march. The ability of the men to steal helped a lot. The weather was atrocious. It always seemed to be either bitter cold or raining or snowing. Quarters were usually unheated barns and stables. Sometimes they slept unsheltered on the ground; sometimes they were fortunate enough to find a heated barn. Except for one period when Red Cross food was exhausted and guards became surly, morale of the men remained at a high level. Practically all the men shaved at every opportunity and kept their appearance as neat as possible under the circumstances. From time to time weak POWs would drop out of the column and wait to be picked up by other columns which were on the move.[11]
Thus at
See also
- List of POW camps in Germany
References
- ^ a b c d e f Megargee, Overmans & Vogt 2022, p. 394.
- ^ Czajkowska 2022, p. 18.
- ^ a b c d e Czajkowska 2022, p. 20.
- ^ Czajkowska 2022, p. 17.
- ^ "Les Kommandos". Stalag IIB Hammerstein, Czarne en Pologne (in French). Retrieved 27 March 2021.
- ^ Megargee, Overmans & Vogt 2022, p. 395.
- ^ Czajkowska 2022, pp. 17–18.
- ^ a b Czajkowska 2022, p. 22.
- ^ Czajkowska 2022, p. 19.
- ^ Otto, Keller & Nagel 2008, p. 576.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "American Prisoners of War in Germany : Stalag IIB". Military Intelligence Service. 1 November 1945. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
- Czajkowska, Agata (2022). "Stalag II B Hammerstein. Obóz jeńców wojennych 1939-1945 na pomorzu zachodnim". Biuletyn Informacyjny AK (in Polish). Vol. 7, no. 385. ISSN 1233-8567.
- Megargee, Geoffrey P.; Overmans, Rüdiger; Vogt, Wolfgang (2022). The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV. ISBN 978-0-253-06089-1.
- Otto, Reinhard; Keller, Rolf; Nagel, Jens (2008). "Sowjetische Kriegsgefangene in deutschem Gewahrsam 1941–1945: Zahlen und Dimensionen" (PDF). Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte (in German). 56 (4): 557–602. S2CID 144568410.
External links
- Records of World War II Prisoners of War (1942-1947)
- Description of camp Archived 2018-10-30 at the Wayback Machine (in Polish)
- Stalag II-B (in French)