Eventually, every state (with the exceptions of Nevada, North Dakota, and … The Germans allowed us to go on to the playing field when it suited them (It was denied for some time after the Great Escape). Some men would be put to work either around the camp or in the locality. meth sal. German POW’s captured by the Russians faced similar prospects. To do this, the Germans had separated off some huts to form their admin centre or vorlager and then surrounded the remaining huts with a double row of barbed wire, about 4 metres high, with a gap of a metre between the rows. This was performed by Monteuuis with Cornish giving Evipan. Oflags (ringed in red on the map) were German prison camps for officers while Stalags (ringed in blue) were for both officers and enlisted men. Scott Michael Rank, Ph.D., is the editor of History on the Net and host of the History Unplugged podcast. Initially in charge was Hauptman Wemer until the number of POW’s grew and the Oberst (Colonel) arrived. Prisoner-of-war camps in the United States during World War II.. The Three Great Pandemics, Syphilis – Its early history and Treatment until Penicillin and the Debate on its Origins, History of Tuberculosis. Out into the cold night air (it was about 2020 hours) count 5, pull the rip cord, a jagging thrust In the thighs and back and… utter silence. In Belorussia only pavilions (structures How many thousands depends on who you ask. They were run by the Luftwaffe and were initially intended to house airforce prisoners. sent to a hospital east of Belaria with Cornish as part of the escort. The whole trip from Belaria had taken 8 days and we had marched over 80km and the rest by rail. Also read any book from General George Patton (who released all his German prisoners) and wrote in 1945 that Eisenhower was using “Gestapo methods” in torturing and killing German POWs by the thousands. He had an old compound fracture of be thigh, which took a hell of a long time to heal and was obviously very painful, but he did not complain once and always had a grin. This was a POW camp for Allied Officers who were flying personnel. Pot. However, for most, the overriding features of life in a prisoner of war camp were boredom, hunger and dreams of a better life once the war was over. First World War . Those captured in the later stages of the war were sent to Russia and made to carry out heavy labour in prison camps dotted about the USSR. Hot water and a barley porridge was prepared in the kitchen where the Red Cross food parcels were stored and issued weekly under German supervision. However, army pattern clothing became available, ration controlled, possibly obtained through Red Cross sources but undoubtedly some was material captured by the Germans in various places. This figure, when compared with the 8,348 Western Allied prisoners who died in German POW camps (of a total of 232,000) starkly demonstrates the radically different treatment given to both groups. There were also two cupboards, one for linen and the other for food storage and medical supplies. All Rights Reserved. 2-hrly Bronchitis, received inhalations and mist Ipecac. After WWII, German POWs were enlisted to rebuild France In France, their internment lasted a particularly long time. And the debate about the Soviet treatment of German POWs continues long after World War II ended. The leg had had a walking plaster put on and a heel made of wood with a piece of rubber tyre covering it. The following article on German POW camps in World War Two is an excerpt from Barrett Tillman’ D-Day Encyclopedia. 2 He had very black hair and a black moustache which came down over his mouth and which he frequently chewed, when he was not smoking. I still can't believe it took me so long to hear about all of these POW camps and how they have been buried in our There were around 1,000 Prisoner-of-War camps in Germany during World War II.Germany was a signatory at the Third Geneva Convention, which established the provisions relative to the treatment of Prisoners of War. Even in the communities which formerly hosted POW camps for Germans, local residents often do not know the camps ever existed. Activity in this sea involved musicians, actors, painters, electricians and tailors (to make costumes) These gentlemen were also invaluable in altering uniforms to make them like civvy clothes for escape purposes. Place: Germany Copyright: Public . At intervals the train would stop and all the prisoners would be expected to get out of the train to either relieve themselves or empty their bowels by the side of the track. If it was necessary to add Prontosil, their fluids were pushed with mist. All this time the 400 or so US Army Air Corps who had shared Belaria with us had been our companions but now the Germans separated us and moved them off in a different direction. Because he spoke German, Geoff Cornish and one med. Even so, a small proportion of POWs did not take part and “turned their faces to the wall”. Hot water was made available twice daily from the camp kitchen in jugs. If we had it, to reduce the risk of crystalluria, or kidney damage. Of these, over 120,000 lived out part of the war behind barbed wire. Cuts & Wounds  These were usually the result of carelessness or abrasions from falling. War is hell! Cuts, bruises and sprains were everyday problems. These all formed the staff of the Lazaret with German approval. 281,344 German prisoners were being held in 132 base camps and 334 branch camps, and by April 1945, the number of German POWs had increased to 340,407.3 The first prisoners shipped to this country, how ever, were At Balaria: Jan 44 to Jan 45 (Weekly per man   approx), At Luckenwalde: Feb-May 1945 (Daily per man   approx), 165 gm Margarine (6 oz)165 gm Honey or Jam60 gm Cheese, ½ cup Mint tea twice daily2/3 litre Soup (Pea, Cabbage, Meat or Barley)300 gm Dauerbrot, LIST OF MEDICAL SUPPLIES    (I am relying on memory), Ung. It is estimated that, out of 257,000 POWs, about 80,000 were subject to such marches and up to 3,500 of them died as a result. Parts of the camp in between huts were used as ‘allotments’ to grow a few vegetables but the soil was very poor, although potatoes and tomatoes would grow. The POW camps at Lethbridge and Medicine Hat, Alberta, were the largest in North America.. Camps for Civilians . He survived. Placed on swampy ground,with a damp, cold climate, it is one of the most notorious prisoner-of-war camps. On another was a playing field area, also surrounded by barbed wire. He was pigeon-toed and constantly gave the Germans the idea he was a bit mad, walking round the compound pretending he had a dog on a lead. Pot. All these gave some purpose to life. These were either Unteroffiziers or Gefreiters (Corporal or Soldiers) who wore blue dungarees with a belt and a small Mauser pistol. Life in captivity can hardly be called a piece of cake. The rest of the POWs took the tables from their rooms, up-turned them, knocked off the legs, nailed them to the table top to make runners and tied a cord to the sledge so produced. In the communist realms, the conditions that German POWs, many just kids, endured on the Eastern Front were beyond grim and did not follow any accepted protocol for treatment of captured soldiers. As the bombing of Germany increased, the rail communications were increasingly weakened. We were allowed to sleep in the room and they fed us thick soup. The Lazaret had a long room (about 40 ft by 15 ft) with a bench down one side, cupboards underneath and a washing sink. Site created in November 2000. Luckily for us, the puncturing took place just before the parcels were issued so the tins were only punctured for a few minutes before we got them and we sealed them quickly. In the ensuing melee the POW w back to his hut but was shot in the stomach and was taken to hospital. In 1939 there were only two Prisoner of War camps in Britain. Half of one hut was given over to a sick-quarters or ‘Lazaret’. A POW got drunk on “kriegie hooch” (made from raisins from Australian bulk issue; soaked in water; the raisins had a crust of sugar and yeast and this fermented). The first full-scale POW camps in the U.S. opened on Feb. 1, 1943 in ; ; In the first months of Operation Barbarossa, few Germans were captured by Red Army forces.After the Battle of Moscow and the retreat of the German forces the number of prisoners in the Soviet prisoner of war camps rose to 120,000 by early 1942. Stalag X-B was a World War II German Prisoner-of-war camp located near Sandbostel in north-western Germany. Their prisoners of war lived several years (up till five) in regions with German names, with towns and villages with German names. The vessel was destroyed in action off the Canary Islands in 1943. Of these, one in three died from starvation, work, punishments or from diseases for which there were no medicines to treat. This plaster was removed in mid February and I will always be GRATEFUL TO PETE Brewer for his efforts with my rehabilitation. The ground came closer and I could see snow around but I was probably dazed by a blow I had received in the aircraft when a cannon shell hit my instrument panel and glass and metal went everywhere. During the Second World War, Dresden contained many prisoners of war (POWs) behind German lines under terrible conditions. Most of the others mentioned were involved in the escape area. He was fiercely dedicated to his patients, within the very severe limitations of camp life, and used to try and teach his helpers bits of anatomy and physiology during the evenings after work. During World War II, the Germans held American POWs in a system of nearly 100 camps spread throughout German-occupied territory. Next morning, we held an early sick parade (0700 hours) mainly of aching legs, blisters and frostbite. I can’t remember where the seeds came from for this venture. We could not store much because the Germans used to puncture all the tins at each end and the food would go bad if left too long. Originally Belaria was full of POW from Commonwealth Air Forces but extra huts were built to house US Army Air Corps officers as more and more were shot down. They were magnificent and one, Peter Brewer, was also a masseur, which was invaluable. It had been planned by Goering himself as a “super” camp because he was a WWI flyer himself. Since it is the duty of POWs (especially officers) to escape when possible, much camp activity was geared to acquiring maps, making “ausweiss” (passes), civil clothing from uniforms, photographs and of course tunneling. We left as a column of about 1000 men and the medical team brought up the rear. Tinea cruris & pedis was quite common and usually responded to Whitfield’s ointment. Journal of Military and Veterans’ Health (JMVH). There was no regularity about this and we had to make them last. Monteuuis would ask, “Can you fart with confidence?” If “yes” generally stop medicine. and rest in bed and fluids ++. A train arrived with the inevitable cattle trucks and we were taken to Luckenwalde, south-east of Berlin. Erysipelas…2 or 3 cases occurred and responded to hot dry packs and Prontosil. Before each operation we’d been reminded at briefing that, if captured, we would give only rank and name. Cotton bandages of various widths were available, and we used to wash the soiled ones to use again. At the close of World War II, the prisoners were returned to their homeland under the terms of surrender. Not the Image but Reality: British POW Experiences In Italian and German Camps by Peter Liddle & Ian Whitehead Peter Liddle has a long-standing commitment to the study of captivity and for some years too has worked with Dr Ian Whitehead from the University of Derby in a number of publications related to the First and Second World Wars. Part 1 – Phthisis, consumption and the White Plague. The Germans organised 2 sick carts for the next stage of our journey which was to Birkenstadt some 14 km further and we arrived again at about 1600 with the light fading at a farm worked by a Russian family, who gave us (the medical team) their own sleeping quarters for a sick-room and a bed room. My arm was taken out of plaster at the end of January 1944 and I spent 1/2 hour 3 times a day “climbing up the wall” to overcome the bruising and avoid ankylosis. It is available for order now from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.Â. Other topics were used to give instruction and a library was started with books sent over the years to POWs. Event Date: April 1945 Title: German POWs; liberated French soldiers; DPs on the road; German civilians loot a warehouse. Even in POW camps in Germany, Soviet POWs had often been left for months to vegetate in trenches, dugouts or sod houses. [17] [28] Reunions of camp inmates, their captors and local townspeople such as those held in Maine and Georgia have garnered press coverage and local interest for this unusual and infrequently mentioned aspect of the war on the American home front. The German doctor was Stabs. But, for some former soldiers, it was a path to rehabilitation. The German staff were members of the Luftwaffe. Of the almost 100,000 Germans captured following the Battle of Stalingrad, only 5,000 survived the war. Each of these held between 2,000 and 3,000 German POWs. During the Second World War, Dresden contained many prisoners of war (POWs) behind German lines under terrible conditions. The more severe and those who were pyrexial would be admitted to the Lazaret. The trigger-happy guard fired at him and hit him in the hand causing a fracture of 3 metacarpals. North Carolina had 2 major POW base camps: specially barbed-wire-enclosed camps within the larger American military bases at Camp Butner and at Fort Bragg. This article on German POW camps is from the book D-Day Encyclopedia, © 2014 by Barrett Tillman. Within the perimeter, a wooden rail was placed about half a metre from the ground and 3 metres from the wire to mark the limits of movement for prisoners. Food supplies for POWs in German camps varied in portions and quality depending on how well the Germans were doing, so the theory was that the Red Cross parcels would provide an extra 1,000 calories a day. More severe cases (frequent bowel motions not seen to be responding to medicine & diet, perhaps pyrexial) were admitted and Twee would perform the ‘fork test’… a stool specimen was obtained and if faeces passed through fork prongs, bed and sulphaguanidine was the treatment. German prisoner-of-war camps in World War II; This article includes a list of related items that share the same name (or similar names). If it looked like one was getting too curious about activities related to escaping some body (usually a German speaker) would be detailed to engage him in conversation and so head him off. On 16 December 1943, I was sitting at the Navigator’s seat in a very noisy Lancaster bomber over Berlin when something occurred that changed the pattern of my life. The above map shows some of the German POW camps were located in Nazi-occupied countries during the second world war. Blisters were common. We arrived at Gross Selten at 1530 at a large farm run by Germans and they allowed the medics to use an out house which had a boiler room where we were able to sleep. Sixteen million Americans served in World War II. Part of Lists of Prisoner-of-War Camps section in the Prisoner-of-war camp article. He became so anxious that he organised a “Fire Drill” team consisting of the patient in the bed next to him having a large cardboard fan while on the other side was a patient with a huge chunk of cotton wool and a basin of cold water. I was the camp doctor’s first patient at the Lazaret. Prisoners often improvised their own brick stoves and cooked their food in empty milk tins. We gave them 3 cheers as they pulled out and they went off singing songs like Dixie and McNamara’s Band. The Russians were then at Breslau (Wroclaw) some 35 km away and snow was 1/2 metre thick on the ground and still falling. ...for possible inclusion in JMVH. German POW camps of WW II are hard to locate today. This activity was under the control of ‘X’ wing Commander Bob Tuck, who organised a system that kept tabs on all ferret movements. Skin Lesions. These parcels were either British, Canadian, American, or New Zealand, plus an occasional Australian, or Argentine bulk issue. Our cart contained as much medical supplies as possible, plus invalid comfort parcels and our own food and personal items. . Returning from the hospital, Geoff offered the guard some cigarettes if they would take him to a hotel for a beer… which they did! When we arrived, the ration was 1 parcel between 2 men per week and in the heyday became 1 per man per week, but this did not last for long and reduced until when we left Belaria in January 1945 ahead of the Russian advance from the East. He recalls making toys one … Around 10,000 German prisoners were sent to Florida, in two major camps: Camp Blanding and Camp Gordon Johnston. After the guard closed the gate and wrapped a large chain round the post and padlocked it, he uttered in English (probably all he knew) that deathless prose we were to hear so many times “For you, the war is over!”. This could be melted off by heating the empty tins and put over the puncture holes made by the Germans and so reseal the tins. Before being sent to a camp, a captured prisoner of war had to pass through a Dulag, short for the German Durchgangslager. Indeed, with the German soldiers interacting with American guards and Alabama residents, the presence of Axis POWs brought the war to the Alabama homefront in a unique way. Union was played but the ground was very stony and injuries were common. These “Kriegies,” short for Kriegsgefangener (German for POW) counted the days until liberation and created dream worlds for themselves inside the camps. Daily routine varied from camp to camp but all prisoners would be expected to parade at least once daily for a roll-call. America’s first POW in World War Two wasn’t German, but Japanese. Bad luck! Sandbostel lies 9 km south of Bremervörde, 43 km northeast of Bremen. Please use this data for any reference citations. The American Red Cross inspected the camps to monitor conditions, but there were few complaints, as the German POWs had heard rumors of the horrible conditions in Russian POW camps. Classes in German, French and even Russian started. It was at the end of the column so that any sick marchers could drop out of the column and be picked up as we passed. These were old lags who had escaped once or twice and the Germans sensed something was afoot at North Compound in the way of an escape and removed those they considered ringleaders, including WGCDR Bob Tuck and Geoff Cornish. Cit. We stayed there a second day and, being very tired, enjoyed this. Prisoners were usually housed in one-storey wooden barracks which contained bunk beds (two or three high) and a charcoal burning stove in the middle of the room. Though prison camps provided some shelter, they didn’t offer great protection against the weather, particularly the cold of winter.Food became a huge preoccupation for prisoners. Cit. This was when numbers in the camp shot up and Dr. Monteuuis, who was known as ‘Twee’, after find finding out that I had been a medical student, asked me to join the Lazaret staff to help out, about April 1944. In the winter, we hacked the frozen ground and made a small circular mound, 3-4 inches high and about 25 metres across on the playing field and flooded this with water to make an ice rink and play ice hockey, courtesy of skates sent by the Red Cross. ). Belaria had apparently been a cadet training area for the Wehrmacht before it was turned into a prisoner of war camp. Needless to say hunger was a feature of most prisoners’ lives. Using an old kit bag, a rough pump could he made and connected to the pipes so produced to provide at air circulation underground for the tunnelers. Of these, 22,376 were Australians of whom 7,777 died. Of these, one in three died from starvation, work, punishments or from diseases for which there were no medicines to treat. Belaria also had a ration store with a kitchen attached and an “abort”…an 8-holer in 2 rows of seats. By Eric Stephenson It was extraordinary how ‘busy’ we were, just fixing up the POWs with their ailments, with which they reported very readily; after all, there was little else to do. The result was a magnificent piece of surgery involving some 20 sutures. This was done by having the one carpenter in our midst making seats from Red Cross boxes in which the parcels were brought to the camp. We slept in 3 feet of hay that night and German bread and cheese was issued. Well how are things at Spilsby”…my home base. Some camps functioned as mini-societies, with their There were more than 140,000 white prisoners in Japanese POW camps. If you are a former Prisoner of War or a next of kin of a POW, we invite you to sign and leave your email address so … The POW camps at Lethbridge and Medicine Hat, Alberta, were the largest in North America. Prisoners were generally given two meals a day – thin soup and black bread. Conditions in Stalag IX-B were the worst of any POW camp, but they were recalled fondly by the Americans transferred to Berga, who discovered the main purpose for their imprisonment was to serve as slave laborers . Conditions for workers in Japanese POW camps were extremely bad and many people died as a result of the inhumane treatment. My interrogator spoke perfect English and began (when he saw my plasters) “Oh! As Soviet ground forces approached some POW camps in early 1945, German guards forced western Allied POWs to walk long distances towards central Germany, often in extreme winter weather conditions. Under the terms of the Geneva Convention prisoners only had to give details of their name, rank and serial number but interrogating officers often tried to trick captured servicemen into giving away more information through clever questioning. The German POW camps in Michigan were an interesting part of Michigan's history that I am glad to have found. Tin bashers were those who used tins obtained from Red Cross parcels to make trays and dishes for cooking purposes. Furthermore, services sprang up quickly which enabled those who were determined and interested in keeping their lives going. Next day we walked 7km to Spremberg railway junction, by now out of pre-war Poland and in Germany. Five days later, the POWs arrived in Berga, a quaint German town of 7,000 people on the Elster River, whose concentration camps appear on few World War II maps. ... April is the Ohio staff writer for Only in Your State. Otherwise mobilise slowly with food from the invalid comfort parcels. German POWs in the USSR In the first months of Operation Barbarossa, few Germans were captured by Red Army forces.After the Battle of Moscow and the retreat of the German forces the number of prisoners in the Soviet prisoner of war camps rose to 120,000 by early 1942. Here you will find the internets largest and most complete research on the WWII POW Stalag Luft camps for airmen in Germany. Many German captives were sent to labour camps in the depths of Russia, where hunger, exhaustion and freezing conditions killed thousands. The most well known German prisoner of war camps were known as either Stalags, short for the German word Stammlager, or Oflags, short for the German Offizier Lager. Prisoners would then be transported to a prisoner of war camp. We had started off later that day and it was almost dark when we arrived at our destination but we were allocated a farm outhouse again, fortunately with lights. You can also buy the book by clicking on the buttons to the left. We stayed there a second day and had a very heavy sick parade that day. Still, they also had some Schnapps! Five days later, the POWs arrived in Berga, a quaint German town of 7,000 people on the Elster River, whose concentration camps appear on few World War II maps. Metal splints like lattice were sometimes to be had and used again and again, either padded with cotton wool or bandages. The other was the case of a New Zealander, in his mid 20s, who developed phimosis which required circumcision. Dresden was home to Stalag*(prisoners of war camp) IV-A or 4-A of the German prisoner of war camps. Cases in Lazaret: Inpatients & Outpatients. About 400,000 Axis prisoners of war captured during World War II were dispatched to 500 camps around the United States. They gave us food which they cooked and we talked with them as best we could in bits of English, French and German but the only common language was “dog Latin”! This was a feature of the tunnel which let out 78 POWs in the North Camp in 1944. In the camp, POWs were ‘on parade’ twice daily for roll call and the ferrets used to inspect the huts while we were parading. Later a case of deep melancholia was, Ampoules of Sterile Water & sodium chloride, Prontosil Powder (M&B 693 -Sulphapyridine). In the mid 1990's, Jensen along with members of the Yellowstone Historical Society, were the first to do extensive research on the camps in Montana. Map of prisoner of war camps in world war II Germany World War II - Prisoners of War - Stalag Luft I A collection of stories, photos, art and information on Stalag Luft I . Review, Definition of Terrorism – Social and Political Effects, The History of Plague – Part 1. We traveled about 15 km that day and later in the morning, the SBO as part of his routine came back to the tail and of the column. 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