Stalag VII-A
Encyclopedia
During World War II
, Stalag VII-A (short for Kriegsgefangenen-Mannschafts-Stammlager VII-A) was Germany
's largest prisoner-of-war camp
, located just north of the town of Moosburg
in southern Bavaria
. The camp covered an area of 35 ha. (85 acres). It served also as a transit camp through which prisoners, including officers, were processed on their way to other camps. At some time during the war, prisoners from every nation fighting against Germany passed through it. At the time of its liberation on 29 April 1945, there were about 80,000 prisoners in the camp, mostly from France and the Soviet Union. Many others were billeted in Arbeitskommando
working in factories, repairing railroads or on farms.
prisoners from the German September 1939 offensive. They arrived while the wooden barracks were under construction and for several weeks lived in tents.
British
, French
, Belgian
and Dutch
soldiers taken prisoner during the Battle of France
started arriving in May 1940. Many were transferred on to other camps, but close to 40,000 French remained at Stalag VII-A throughout the war.
British
, Greek
and Yugoslavia
prisoners arrived from the Balkans Campaign in May and June 1941. A few months later Soviet prisoners started arriving, mostly officers. At the end of the war there were still 27 Soviet generals in Moosburg who had survived the mistreatment that they, like all Soviet prisoners, had been subjected to.
More British Commonwealth
and Polish prisoners came from the North African campaign
and the offensive against the Italian-held islands in the Mediterranean. They were brought here from Italian
PoW camps after the Armistice with Italy
in September 1943, including many who escaped at that time and were recaptured. Italian soldiers were also imprisoned.
The first American
arrivals came after the Tunisia Campaign
in December 1942, and the Italian Campaign
in 1943. Large numbers of Americans were captured in the Battle of the Bulge
in December 1944.
Among the last arrivals were officers from Stalag Luft III
who had been force-marched from Sagan in Silesia
(now Żagań
), Poland
). They arrived 2 February 1945. They were followed by more prisoners marched from other camps threatened by the advancing Soviets, including part of the American officers that had been marched from Oflag 64
in Szubin
, via Oflag XIII-B
, under their senior officer Lt.Col. Paul Goode.
During the 5½ years about 1000 prisoners died at the camp, over 800 of them Soviets. They were buried in a cemetery in Oberreit, south of Moosburg. Most died from illness, some from injuries during work. It has been said that there were some casualties from Allied bombs at work sites.
Major Karl August Meinel, 1 August 1942, was shifted into the Führerreserve
, because on 13 January 1942 he wrote a critical report to General Hermann Reinecke
on the segregation and execution of Russian prisoners of war in Stalag VII-A by the Gestapo and the Sicherheitsdienst
SD (security service) of the Reichsführer SS (Heinrich Himmler
).
Captain Charles M. Shaw, St. Louis, MO, B-17 Navigator, 351st Bomb Group, 8th Air Force, escaped April 8, 1945 as he posed as a laborer on a work detail. He made it to Munich, where he made contact with the resistance and took the "Levasseur Trail" to Kempten, Germany. There, he was hidden by a German Allied sympathizer, Oscar Steiger. He waited almost a week to try to cross into Switzerland, but instead met the American 44th Infantry Division of the 7th Army on April 25. Surprisingly, he followed Richard Atchison, another American POW who escaped and was at the same residence of Oscar Steiger. Both Shaw and Atchison were prisoners at Stalag Luft III where they made a failed escape attempt together. The Shaw family in St. Louis has letters from the resistance individuals that helped and Oscar Steiger.
after a pitched battle with a large defending force of 5,000-7,000 German troops. Foremost among the defending units was the 17th SS Panzer Grenadier Division supported by a few remaining self-propelled guns and 88 mm antitank guns. Combat Command A had a total strength of 1,750 officers and men, including only a single company of armored infantrymen. The American force learned of the existence of the camp and its approximate location only a few hours before the attack. Because so many Allied POWs were in the area, the U.S. artillery, a major factor in any attack, was ordered not to fire, and remained silent during the attack. POWs inside the wire heard the Germans open fire on the American liberators as they crossed a bridge leading into Moosburg. The American response was instantaneous. Outnumbered, but not outgunned, the men of the combat command waded into the SS troops with a ferocity and volume of weapons fire that stunned even the most veteran SS officers. Resistance was eliminated, and the camp liberated. Among the 130,000 Allied POWs liberated were 30,000 American soldiers, sailors, airmen, and even a few marines. It was the largest single liberation of American POWs in the history of the US military. Following the war, the U.S. Army officially designated the 14th Armored Division as the "LIBERATORS" for liberating so many American and Allied POWs from German camps. See the link below for the complete story of the liberation.
A memorial
to inmates of Stalag VII-A was built. It is a fountain located in the center of Neustadt. It consists of four Bas-reliefs created out of local stone by the French sculptor Antoniucci Volti while he was a prisoner in the camp.
In 1958 the Oberreit cemetery was closed. 866 bodies were exhumed and reburied at the military cemetery in Schwabstadl near Landsberg. The bodies of 33 Italians were reburied at the Italian Memorial Cemetery near Munich. In 1982 the Moosburg City Council purchased a plot at the site of the old Oberreit cemetery and erected a wooden cross with a simple stone remembering the dead of Stalag VII-A.
'
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Stalag VII-A (short for Kriegsgefangenen-Mannschafts-Stammlager VII-A) was Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
's largest prisoner-of-war camp
Prisoner-of-war camp
A prisoner-of-war camp is a site for the containment of combatants captured by their enemy in time of war, and is similar to an internment camp which is used for civilian populations. A prisoner of war is generally a soldier, sailor, or airman who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or...
, located just north of the town of Moosburg
Moosburg
Moosburg an der Isar is a town in the Landkreis Freising of Bavaria, Germany.The oldest town between Regensburg and Italy, it lies on the river Isar at an altitude of 421 m . It has 17,275 inhabitants and covers an area of 44 km². It is easily reached by the A 92 autobahn and regional trains on...
in southern Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
. The camp covered an area of 35 ha. (85 acres). It served also as a transit camp through which prisoners, including officers, were processed on their way to other camps. At some time during the war, prisoners from every nation fighting against Germany passed through it. At the time of its liberation on 29 April 1945, there were about 80,000 prisoners in the camp, mostly from France and the Soviet Union. Many others were billeted in Arbeitskommando
Arbeitslager
Arbeitslager is a German language word which means labor camp.The German government under Nazism used forced labor extensively, starting in the 1930s but most especially during World War II....
working in factories, repairing railroads or on farms.
Operation
The camp was started in September 1939 on a plan to house up to 10,000 PolishPoland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
prisoners from the German September 1939 offensive. They arrived while the wooden barracks were under construction and for several weeks lived in tents.
British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
and Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
soldiers taken prisoner during the Battle of France
Battle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
started arriving in May 1940. Many were transferred on to other camps, but close to 40,000 French remained at Stalag VII-A throughout the war.
British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
prisoners arrived from the Balkans Campaign in May and June 1941. A few months later Soviet prisoners started arriving, mostly officers. At the end of the war there were still 27 Soviet generals in Moosburg who had survived the mistreatment that they, like all Soviet prisoners, had been subjected to.
More British Commonwealth
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
and Polish prisoners came from the North African campaign
North African campaign
During the Second World War, the North African Campaign took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco and Algeria and Tunisia .The campaign was fought between the Allies and Axis powers, many of whom had...
and the offensive against the Italian-held islands in the Mediterranean. They were brought here from Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
PoW camps after the Armistice with Italy
Armistice with Italy
The Armistice with Italy was an armistice signed on September 3 and publicly declared on September 8, 1943, during World War II, between Italy and the Allied armed forces, who were then occupying the southern end of the country, entailing the capitulation of Italy...
in September 1943, including many who escaped at that time and were recaptured. Italian soldiers were also imprisoned.
The first American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
arrivals came after the Tunisia Campaign
Tunisia Campaign
The Tunisia Campaign was a series of battles that took place in Tunisia during the North African Campaign of the Second World War, between Axis and Allied forces. The Allies consisted of British Imperial Forces, including Polish and Greek contingents, with American and French corps...
in December 1942, and the Italian Campaign
Italian Campaign (World War II)
The Italian Campaign of World War II was the name of Allied operations in and around Italy, from 1943 to the end of the war in Europe. Joint Allied Forces Headquarters AFHQ was operationally responsible for all Allied land forces in the Mediterranean theatre, and it planned and commanded the...
in 1943. Large numbers of Americans were captured in the Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
in December 1944.
Among the last arrivals were officers from Stalag Luft III
Stalag Luft III
Stalag Luft III was a Luftwaffe-run prisoner-of-war camp during World War II that housed captured air force servicemen. It was in the German Province of Lower Silesia near the town of Sagan , southeast of Berlin...
who had been force-marched from Sagan in Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
(now Żagań
Zagan
Zagan may refer to:*Zagan - a demon in the Ars Goetia*Żagań - a town in west Poland...
), Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
). They arrived 2 February 1945. They were followed by more prisoners marched from other camps threatened by the advancing Soviets, including part of the American officers that had been marched from Oflag 64
Oflag 64
Oflag 64 was a World War II German prisoner-of-war camp for officers located at Szubin a few miles south of Bydgoszcz, in Pomorze, Poland, which at that time was occupied by Nazi Germany. It was probably the only German POW camp set up exclusively for U.S. Army officers...
in Szubin
Szubin
Szubin is a town in Nakło County, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, located southwest of Bydgoszcz. As of 12 December 2004 it had a population of 9354.-History:...
, via Oflag XIII-B
OFLAG XIII-B
Oflag XIII-B was a German Army World War II Prisoner-of-war camp camp for officers, originally in Langwasser near Nuremberg. In 1943 it was moved to 3 km south of Hammelburg, Lower Franconia, Bavaria, Germany....
, under their senior officer Lt.Col. Paul Goode.
During the 5½ years about 1000 prisoners died at the camp, over 800 of them Soviets. They were buried in a cemetery in Oberreit, south of Moosburg. Most died from illness, some from injuries during work. It has been said that there were some casualties from Allied bombs at work sites.
Major Karl August Meinel, 1 August 1942, was shifted into the Führerreserve
Führerreserve
The Führerreserve was a section set up in 1939 in many army units, in which high officers waited for a new assignment. Also, troublesome officers were sometimes shifted into the Führerreserve, since the High Command believed that they would be less dangerous there...
, because on 13 January 1942 he wrote a critical report to General Hermann Reinecke
Hermann Reinecke
Hermann Reinecke was a General der Infanterie of Nazi Germany's Wehrmacht during World War II.He was a former Lieutenant General and the head of the General Office of the Armed Forces at OKW ...
on the segregation and execution of Russian prisoners of war in Stalag VII-A by the Gestapo and the Sicherheitsdienst
Sicherheitsdienst
Sicherheitsdienst , full title Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers-SS, or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. The organization was the first Nazi Party intelligence organization to be established and was often considered a "sister organization" with the...
SD (security service) of the Reichsführer SS (Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
).
Escapes
There were many individual escape attempts, it is not known if any were successful. Among them:- PFC Leroy Saunders Foster (9th Inf. Div. US Army) escaped with a friend on Christmas Eve 1944. Captured at Swiss border and sentenced to 20 days solitary.
Captain Charles M. Shaw, St. Louis, MO, B-17 Navigator, 351st Bomb Group, 8th Air Force, escaped April 8, 1945 as he posed as a laborer on a work detail. He made it to Munich, where he made contact with the resistance and took the "Levasseur Trail" to Kempten, Germany. There, he was hidden by a German Allied sympathizer, Oscar Steiger. He waited almost a week to try to cross into Switzerland, but instead met the American 44th Infantry Division of the 7th Army on April 25. Surprisingly, he followed Richard Atchison, another American POW who escaped and was at the same residence of Oscar Steiger. Both Shaw and Atchison were prisoners at Stalag Luft III where they made a failed escape attempt together. The Shaw family in St. Louis has letters from the resistance individuals that helped and Oscar Steiger.
Liberation
Stalag VII-A was liberated on 29 April 1945 by Combat Command A of the 14th Armored DivisionU.S. 14th Armored Division
The 14th Armored Division was an armored division of the United States Army in World War II. It remains on the permanent rolls of the Regular Army as an inactive division, and is eligible for reactivation should the need ever arise...
after a pitched battle with a large defending force of 5,000-7,000 German troops. Foremost among the defending units was the 17th SS Panzer Grenadier Division supported by a few remaining self-propelled guns and 88 mm antitank guns. Combat Command A had a total strength of 1,750 officers and men, including only a single company of armored infantrymen. The American force learned of the existence of the camp and its approximate location only a few hours before the attack. Because so many Allied POWs were in the area, the U.S. artillery, a major factor in any attack, was ordered not to fire, and remained silent during the attack. POWs inside the wire heard the Germans open fire on the American liberators as they crossed a bridge leading into Moosburg. The American response was instantaneous. Outnumbered, but not outgunned, the men of the combat command waded into the SS troops with a ferocity and volume of weapons fire that stunned even the most veteran SS officers. Resistance was eliminated, and the camp liberated. Among the 130,000 Allied POWs liberated were 30,000 American soldiers, sailors, airmen, and even a few marines. It was the largest single liberation of American POWs in the history of the US military. Following the war, the U.S. Army officially designated the 14th Armored Division as the "LIBERATORS" for liberating so many American and Allied POWs from German camps. See the link below for the complete story of the liberation.
Aftermath
After the liberation Stalag VII-A was turned into Civilian Internment Camp #6 for 12,000 German men and women suspected of criminal activity for the Nazi regime. Later the camp was turned into a new district of the town called Moosburg-Neustadt. One of the old huts has been restored.A memorial
Memorial
A memorial is an object which serves as a focus for memory of something, usually a person or an event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or art objects such as sculptures, statues or fountains, and even entire parks....
to inmates of Stalag VII-A was built. It is a fountain located in the center of Neustadt. It consists of four Bas-reliefs created out of local stone by the French sculptor Antoniucci Volti while he was a prisoner in the camp.
In 1958 the Oberreit cemetery was closed. 866 bodies were exhumed and reburied at the military cemetery in Schwabstadl near Landsberg. The bodies of 33 Italians were reburied at the Italian Memorial Cemetery near Munich. In 1982 the Moosburg City Council purchased a plot at the site of the old Oberreit cemetery and erected a wooden cross with a simple stone remembering the dead of Stalag VII-A.
'
See also
- List of German WWII POW camps
- StalagStalagIn Germany, stalag was a term used for prisoner-of-war camps. Stalag is a contraction of "Stammlager", itself short for Kriegsgefangenen-Mannschafts-Stammlager.- Legal definitions :...
- Karl von EbersteinKarl von EbersteinFreiherr Freidrich Karl von Eberstein was a member of the German nobility, early member of the Nazi party, the SA, the SS, Reichstag delegate, an HSSPF and SS-Oberabschnitt Führer, head of the Munich Police in World War II, introduced Reinhard Heydrich to Heinrich Himmler, and was a witness at the...
- SS officer who helped fire Meinel after he objected to POW killings - GestapoGestapoThe Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
- responsible for 'screening' POWs to be murdered
Further reading
- Jim Lankford "The 14th Armored Division and the Liberation of Stalag VIIA."
- Extracts of Diaries written by Roger Collinson whilst a prisoner of World War II - 21 February 1943 to 18 May 1945
- Roger Devaux Treize Qu'ils Etaient - Life of French prisoners of war at the peasants of low Bavaria (1939–1945) - Treize Qu'ils Etaient - Mémoires et Cultures - 2007 - ISBN 2-916062-51-3