Stalag X-B
Encyclopedia
Stalag X-B was a World War II
German
Prisoner-of-war camp
located near Sandbostel
in north-western Germany
. Sandbostel lies 9 km
south of Bremervörde
, 43 km northeast of Bremen. Placed on swampy ground,with a damp, cold climate, it is one of the most notorious prisoner-of-war camps. Between 1939 and 1945 1 million POWs of 46 nations passed through. Nearly 50,000 died there of hunger, disease, or were just simply murdered.
Among the Italian prisoners, who were mostly soldiers who did not surrender to the German army after the Cassibile armistice, was journalist and writer Giovannino Guareschi
, who wrote here La favola di Natale (A Christmas Fable) on Christmas, 1944.
Marlag und Milag Nord
, the camps for captured Navy
personnel and civilian sailors respectively, were originally in two separate enclosures at the Sandbostel camp. They were moved to a different location closer to Cuxhaven, to Westertimke
, in 1942.
prisoners in unsatisfactory conditions, but generally in compliance with the International Red Cross Convention. Soviet
prisoners, without the Convention's protection, were in substantially worse conditions. 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."
The British
forces advancing through this area had been aware of the POW camp but, until two escaped British Secret Service
men reached them they were unaware of several thousand political prisoners in a separate compound. These were in desperate conditions and it was decided to liberate the camp immediately. The local German forces refused free access to the camp, so an assault into the area was made by the Guards Armoured Division and the camp was liberated on April 29, 1945. Army medical units were detached to deliver medical attention.
The military authorities decided to conscript local German civilian women to assist with the rescue and clean up work. Inmates were cleaned and transferred to an improvised hospital outside the camp and thence to convalescence camps. The camp was burned between May 16 and May 25 and the last 350 patients left the hospital on June 3.
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...
German
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...
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 near Sandbostel
Sandbostel
Sandbostel is a municipality in Lower Saxony in northwestern Germany, 43 km north-east of Bremen, 60 km west of Hamburg. Coordinates: 53° 25′ N, 9° 8′ E. Population: 816...
in north-western 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...
. Sandbostel lies 9 km
KM
KM, Km, or km may stand for:*Kilometre *Kernel methods*Kettle Moraine High School*Khmer language *Kuomintang , a centre-right political party in the Republic of China on Taiwan...
south of Bremervörde
Bremervörde
Bremervörde is a town in the north of the district Rotenburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated at the Oste river near the mid of the triangle, which is formed of the rivers Weser and Elbe respectively the cities of Hamburg, Bremen and Cuxhaven....
, 43 km northeast of Bremen. Placed on swampy ground,with a damp, cold climate, it is one of the most notorious prisoner-of-war camps. Between 1939 and 1945 1 million POWs of 46 nations passed through. Nearly 50,000 died there of hunger, disease, or were just simply murdered.
Among the Italian prisoners, who were mostly soldiers who did not surrender to the German army after the Cassibile armistice, was journalist and writer Giovannino Guareschi
Giovannino Guareschi
Giovannino Oliviero Giuseppe Guareschi was an Italian journalist, cartoonist and humorist whose most famous creation is the priest Don Camillo.-Life and career:...
, who wrote here La favola di Natale (A Christmas Fable) on Christmas, 1944.
Marlag und Milag Nord
Marlag und Milag Nord
Marlag und Milag Nord was a German Prisoner-of-war camp in Military District X, located near Westertimke, Germany.There were over 5,000 Allied Merchant seamen captured by the German forces during World War II...
, the camps for captured Navy
Navy
A navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...
personnel and civilian sailors respectively, were originally in two separate enclosures at the Sandbostel camp. They were moved to a different location closer to Cuxhaven, to Westertimke
Westertimke
Westertimke is a municipality in the district of Rotenburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany.Westertimke belonged to the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen, established in 1180...
, in 1942.
Liberation
The camp was divided into three sections when liberated. The first contained alliedAllies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
prisoners in unsatisfactory conditions, but generally in compliance with the International Red Cross Convention. Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
prisoners, without the Convention's protection, were in substantially worse conditions. In the third section were 8,000 civilian
Civilian
A civilian under international humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces or other militia. Civilians are distinct from combatants. They are afforded a degree of legal protection from the effects of war and military occupation...
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."
The 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...
forces advancing through this area had been aware of the POW camp but, until two escaped British Secret Service
Secret Intelligence Service
The Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...
men reached them they were unaware of several thousand political prisoners in a separate compound. These were in desperate conditions and it was decided to liberate the camp immediately. The local German forces refused free access to the camp, so an assault into the area was made by the Guards Armoured Division and the camp was liberated on April 29, 1945. Army medical units were detached to deliver medical attention.
The military authorities decided to conscript local German civilian women to assist with the rescue and clean up work. Inmates were cleaned and transferred to an improvised hospital outside the camp and thence to convalescence camps. The camp was burned between May 16 and May 25 and the last 350 patients left the hospital on June 3.
Timeline
- In 1932 in the Great DepressionGreat DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
the Lutheran Church of the State of Hanover opened a camp for workless singles and employed them in public works (roadworks, amelioration) - In 1933 the Nazi trade union ReichsarbeitsdienstReichsarbeitsdienstThe Reichsarbeitsdienst was an institution established by Nazi Germany as an agency to reduce unemployment, similar to the relief programs in other countries. During the Second World War it was an auxiliary formation which provided support for the Wehrmacht.The RAD was formed during July 1934 as...
usurped the camp and used it later as a Nazi internment camp for undesirables. - In September 1939 it was used to house British civilian internees and PolishPolandPoland , 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. For lack of huts they were mostly housed in tents. - June 1940 - ca 26,251 FrenchFranceThe 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...
and ca 17,793 BelgianBelgiumBelgium , 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...
soldiers taken prisoner during the Battle of FranceBattle of FranceIn 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...
arrive. - May 1941 more prisoners arrived from the Balkans Campaign, mostly British and Serbians.
- In July 1941 they were followed by Soviet prisoners from Operation BarbarossaOperation BarbarossaOperation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
housed in the open in a separate enclosure. - On December 1, 1941 the prisoner count was: 1664 Poles, 18,210 French, 2,871 Belgian, 2,459 British, 5,361 Serbians, 9,271 Soviets.
- September 1943 - ItaliansItalyItaly , 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...
interned after the allied Armistice with ItalyArmistice with ItalyThe 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...
arrived. Like the Soviets they were not accorded the protection of the Third Geneva ConventionThird Geneva ConventionThe Third Geneva Convention, relative to the treatment of prisoners of war, is one of the four treaties of the Geneva Conventions. It was first adopted in 1929, but was significantly updated in 1949...
and were housed next to them. - October 1944 soldiers from the PolishPolesthumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
Warsaw Rising came, including over 1,000 women soldiers and officers. - On November 1, 1944 the prisoner count was: 4,895 Poles, 11,337 French, 1,732 Belgian, 3,040 Serbians, 20,169 Soviets, 9,453 Italians.
- March and April 1945 - about 8,000 Concentration camp prisoners are brought here from the Neuengamme concentration camp and placed in the enclosure that had been Marlag
- The camp was liberated by British troops of XXX Corps on 29 April 1945 and subsequently care of inmates was handed over to the Friends' Ambulance UnitFriends' Ambulance UnitThe Friends' Ambulance Unit was a volunteer ambulance service, founded by individual members of the British Religious Society of Friends , in line with their Peace Testimony. The FAU operated from 1914–1919, 1939–1946 and 1946-1959 in 25 different countries around the world...
- Camp destroyed on May 26
Sources
- Documentation and Memorial Site Sandbostel
- Google Maps of Sandbostel Stalag X-B
- B24.net
- The Last Escape - John Nichol, Tony Rennell - 2002 Penguin UK
See also
- List of German WWII POW camps
- List of POW camps in Germany