POWs in work parties

Discussion in 'Prisoners of War' started by vac, Nov 27, 2018.

  1. vac

    vac Active Member

    I have some photos that were my father's taken whilst a prisoner in Stalag VIIIB/Lamsdorf 344. They are of himself and others, taken in a room with furniture and a picture on the wall. Not sure if they were taken at the same time or not. We know the men were given uniforms for these photos which were then handed back. Smart dress and a domestic setting all part of the propaganda no doubt.

    My question: my father spent most of his POW term in a work party located about 200km from the main camp at Lamsdorf. Were the men transported back to Lamsdorf for the purpose of photos or were these set up and organised by the company/business owner benefitting from the labour, possibly as one of the requirements for accessing cheap labour?
     
    Lindele likes this.
  2. Lindele

    Lindele formerly HA96

    Hi VAC,

    can you post the pics?The house may still exist. any knowledge as to 200km in what direction?
    Stefan.
     
  3. vitellino

    vitellino Senior Member

    Hello Vac,

    What was your father's name? Do you know which work party he was sent to? If you tell us that we may well know who the employer was and perhaps be able to get near to anwering your question,

    Regards,

    Vitellino
     
  4. vac

    vac Active Member

    Work party E337 based Krakorice -- just double checked distance about 126km - but still a long way to go back for photos? Will post pics probably tomorrow -- they only show a small section of a room as described -- I had assumed this was a mock up in a corner of a hut.

    I have another picture of someone looking for all the world as though he is sitting on a garden wall but when you blow it up you can see it's fake.
     
  5. Lindele

    Lindele formerly HA96

    Hi,

    do you know this link?
    Stefan,


    NAMES
     
  6. vac

    vac Active Member

    Hi, yes and through that site have a link to a reference to E338 party working for Knappek -- my father being moved from E337 to E338 in Nov 1944.

    Also have linked with the Central Museum for POW at Lambinowice. They are currently researching work parties but still very much in the early stages. I just wondered if anyone on the site had reminiscences from relatives who were at at Stalag VIIB or elsewhere regarding the process for the photos which presumably were intended to send home.

    Also would appreciate if anyone has any knowledge of E57 -- it does not appear on any work party list I have come across and the above museum have no references to it. It could be my father was mistaken and that was not the work party number but it is strange that all the lists I have seen have E57 missing. There are a few other missing numbers lists. Could it be that work parties were set up and then disbanded as no longer required and records lost?
    Val
     
  7. Incredibledisc

    Incredibledisc Well-Known Member

    I would imagine the photos were taken “in situ” - as you point out it was a bit of a hike back to Lamsdorf for a few photos. My great granddad amassed quite a collection of photos of himself and fellow POWs in a variety of formal and informal situations. I was surprised at first, assuming that the Germans would want to strictly control the use of cameras to prevent them being used to make ID documents for escape attempts but it would appear not to be the case.
     
  8. Tullybrone

    Tullybrone Senior Member

    Hi,

    If you are in contact with Lambinowice Museum could you please mention work camp E220?

    I have a July 1942 postcard from a relative there but can’t find it on any lists.

    Thanks.

    Steve
     
  9. vac

    vac Active Member

    Hi, This is the link to one of the researchers at the museum.

    Iwona Cichoń <i.cichon@cmjw.pl>

    Would you mind if I suggested you contact direct. They have been patient and very helpful with my enquiries but I have pestered them a bit and I don't want to outstay my welcome if you see what I mean.
    Val
     
    Tullybrone likes this.
  10. vac

    vac Active Member

    If you look carefully at the pic with the l/Cpl sitting on the table you will see that the bare floor boards don't match the "room" and also the bottom of the "wall" doesn't look right. In the group pic - touched up along the line somewhere- the seated figure is my father -- note how dirty his shoes are. The fabric of his right leg trouser falls in a way that shows his legs are quite thin, similarly the left leg of the man seated on the arm does seem as though it too is very thin. The man standing has a belt tied tightly round quite a narrow waist, presumably to hold up the trousers. Although not overfed they all look reasonably well.
     

    Attached Files:

  11. Tullybrone

    Tullybrone Senior Member

    Hi,

    Lambinowice Museum emailed yesterday to say that the working party E220 was in Hof/Bärn (today Dvorce/Moravský Beroun Czech Republic). However, they have no information the precise location of the camp or about the kind of works carried out by the POWs there. It’s about 65 miles from Lamsdorf.

    Steve
     
    vitellino likes this.
  12. vac

    vac Active Member

    Hi
    Are you able to get access to the your relative's German POW record card in TNA?. I have just recently obtained my father's which lists 5 work camps with precise location for 4 and in a couple of instances the names of the organisation using his labour. Prior to this I only knew of two camps and the region they were in. The three additional ones like your E220 do not appear on any other lists.
    These cards would seem to be a valuable research resource.
    Val
     

    Attached Files:

    Tullybrone likes this.
  13. Tullybrone

    Tullybrone Senior Member

    Hi,

    Thanks for the tip. I’ll bear it in mind.

    Steve
     
  14. Phil Holt

    Phil Holt New Member


    Hello Tullybrone,

    Looking back at some of your comments on the forum from years ago you said you were related to Patrick Francis Devlin (Serial: 2695279) (POW: 34910) who was in Work Camp E220, correct?

    If so, then Patrick Francis Devlin was in the same work camp as my grandfather.

    Work camp E220 was a sawmill (according to my grandfather’s letters) which was probably located in the town of Hof in County Barn (not to be mistaken for the town of Barn) within Sudetenland (Czechoslovakia). Most POW accounts I've seen often refer to E220 as Hof, Sudetenland with the name Barn nowhere to be seen. The POW card of another POW from E220 actually names the construction company running the camp as follows: E220. Baugeschaft. Richter. Hof. Barn. (see attached image).

    Baugeschaft from German to English translates to construction business and Richter was likely the name of said construction company and/or the person running said company. If you Google search Baugeschaft Richter you get a bunch of results. One of the German websites from the search when translated to English states that it was founded by Albert Richter in 1934, and from WW2 until early 1990 was stated-owned and integrated into the district construction company (see attached image). This company also worked with timber. Please note this is for the most part speculation, albeit plausible and there may be inconsistencies in translation and/or other companies with similar names.

    Also, you may be wondering how I have viewed multiple accounts of POWs for a work camp where knowledge is very scarce?

    Well, the answer is simple, my grandfather was kind enough to keep an address book of some of his fellow POWs, with a decent section dedicated to those from E220.

    In many cases only names and addresses have been written in by the corresponding POW themselves, so I had to do a tonne of research in regards to looking through census records/electoral rolls as well as WO 392 (POW lists) and WO 344 (Prisoner Liberation Questionnaires) records to finally get serial numbers and POW numbers, so happy days! Did I mention the address book is written in faded pencil with varying styles of handwriting!

    Would love to hear any information you may have on E220, as well as Patrick Francis Devlin’s experiences while in the E220 work camp.

    Hope to hear from you soon.

    Regards,

    Phil
     

    Attached Files:

    Tullybrone and Owen like this.
  15. Tullybrone

    Tullybrone Senior Member

    Thanks very much Phil. I’ve replied via PM.

    Steve
     
  16. Quarterfinal

    Quarterfinal Well-Known Member

    An unidentified British PW on a (letter/number not known) coal mine working party from Stalag VIIIB/Lamsdorf in early 1941 - location Morgenroth/Chebzie and the 'Pochamer' Mine:
    upload_2023-11-19_13-53-26.jpeg

    and others having a rest day kick-about:
    upload_2023-11-19_13-54-59.jpeg

    There is mention of a Pochhammer Deck in the Gotthard/Karol Hard mine entry in the renamed Ruda Śląska at:
    Kopalnia Węgla Kamiennego Karol – Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia
     

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