These four disturbing photos were in dad's POW collection from his POW days. I think they were from Stalag XXA as he said that there was a compound there for Russian and Polish POWs who were treated terribly. The Brits would try and throw what little food and cigs they had over the fence from working parties but would be punished if caught. Anyone any idea of the uniforms? The photos did not have the usual Stalag XXA stamp on the back so may have been taken secretly by POWs. Steve View attachment 69565
My grandfather was in XXa in Torun. He mentioned (all too briefly) that there were Russians kept nearby.
Moved from the 1940 section as I suspect the Russian PoWs will be post 1940 Thanks Andy, wasn't sure where to put them. Steve
Hi My father William George HOTSTON was in Stalag XXa from June 1940 until the Long March began, apart from the time he was sent out on work parties. One of his jobs was, for two whole days, he was marched to the Russian camp where he had to collect the dead Russians. Their bodies were cremated outside their camp in front of their living friends. He threw a lit cigarette to a group. They all took one puff and passed the cigarette on. Jacky
Hi Steve, I don´t think it´s Stalag XXA. Maybe it is in Fallingbostel where most of the POWs from Stalag XXA had to march. I think these photographs were taken shortly after liberation. They never would had passed the german censorship. In my opinion they were taken when it was legal, so only after liberation of the camp. Best regards Karol
This is a very disturbing topic and there is little written about it in English. There is a good display about it in the Museum at Bergen-Belsen. In brief, thousands of Russian POW's were corralled in an area near Weitzendorf and left out in the open through 2 winters in 1941/42. The camp continued operating till the end of the War. It seems around 2 million Russian POWs died in the area around Weitzendorf, near Bergen-Belsen. There seem to be a few different names for the Camp/s including Stalag XIB. This subject deserves more exposure. Links: http://www.verbrechen-der-wehrmacht.de/docs/e_ausstellung/p_sowjets.htm http://en.tracesofwar.com/article/16121/Camp-Cemetery-Stalag-XD-310.htm
Walked round Bergen Belsen in 1992.The camp was used as a concentration camp with Jews incarcerated there as a plan by Himmler to use these inmates for future bargaining with the Allies...before that as said,Russian POWs were imprisoned there with little regard to the Hague Convention. Russia was not a signatory to the Geneva Convention but the Hague Convention should have been sufficient to cover their welfare. In the far corner of the site are the burial sites for Russian POWs who died like flies from the willful neglect by the their German captors
Many of the camps had Russian camps next door/near-by and there are in fact many accounts as to how badly they were treated, resorting to cannibalism if the stories can be believed through lack of food. They had not signed the Geneva convention and were treated as animals. They were not treated any better when they were returned to Russia either. Regards, Nick
With regard to Russians held at Stalag XXA at Thorn / Torun in Poland. The following is an extract from, The Memoirs of Private James Peters 1939 - 1945 ' We used to go through a nearby Russian POW camp, where we would see scores of Russians dying of typhus. I threw one a bar of soap, he bent down to pick it up, within a minute or two he had collapsed and died. Russian orderlies were going from hut to hut all day long calling for the dead to be brought out. The Russians tried to hide their dead so that they could draw the dead man's rations. The orderlies would dump the dead men onto a sledge and drag it to a red brick building, from where the bodies were being loaded onto wagons, with a man on top treading the bodies down to make more room. There were about fifteen to twenty bodies to each wagon, and about fifteen wagons a day were filled with dead Russian POW's. The wagons were then dragged to the lime pits by around forty Russians, who were also suffering from typhus. If any of them dropped whilst pulling, they would be stripped of their clothing, and put onto the wagon and taken to the lime pits, whether they were still alive or not. These were pitiful and unbelievable sights. It was well known amongst us that the Russians held here were carrying out acts of cannibalism. We would see Russian POW's having to stand naked on two house bricks turned on edge, and a house brick in each hand, with their arms bent upwards. If they dropped an arm they were shot. This was done for punishment, and was taking place in temperatures well below zero.'
With regard to the treatment of Polish civilians who had been turned out of their homes by the Germans in Thorn / Torun in Poland. The following extract is from, The memoirs of Private James Peters 1939 - 1945. It is referring to a time in 1942. ' On our way ( to work ) we would pass huts where Poles who had been turned out of their homes were living. These huts were no larger than an ordinary hen house, and you could see through the gaps in the boarding. Each hut housed six or seven people, and we often saw the children of these people, they were very thin and were suffering from rickets, and we used to throw them anything we could spare, which wasn't much. It was a crime to have people living in these conditions.'
With regard to the treatment of Polish civilians at Bromberg, now known as Bydgoszcz, in Poland. The following extract is from, The Memoirs of Private James Peters 1939 - 1945. It is referring to a time in 1941. ' In April, I was put on to a working party making air raid shelters in a large enclosure. On the first day we had Charlie as our guard. ( Charlie is described as a decent chap.) Charlie took me to a field where the Mayor and Aldermen of Bromberg had been shot, and buried. Charlie lifted a piece of turf with his bayonet, exposing a part of a corpse, they had been buried at no more than a depth of six inches.' ' The local Police Station was blown up by mines, and the barracks next to our camp were also discovered to have been mined, but the barracks were saved. We guessed that this had been the work of the Polish resistance. As a reprisal the Germans just picked up twenty Poles and shot them in the woods near to where we were working. We had a Pole with us, who, when we heard shots in the nearby woods, would take off his hat and say in English, " They are some more of my comrades shot." ' When working in the streets, the Poles would throw us bread rolls, loaves, and cakes into the snow for us to pick up. They did this at considerable risk to themselves. A lot were caught and had to sacrifice their ration cards by having them confiscated for one month.'
Thanks for posting my dad had similar stories of Poles hiding food for British pows, his case they were digging sews or water lines in Thorn, came back in morning, they would dig into food in ground. Have you any pictures you can post. Camp etc. Keep posting.
Hi Billminer. I have no doubt that if we could hear more stories they would highly likely give similar details. Unfortunately I do not have any pictures. Have you seen the site called ' Wartime Guides ' that concentrates around Stalag XXA ? Best Wishes
