Hello, all. During WWII, my grandfather was a private in the 18th Gran Sasso Artillery Regiment of the 24th Pinerolo Infantry Division of the Italian Army. He served as a gunner and fought in Albania and Greece from 1941 to 1943, while Italy was allied with Germany. After the Italian surrender to the Allies in September 1943, his unit joined forces with the Greek insurgents of ELAS and fought alongside them for about a month before they were surrounded by German troops of Army Group E, at which point the ELAS insurgents betrayed them, took half of them prisoner and executed them, while the others, my grandfather among them, were sent to Germany for slave labor. My grandfather ended up working in a factory in Lubeck as a slave laborer for 19 months, during which time he was starved, before his liberation by the British 11th Armoured Division on May 2, 1945. Does anyone know if there was a camp in Lubeck for enlisted men of the Italian Army who were used for slave labor? Any info on its layout, its garrison, its commander and his fate at the end of the war would also be greatly appreciated. Thanks! - Lou
Welcome Lou, I don't have any info but I'm going to follow this thread with great interest. Glad he made it back. Dave
Lou, I too will be taking an interest in this thread. Here is a website with lots of links which I hope you may find useful. Forced Labor 1939 - 1945: Links Regards Tom
Just playing around on Google (then Wiki) for Lubeck / Italian / POW and it would appear that your GF was very, very lucky to survive the war (from Wiki) - During World War II, Lübeck was the first German city to be attacked in substantial numbers by the Royal Air Force. The attack on 28 March 1942 created a firestorm, that caused severe damage to the historic centre and the Bombing of Lübeck in World War II destroyed three of the main churches and greater parts of the built-up area. A POW camp for officers, Oflag X-C, was located near the city from 1940 until April 1945. Lübeck was occupied without resistance by the British Second Army on 2 May 1945. On 3 May 1945, one of the biggest disasters in naval history occurred in the Bay of Lübeck when RAF bombers sank three ships - the SS Cap Arcona, the SS Deutschland, and the SS Thielbek - which, unknown to them, were packed with concentration-camp inmates. About 7,000 people were killed.
and from here http://www.ronaldv.nl/abandoned/airfields/ge/Schleswig-holstein/Holstein.html Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: Germany, Schleswig-Holstein Until the end of the war the airfield was also home to the hospital of Stalag XA, a POW camp with housed mainly Russian soldiers until the summer of 1944. Although officially a hospital, POWs were forced to work at the airfield. Conditions in the camp were so bad, it was a death camp in reality as the medical care was severely insufficient considering the prisoners had to work. Death toll was high, and at least 400 men perished. Additionally there was also a smaller Italian POW camp. To realise the planned expansion of the Einstazhafen new labourers were needed. They were found at concentration camp Neuengamme, which ran about 80 'outside camps'. The first prisoners arrived in August 1944. The prisoners were used to expand the airfield, especially the runway. In October the runway measured 1800x85meters. Additionally two hangars were built on the southeast side and one on the southwest side. The 500 prisoners also built two hangars and an engine test stand in Kaltenkirchen. For a short period the camp grew to 1,000 men of different nationalities. The camp was moved to Wöbbeln on 16/17 April 1945 via the railway station in Kaltenkirchen During the existence of the outside camp between 500 and 750 people died of hunger, illness and abuse of the camp guards.
Thanks, Dave! I already knew about the air raids on Lubeck by the British and the Americans and the sinking of the SS Cap Arcona, the SS Deutschland and the SS Thielbeck in Lubeck Bay on May 3, 1945, as well as the presence of Oflag X-C, which was a POW camp for Allied officers. The other info, however, was all news to me. I had no idea there were so many Luftwaffe airfields in and around Lubeck. As a matter of fact, I only thought there was one. I don't think my grandfather worked at Einstazhafen, though. I grew up hearing that he worked in a factory in Lubeck, pounding on iron all day, basically doing the work of a blacksmith. This has led me to believe he was possibly involved in work that aided the shipbuilding industry in Lubeck, especially for the Kriegsmarine, being as there was a U-Boat base in Lubeck, which the British 6th Guards Tank Brigade seized when they followed my grandfather's liberators, the 11th Armoured Division into Lubeck on May 2, 1945, capturing a German U-Boat in the process. And you're right about him being very lucky to survive the war as an Italian POW. Although the Germans starved him, he and his fellow POWs took turns every night sneaking out of their camp in pairs to steal potato skins from garbage put out by locals, at the risk of being tortured and/or shot by the SS or Gestapo (There was a Gestapo HQ in Lubeck.) if caught.
Hello, all. During WWII, my grandfather was a private in the 18th Gran Sasso Artillery Regiment of the 24th Pinerolo Infantry Division of the Italian Army. He served as a gunner and fought in Albania and Greece from 1941 to 1943, while Italy was allied with Germany. After the Italian surrender to the Allies in September 1943, his unit joined forces with the Greek insurgents of ELAS and fought alongside them for about a month before they were surrounded by German troops of Army Group E, at which point the ELAS insurgents betrayed them, took half of them prisoner and executed them, while the others, my grandfather among them, were sent to Germany for slave labor. My grandfather ended up working in a factory in Lubeck as a slave laborer for 19 months, during which time he was starved, before his liberation by the British 11th Armoured Division on May 2, 1945. Does anyone know if there was a camp in Lubeck for enlisted men of the Italian Army who were used for slave labor? Any info on its layout, its garrison, its commander and his fate at the end of the war would also be greatly appreciated. Thanks! - Lou Hello all, hello Black Bull! I read your post and i think that my grandfather's Pow history could be similar at yours. He was sent to Germany the 9th of september 1943 from Lubiana. I know he arrived in Bremervorde and after he was sent at Stalag XC in Nienburg. Like your Grandfather, he ended his prison near Lubeck in Travemunde working at the aviation Camp. From my researchs (and from my Grandfather's stories), i discovered that in Priwall peninsula were three labour camps called I, II e III that could be contain maximum 200 prisoners each. If your Grandfather stayed in Lubeck, i think that it's very probably that he was transit from one of these camps: Stalag XA, Stalag XB and Stalag XC. The last is a part of the Oflag XB in Nienburg. A lot of Italian Prisoners of the Balcan front were passed in these camps. Hope that my informations could be help you, and please let me know if you discovered something because i thinked that the two stories could be similar. Good Luck!!! Stefano
