Prisoner of War Camps in World War II

During World War II, Germany opened more than 1,000 prisoner of war (POW) camps in Europe. The prisoners came from Great Britain, the United States, France, Poland, the Soviet Union, and other Allied countries. Camps varied in size. Many were in Germany, but there were camps in Austria, Poland, Ukraine, Estonia, Lithuania, Croatia, the Soviet Union, and Austria as well. There were different camps for different military branches and different ranks in the military. Living conditions and activities also varied by camp. Many camps housed a variety of nationalities, but each nationality was segregated by fencing from other groups in the camp.

The name of a POW camp identified its location and composition. Commissioned officers were usually sent to their own camps, named Oflags. Air corps prisoners were segregated into their own camps known as Dulags or Luftstalags. Non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and enlisted men were sent to Stalags. The German army was in charge of all camps except for those housing Allied Air Corps prisoners, which were run by the German Luftwaffe. There were also medical facilities in Germany, known as lazarettes, to house the sick or injured prisoners, but there were not enough to service all the POWs. Civilian prisoners were housed in facilities known as ilags. The numerical designation of the camps (usually noted in Roman numerals) related to the German region in which the camp was located. There were approximately twenty military districts in the German system and some in Poland, Lithuania, and other Eastern Europe locations (often designated using regular numbers). If there was more than one camp of a certain type in a district, a letter was attached after the number.

For example, there was Stalag XII-A. Stalag means that the camp was designated to house privates and/or non-commissioned officers. It was located in the twelfth (Wiesbaden) district, which was in western Germany, not far from Frankfurt. The A indicates that it was the first of more than one stalag in that area. In fact, there were four stalags in Wiesbaden. There were also two Oflags in the twelfth district.

The Geneva Convention of 1929 defined the rights of prisoners during war in a document signed by the United States, Germany, and 40 other nations. Prisoners of war were entitled to the same amount and quality of food that was being provided to soldiers of the host country and were allowed to send and receive mail, receive adequate medical care, and receive decent clothing and footwear. At minimum, facilities for housing the prisoners were required to have water, heat, and sanitary conditions. Also required was an exercise area and a canteen for purchasing personal items. Tobacco and books were also mentioned in the guidelines for POW camps. Although the guidelines for housing prisoners were clearly defined, many camps did not follow these rules, despite the visits and reports by the International Red Cross, which oversaw medical inspections. Additionally, many Red Cross food packages and mail were never or only sporadically delivered to prisoners in some camps. There were camps where prisoners had little or no access to alternative clothing and wore the same clothing for the duration of their stay. And many prisoners had no coats or boots because they had been taken away by the German soldiers guarding them.

POWs were often held behind electrified and barbed wired fences with manned guard towers watching prisoners every hour of every day. With the exception of officers, many were forced into labor, which was sometimes hard labor for extended periods of time. Conditions in the camps varied from somewhat comfortable to buildings in disrepair with inadequate heating and plumbing. Some had libraries, canteens, and religious buildings, but many camps had few amenities and POWs spent much of their time in their barracks, especially during winter. The daily routine included a roll call and three limited meals, and many prisoners called daily life repetitive, uneventful, and boring.

Activities differed by nationality and in different camps, but they were important to many. Many POWs sought out clergy and religious activities. Some camps had recreation and sports facilities which allowed the men to play sports or exercise, find books, attend lectures, play cards, or produce shows and musical events. Stalag Luft III was reputed to have the best organized recreational program among camps in Germany. Prisoners considered their pastimes to be planning escapes, and in a few cases (such as Stalag IV - Colditz), POWs attempted multiple escapes. Oflag 64 was considered one of the best camps in Germany with its uncrowded dormitory-like rooms with no mistreatment of prisoners. They put together college-level courses, a jazz band, a classical orchestra, a baseball league, and bridge tournaments. At the other end of the spectrum, there was Stalag IX-B with over-crowded, damaged barracks with little heat and plumbing, severe starvation, and lack of recreation facilities. To many Americans there, the starvation, pests, and illnesses made many too weak to move, so they talked, told stories, and tried to encourage one another. Other groups in the camp shared their Red Cross boxes with them. And, as in many other camps, they partook in trading and bartering with a currency pegged to cigarettes.

As the war continued, the conditions of many POW camps in Europe worsened, especially after the Battle of the Bulge, which brought a large influx of new prisoners, and the Germans had fewer resources to maintain the camps. Inadequate meals, unsanitary conditions, unheated buildings with bad plumbing, and little access to new clothing and showers made many prisoners susceptible to starvation, illness, pest infestations, and exhaustion. The poor living conditions and an inadequate food left many prisoners slowly starving and vulnerable to disease. The lack of adequate medical services in some camps also made the situation worse. As the Soviets advanced from the east and the Allies advanced from the west, many camps emptied out by sending prisoners to other camps or on long marches around Germany with no place to go. Other prisoners managed to stay in the camps until the Allies arrived.

Despite these problems, most American and British POWs survived the experience. Of the approximately 94,000 Americans held, 1,121 (1,2%) died in the camps. Historians estimate that 3.5% of the 170,000 British POWs died, some captured in Africa between 1940 and 1942 before the Normandy invasion. Of the 1.8 million French prisoners, many captured when France surrendered to Germany in 1940, 4.1% died in Germany’s POW camps. The Soviet prisoners, however, were terrorized when captured, and as many as 5 million men and women were executed in mass killings or were starved, worked to death, or died from diseases. It is estimated that 57.5% of Soviet prisoners died in the camps. In contrast, many German POWs were sent to the United States, where they worked on farms, were treated to mail and adequate food, and lived in a camp guided by the Geneva Convention.

Survival chances in the Pacific were even worse. Japan, like the Soviet Union, never signed the Geneva Convention. Many soldiers captured by the Japanese were killed immediately. Those sent to the Japanese POW camps endured forced hard labor, beatings, starvation and malnutrition, food-borne illnesses, injuries, and various tropical diseases. Approximately 14,000 prisoners died on unmarked ships bound for Asia which were unknowingly bombed by Allied fire. Over 30% of 27,000 Americans and other Allied prisoners died after capture.

Despite all the hardships prisoners endured in POW camps during World War II, many survived with the help of their optimism and resilience. For many, the memories and the trauma never left them. Many never talked about their POW experience for decades, if ever. For those that did talk about their POW experience, returning prisoners mentioned their support of each other, and how different nationalities traded, shared, and entertained one another. They spent their days sharing happy memories and stories, trading favorite recipes, and any information they had on the war. They found joy in planning escapes and in small acts of defiance and helped each other remain hopeful and positive.