| Stalag XIII-C | |
|---|---|
| Hammelburg, Bavaria | |
  Stalag XIII-C | |
| Coordinates | 50°05′03″N9°54′09″E / 50.08416°N 9.90249°E |
| Type | Prisoner-of-war camp |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by |  Nazi Germany |
| Site history | |
| In use | 1940–1945 |
| Garrison information | |
| Occupants | Allied POW |
Stalag XIII-C was a German Army World War II prisoner-of-war camp ( Stammlager ) built on what had been the training camp at Hammelburg, Lower Franconia, Bavaria, Germany.
Hammelburg was a large German Army training camp, set up in 1893. Part of this camp had been used as a POW camp for Allied army personnel in World War I. After 1935 it was a training camp and military training area for the newly reconstituted German Army.
In May 1940 the camp was established in wooden huts at the south end of the training ground. The first prisoners included Belgian, Dutch and French soldiers taken during the Battle of France. In May–June 1941 Yugoslavian, predominantly Serbian prisoners arrived from the Balkans Campaign, and soon after in June–July 1941 Australian and other British Commonwealth soldiers arrived, captured during the Battle of Crete.
In April 1943 Oflag XIII-B was opened nearby, with officers transferred from Oflag XIII-A at Nuremberg.
As was usual for Stalags, many of the prisoners were located in Arbeitslager ("Work camps") on farms or adjacent to factories or other industrial operations. The Stalag served as the base for distribution of International Red Cross packages and mail. A Lazarett (hospital) cared for prisoners that were sick or had been injured in industrial accidents or air-raids. A number of enlisted men and NCOs were housed in the adjacent Oflag to provide necessary services.
American soldiers that had been captured during the Battle of Normandy arrived in June–July 1944, and more from the Battle of the Bulge in January 1945. In March 1945 a large group of prisoners arrived in deplorable condition after marching the 500 miles (800 km) from Stalag VIII-D in severe winter conditions. The camp was liberated by Combat Command B of the U.S. 14th Armored Division on 6 April 1945.
The 1960s and 1970s American television program Hogan's Heroes was situated in a fictitious POW Camp called "Luft-Stalag 13" located near Hammelburg, likely based on actual Luftwaffe POW camps administered by them for Allied POW combat pilots and aircrew shot down over German territory. However, there was no resemblance to the actual Stalags XIII-A, -B or -C other than name and location.
 | This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations .(August 2017) |
"The March" refers to a series of forced marches during the final stages of the Second World War in Europe. From a total of 257,000 western Allied prisoners of war held in German military prison camps, over 80,000 POWs were forced to march westward across Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Germany in extreme winter conditions, over about four months between January and April 1945. This series of events has been called various names: "The Great March West", "The Long March", "The Long Walk", "The Long Trek", "The Black March", "The Bread March", and "Death March Across Germany", but most survivors just called it "The March".
In Germany, stalag was a term used for prisoner-of-war camps. Stalag is a contraction of "Stammlager", itself short for Kriegsgefangenen-Mannschaftsstammlager, a literal translation of which is "War-prisoner" "enlisted" "main camp". Therefore, technically "stalag" simply means "main camp".
Oflag II-D Gross Born (Grossborn-Westfalenhof) was a World War II German prisoner-of-war camp located at Gross Born, Pomerania, near Westfalenhof (Kłomino). It housed Polish and French officers.
Oflag XIII-B was a German Army World War II prisoner-of-war camp for officers (Offizierslager), originally in the Langwasser district of Nuremberg. In 1943 it was moved to a site 3 km (1.9 mi) south of the town of Hammelburg in Lower Franconia, Bavaria, Germany.
Hammelburg is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It sits in the district of Bad Kissingen, in Lower Franconia. It lies on the river Franconian Saale, 25 km west of Schweinfurt. Hammelburg is the oldest winegrowing town (Weinstadt) in Franconia.
Stalag XI-B and Stalag XI-D / 357 were two German World War II prisoner-of-war camps (Stammlager) located just to the east of the town of Fallingbostel in Lower Saxony, in north-western Germany. The camps housed Polish, French, Belgian, Soviet, Italian, British, Yugoslav, American, Canadian, New Zealander and other Allied POWs.
Task Force Baum, also known as the Hammelberg raid was a secret and controversial World War II task force set up by U.S. Army General George S. Patton and commanded by Capt. Abraham Baum in late March 1945. Baum was given the task of penetrating 50 miles (80 km) behind German lines and liberating the POWs in camp Oflag XIII-B, near Hammelburg. Controversy surrounds the true reasons behind the mission, which most likely was to liberate Patton's son-in-law, John K. Waters, taken captive in Tunisia in 1943. The result of the mission was a complete failure; of the roughly 300 men of the task force, 32 were killed in action during the raid and only 35 made it back to Allied-controlled territory, with the remainder being taken prisoner. All of the 57 tanks, jeeps, and other vehicles were lost.
Stalag IV-B was one of the largest prisoner-of-war camps in Germany during World War II. Stalag is an abbreviation of the German Stammlager. It was located 8 km (5.0 mi) north-east of the town of Mühlberg in the Prussian Province of Saxony, just east of the Elbe river and about 30 mi (48 km) north of Dresden. From 1944 to 1945 it belonged to the Province of Halle-Merseburg. Now, the area is in Brandenburg. A sub-camp, sometimes identified as Stalag IV-B/Z,Stalag 304 or Stalag IV-H was located at Zeithain, 10 km (6.2 mi) to the south in Saxony.
An Oflag was a type of prisoner of war camp for officers which the German Army established in World War I in accordance with the requirements of the 1899 Hague Convention, and in World War II in accordance with the requirements of the Geneva Convention (1929).
Stalag VIII-C was a German World War II prisoner-of-war camp, near Sagan, Lower Silesia. It was adjacent to the famous Stalag Luft III, and was built at the beginning of World War II, occupying 48 ha. It housed Allied POWs of various nationalities, incl. Polish, French, Belgian, British, Canadian, Greek, Yugoslav, Soviet, Australian, New Zealand, South African, Italian, Senegalese, Algerian, Moroccan and Slovak.
Stalag VII-A was the largest prisoner-of-war camp in Nazi Germany during World War II, located just north of the town of Moosburg in southern Bavaria. The camp covered an area of 35 hectares. It served also as a transit camp through which prisoners, including officers, were processed on their way to other camps. At some time during the war, prisoners from every nation fighting against Germany passed through it. At the time of its liberation on 29 April 1945, there were 76,248 prisoners in the main camp and 40,000 or more in Arbeitskommando working in factories, repairing railroads or on farms.
Stalag II-D Stargard was a World War II German Army prisoner-of-war camp located near Stargard, Pomerania. It housed Polish, American, French, Dutch, Belgian, Serbian, Soviet, Italian and Canadian prisoners of war, and Polish civilians.
Camp Fünfeichen was a World War II German prisoner-of-war camp located in Fünfeichen, a former estate within the city limits of Neubrandenburg, Mecklenburg, northern Germany. Built as Stalag II-A Neubrandenburg in 1939, it was extended by the officer camp Oflag II-E in 1940. After the Soviet takeover in 1945 until 1949 it was used as special camp, NKVD-camp Nr. 9 of the Soviet secret service (NKVD). Today, the site of the camp is a memorial.
Stalag XIII-D Nürnberg Langwasser was a German Army World War II prisoner-of-war camp built on what had been the Nazi party rally grounds in Nuremberg, northern Bavaria.
Oflag XIII-A, Oflag XIII-B and Oflag XIII-D were all German World War II prisoner-of-war camp for officers (Offizierlager). They were all located on the old Nazi party rally grounds in Langwasser, Nuremberg, in northern Bavaria. They were adjacent to Stalag XIII-D.
Oflag 64 was a World War II German prisoner-of-war camp for officers located at Szubin a few miles south of Bydgoszcz, in Pomorze, Poland, which at that time was occupied by Nazi Germany. It was probably the only German POW camp set up exclusively for U.S. Army ground component officers. At most other camps there were several nationalities, although they were usually separated into national compounds.
Oflag XXI-B and Stalag XXI-B were World War II German prisoner-of-war camps for officers and enlisted men, located at Szubin a few miles southwest of Bydgoszcz, Poland, which at that time was occupied by Nazi Germany.
Oflag XXI-C was a German Army World War II prisoner-of-war camp for officers (Offizierlager) located in Ostrzeszów in German-occupied Poland. It held mostly Norwegian officers arrested in 1942 and 1943, but also Dutch, Italian, Serbian and Soviet POWs. Originally most Norwegian soldiers and officers had been released after the end of the Norwegian campaign, but as resistance activities increased, the officers were rearrested and sent to POW camps.
During World War II, Nazi Germany engaged in a policy of deliberate maltreatment of Soviet prisoners of war (POWs), in contrast to their general treatment of British and American POWs. This policy, which amounted to deliberately starving and working to death Soviet POWs, the bulk of whom were Slavs, was grounded in Nazi racial theory, which depicted Slavs as sub-humans (Untermenschen). The policy resulted in some 3.3 to 3.5 million deaths.
Nazi Germany operated around 1,000 prisoner-of-war camps during World War II (1939-1945).